TPC tracking and particle identification in high-density environment

Track finding and fitting algorithm in the ALICE Time projection chamber (TPC) based on Kalman-filtering is presented. Implementation of particle identification (PID) using d$E$/d$x$ measurement is discussed. Filtering and PID algorithm is able to cope with non-Gaussian noise as well as with ambiguous measurements in a high-density environment. The occupancy can reach up to 40% and due to the overlaps, often the points along the track are lost and others are significantly displaced. In the present algorithm, first, clusters are found and the space points are reconstructed. The shape of a cluster provides information about overlap factor. Fast spline unfolding algorithm is applied for points with distorted shapes. Then, the expected space point error is estimated using information about the cluster shape and track parameters. Furthermore, available information about local track overlap is used. Tests are performed on simulation data sets to validate the analysis and to gain practical experience with the algorithm.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

The strength of countable saturation

We determine the proof-theoretic strength of the principle of countable saturation in the context of the systems for nonstandard arithmetic introduced in our earlier work.Comment: Corrected typos in Lemma 3.4 and the final paragraph of the conclusio

Crecimiento en función de la densidad de poliquetos Diopatra aciculata

Effects of intraspecific density on growth of the tube-building polychaete Diopatra aciculata (Onuphidae) were examined over a three-month period within a marine worm aquaculture facility. Three polychaete densities (500, 1000 and 2000 worms/m2) were represented within triplicate 0.30 m2 boxes containing late juvenile D. aciculata, sandy sediment and recirculating seawater. Daily food ration per worm was held constant across all density levels. Total length, weight and number of segments were recorded for 20 polychaetes randomly removed from each of nine treatment boxes at weeks 1, 7 and 14. Mean daily growth was higher during weeks 1-7 than during weeks 7-14 for all growth variables at each density level. Polychaetes at the highest density level exhibited lower rates of growth and more broken and/or regenerating posterior segments than those at low density. High D. aciculata density was also associated with reduced dissolved oxygen concentrations and high polychaete mortality (20%). At medium polychaete density (1000/m2), D. aciculata exhibited low levels of apparent stress and high biomass return per unit area, both of which are important considerations in the aquaculture rearing of this species. We suggest that further studies focus on age- and size-related factors contributing to density effects on polychaete growth.Durante un período de más de tres meses se examinaron en instalaciones de acuicultura de gusanos marinos los efectos de la densidad interespecífica en el crecimiento del poliqueto tubícola Diopatra aciculata (Onuphidae). Se utilizaron tres niveles de densidad de poliquetos (aproximadamente 500, 1000 y 2000 gusanos/m2) en cajas experimentales de 0,30 m2 replicadas, conteniendo ejemplares juveniles avanzados de D. aciculata y sedimento arenoso, todo ello con recirculación de agua marina. La ración diaria de alimento por gusano se mantuvo constante en todos los niveles de densidad. Se registró la longitud total, el peso, y el número de segmentos en 20 poliquetos extraídos aleatoriamente para cada tratamiento durante las semanas 1, 7, y 14. Para cada uno de los niveles de densidad estudiados, el crecimiento diario promedio durante el período entre la semana 1 y la 7 fue mayor que durante el período entre la semana 7 y la 14 en todas las variables de crecimiento. Los poliquetos cultivados a mayores densidades poblacionales exhibieron menores tasas de crecimiento y un mayor número de segmentos posteriores fragmentados y/o regenerados que aquellos cultivados a menores densidades de población. Asimismo, la alta densidad de D. aciculata provocó menores concentraciones de oxígeno disuelto y un mayor índice de mortalidad de poliquetos (20% promedio). Al nivel medio de densidad de poliquetos (1000/m2), los ejemplares de D. aciculata presentaron un bajo nivel de estrés aparente y una elevada producción de biomasa por unidad de área, dos factores importantes en la crianza mediante técnicas de acuicultura de esta especie. Para posteriores estudios, se propone concentrarse en los efectos de la densidad en el comportamiento interactivo y en la competencia por el alimento. &nbsp

Magnetically modified Posidonia oceanica biomass as an adsorbent for organic dyes removal

Magnetically modified Posidonia oceanica sea grass dead biomass was employed as an adsorbent of organic dyes. The adsorption of seven water-soluble organic dyes was characterized using Langmuir adsorption model. The highest calculated maximum adsorption capacity was found for Bismarck brown Y (233.5 mg g-1), while the lowest capacity value was obtained for safranin O (88.1 mg g-1). The adsorption processes followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the thermodynamic studies indicated spontaneous and endothermic adsorption

