An instrument for low-level measurements of the leakage current from high-voltage biased detectors

Resistive Plates Chambers (RPC) are detectors biased at High-Voltage (HV) in excess of 4 kV. When fired by a particle, they develop a large signal current that can be read across a small resistance, 100 Omega or so. A characterization has been made of their ageing as a function of the behaviour of their leakage current with time. An array of 10 detectors has been developed for this purpose. We present the instrument designed and built to perform a continuous and automatic monitoring of the leakage current from each detector of the array, while the system is taking data. For the particular biasing set-up adopted, the current has been measured in series to the terminal connected to the HV of every channel. Since the small value of the currents, order of tens of nA, a special circuit solution and special precautions have been adopte

CLIC simulations from the start of the linac to the interaction point

Simulations for linear colliders are traditionally performed separately for the different sub-systems, like damping ring, bunch compressor, linac, and beam delivery. The beam properties are usually passed from one sub-system to the other via bunch charge, RMS transverse emittances, RMS bunch length, average energy and RMS energy spread. It is implicitly assumed that the detailed 6D correlations in the beam distribution are not relevant for the achievable luminosity. However, it has recently been shown that those correlations can have a strong effect on the beam-beam interaction. We present first results on CLIC simulations that integrate linac, beam delivery, and beam-beam interaction. These integrated simulations also allow a better simulation of time-dependent effects, like ground perturbations and interference between several beam-based feedbacks

Virtual Reality Social Prediction Improvement and Rehabilitation Intensive Training (VR-SPIRIT) for paediatric patients with congenital cerebellar diseases: study protocol of a randomised controlled trial

Background: Patients with cerebellar malformations exhibit not only movement problems, but also important deficits in social cognition. Thus, rehabilitation approaches should not only involve the recovery of motor function but also of higher-order abilities such as processing of social stimuli. In keeping with the general role of the cerebellum in anticipating and predicting events, we used a VR-based rehabilitation system to implement a social cognition intensive training specifically tailored to improve predictive abilities in social scenarios (VR-Spirit). Methods/design: The study is an interventional randomised controlled trial that aims to recruit 42 children, adolescents and young adults with congenital cerebellar malformations, randomly allocated to the experimental group or the active control group. The experimental group is administered the VR-Spirit, requiring the participants to compete with different avatars in the reaching of recreational equipment and implicitly prompting them to form expectations about their playing preference. The active control group participates in a VR-training with standard games currently adopted for motor rehabilitation. Both trainings are composed by eight 45-min sessions and are administered in the GRAIL VR laboratory (Motekforce Link, Netherlands), an integrated platform that allows patients to move in natural and attractive VR environments. An evaluation session in VR with the same paradigm used in the VR-Spirit but implemented in a different scenario is administered at the beginning (T0) of the two trainings (T1) and at the end (T2). Moreover, a battery of neurocognitive tests spanning different domains is administered to all participants at T0, T2 and in a follow-up session after 2 months from the end of the two trainings (T3). Discussion: This study offers a novel approach for rehabilitation based on specific neural mechanisms of the cerebellum. We aim to investigate the feasibility and efficacy of a new, intensive, social cognition training in a sample of Italian patients aged 7-25 years with congenital cerebellar malformations. We expect that VR-Spirit could enhance social prediction ability and indirectly improve cognitive performance in diverse domains. Moreover, through the comparison with a VR-active control training we aim to verify the specificity of VR-Spirit in improving social perception skills. Trial registration: ISRCTN, ID: ISRCTN 22332873. Retrospectively registered on 12 March 2018

Ageing and recovering of glass RPC

The glass Resistive Plate Chambers efficiency before and after water vapour flushing have been studied. The efficiency has been observed to rapidly drop to the level of 30% after a few days. After few hours of ammonia flushing, a full recover of the device occurred. Surprisingly, further flushing with water vapour had no effect on the efficiency, suggesting a treatment before the use in an experiment and/or whenever the performance is poor. In this work experimental results on tests at high temperature (up to 55∘C), high rate (up to 100Hz/cm2) and ageing (up to 10mC/cm2) are reported

A new concept for streamer quenching in resistive plate chambers

In this paper we propose a new concept for streamer quenching in Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs). In our approach, the multiplication process is quenched by the appropriate design of a mechanical structure inserted between the two resistive electrodes. We show that stable performance is achieved with binary gas mixtures based on argon and a small fraction of isobutane. Fluorocarbons, deemed responsible for the degradation of the electrode inner surface of RPC detectors, are thus fully eliminated from the gas mixture. This design {also resulted} in a simplified assembly procedure. Preliminary results obtained with a few prototypes of ``Mechanically Quenched RPCs'' and some prospects for future developments are discussed

Validation and data characteristics of methane and nitrous oxide profiles observed by MIPAS and processed with Version 4.61 algorithm

The ENVISAT validation programme for the atmospheric instruments MIPAS, SCIAMACHY and GOMOS is based on a number of balloon-borne, aircraft, satellite and ground-based correlative measurements. In particular the activities of validation scientists were coordinated by ESA within the ENVISAT Stratospheric Aircraft and Balloon Campaign or ESABC. As part of a series of similar papers on other species [this issue] and in parallel to the contribution of the individual validation teams, the present paper provides a synthesis of comparisons performed between MIPAS CH4 and N2O profiles produced by the current ESA operational software (Instrument Processing Facility version 4.61 or IPF v4.61, full resolution MIPAS data covering the period 9 July 2002 to 26 March 2004) and correlative measurements obtained from balloon and aircraft experiments as well as from satellite sensors or from ground-based instruments. In the middle stratosphere, no significant bias is observed between MIPAS and correlative measurements, and MIPAS is providing a very consistent and global picture of the distribution of CH4 and N2O in this region. In average, the MIPAS CH4 values show a small positive bias in the lower stratosphere of about 5%. A similar situation is observed for N2O with a positive bias of 4%. In the lower stratosphere/upper troposphere (UT/LS) the individual used MIPAS data version 4.61 still exhibits some unphysical oscillations in individual CH4 and N2O profiles caused by the processing algorithm (with almost no regularization). Taking these problems into account, the MIPAS CH4 and N2O profiles are behaving as expected from the internal error estimation of IPF v4.61 and the estimated errors of the correlative measurements

Comparison of different tracking codes for beam delivery systems of linear colliders

The vertical RMS spot sizes at the interaction point of linear colliders are in the 1 nm to 5 nm range at beam en-ergies from 0.25 TeV to 1.5 TeV. Numerical tracking of particles through the magnetic focusing systems is used for the design and the performance prediction of the magnetic systems. In view of the small spot sizes and the high beam energies, it is important that the numerical codes include a careful treatment of the chromatic magnet properties and an accurate modelling of synchrotron radiation. Signifi-cant differences in the results of various codes have been observed and some fixes have been applied. In order to es-tablish a basis for future simulations, the results of various tracking and modelling codes are compared for identical input

Recent developments with the new tools for collimation simulations in Xsuite

Simulations of single-particle tracking involving collimation systems need dedicated tools to perform the different tasks needed. These include the accurate description of particle-matter interactions when a tracked particle impacts a collimator jaw; a detailed aperture model to identify the longitudinal location of losses; and others. One such tool is the K2 code in SixTrack, which describes the scattering of high-energy protons in matter. This code has recently been ported into the Xsuite tracking code that is being developed at CERN. Another approach is to couple the tracking with existing tools, such as FLUKA or Geant4, that offer better descriptions of particle-matter interactions and can treat lepton and ion beams. This includes the generation of secondary particles and fragmentation when tracking ions. In addition to the development of coupling with Geant4, the SixTrack-FLUKA coupling has recently been translated and integrated into the Xsuite environment as well. In this paper, we present the ongoing development of these tools. A thorough testing of the new implementation was performed, using as case studies various collimation layout configurations for the LHC Run 3

A new technique for direct investigation of dark matter

The MOSCAB experiment (Materia OSCura A Bolle) uses a new technique for Dark Matter search. The Geyser technique is applied to the construction of a prototype detector with a mass of 0.5 kg and the encouraging results are reported here; an accent is placed on a big detector of 40 kg in construction at the Milano-Bicocca University and INFN