Automated monitoring and quantitative analysis of feeding behaviour in Drosophila

Food ingestion is one of the defining behaviours of all animals, but its quantification and analysis remain challenging. This is especially the case for feeding behaviour in small, genetically tractable animals such as Drosophila melanogaster. Here, we present a method based on capacitive measurements, which allows the detailed, automated and high-throughput quantification of feeding behaviour. Using this method, we were able to measure the volume ingested in single sips of an individual, and monitor the absorption of food with high temporal resolution. We demonstrate that flies ingest food by rhythmically extending their proboscis with a frequency that is not modulated by the internal state of the animal. Instead, hunger and satiety homeostatically modulate the microstructure of feeding. These results highlight similarities of food intake regulation between insects, rodents, and humans, pointing to a common strategy in how the nervous systems of different animals control food intake

Tin telluride: a weakly co-elastic metal

We report resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS), dilatometry/magnetostriction, magnetotransport, magnetization, specific heat, and $^{119}$Sn M\"ossbauer spectroscopy measurements on SnTe and Sn$_{0.995}$Cr$_{0.005}$Te. Hall measurements at $T=77$ K indicate that our Bridgman-grown single crystals have a $p$-type carrier concentration of $3.4 \times 10^{19}$ cm$^{-3}$ and that our Cr-doped crystals have an $n$-type concentration of $5.8 \times 10^{22}$ cm$^{-3}$. Although our SnTe crystals are diamagnetic over the temperature range $2\, \text{K} \leq T \leq 1100\, \text{K}$, the Cr-doped crystals are room temperature ferromagnets with a Curie temperature of 294 K. For each sample type, three-terminal capacitive dilatometry measurements detect a subtle 0.5 micron distortion at $T_c \approx 85$ K. Whereas our RUS measurements on SnTe show elastic hardening near the structural transition, pointing to co-elastic behavior, similar measurements on Sn$_{0.995}$Cr$_{0.005}$Te show a pronounced softening, pointing to ferroelastic behavior. Effective Debye temperature, $\theta_D$, values of SnTe obtained from $^{119}$Sn M\"ossbauer studies show a hardening of phonons in the range 60--115K ($\theta_D$ = 162K) as compared with the 100--300K range ($\theta_D$ = 150K). In addition, a precursor softening extending over approximately 100 K anticipates this collapse at the critical temperature, and quantitative analysis over three decades of its reduced modulus finds $\Delta C_{44}/C_{44}=A|(T-T_0)/T_0|^{-\kappa}$ with $\kappa = 0.50 \pm 0.02$, a value indicating a three-dimensional softening of phonon branches at a temperature $T_0 \sim 75$ K, considerably below $T_c$. We suggest that the differences in these two types of elastic behaviors lie in the absence of elastic domain wall motion in the one case and their nucleation in the other

Particle dependence of elliptic flow in Au+Au collisions at sNN=\sqrt{s_{NN}}= 200 GeV

The elliptic flow parameter ($v_2$) for $K_S^0$ and $\Lambda+\bar{\Lambda}$ has been measured at mid-rapidity in Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV by the STAR collaboration. The $v_2$ values for both $K_S^{0}$ and $\Lambda+\bar{\Lambda}$ saturate at moderate $p_T$, deviating from the hydrodynamic behavior observed in the lower $p_T$ region. The saturated $v_2$ values and the $p_T$ scales where the deviation begins are particle dependent. The particle-type dependence of $v_2$ shows features expected from the hadronization of a partonic ellipsoid by coalescence of co-moving quarks. These results will be discussed in relation to the nuclear modification factor ($R_{CP}$) which has also been measured for $K_S^0$ and $\Lambda+\bar{\Lambda}$ by the STAR collaboration.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, Strange Quark Matter 2003 Conference (SQM 2003): updated with 2 figures from original talk that did not appear in the journa

New results from the NA57 experiment

We report results from the experiment NA57 at CERN SPS on hyperon production at midrapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at 158 $A$ GeV/$c$ and 40 $A$ GeV/$c$. $\Lambda$, $\Xi$ and $\Omega$ yields are compared with those from the STAR experiment at the higher energy of the BNL RHIC. $\Lambda$, $\Xi$, $\Omega$\ and preliminary $K_S^0$ transverse mass spectra are presented and interpreted within the framework of a hydro-dynamical blast wave model.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, contribution to the proceedings of The XXXVIIIth Rencontres de Moriond "QCD and High Energy Hadronic Interactions