Towards weighing the condensation energy to ascertain the Archimedes force of vacuum

The force exerted by the gravitational field on a Casimir cavity in terms of Archimedes force of vacuum is discussed, the force that can be tested against observation is identified, and it is shown that the present technology makes it possible to perform the first experimental tests. The use of suitable high-Tc superconductors as modulators of Archimedes force is motivated. The possibility is analyzed of using gravitational wave interferometers as detectors of the force, transported through an optical spring from the Archimedes vacuum force apparatus to the gravitational interferometer test masses to maintain the two systems well separated. The use of balances to actuate and detect the force is also analyzed, the different solutions are compared, and the most important experimental issues are discussed.Comment: Revtex, 33 pages, 8 figures. In the final version, the title has been changed, and all sections have been improved, while 2 appendices have been adde

Probing Gravitational Theories with Eccentric Eclipsing Detached Binary Stars

In this paper, we compare the effects of different theories of gravitation on the apsidal motion of eccentric eclipsing detached binary stars. The comparison is performed by using the formalism of the post-Newtonian parametrization to calculate the theoretical advance at periastron and compare it to the observed one, after having considered the effects of the structure and rotation of the involved stars. A variance analysis on the results of this comparison shows that no signicant difference can be found due to the effect of the different theories under test with respect to the standard general relativity (GR). It will be possible to observe differences, as we would expect, by checking the observed period variation on a much larger lapse of time

Liquid actuated gravity experiments

We describe a new actuation technique for gravity experiments based on a liquid field mass. The Characterizing idea is to modulate the gravity force acting on a test mass by controlling the level of a liquid in a suitable container. This allows to obtain a periodical gravity force without moving parts (except the liquid level) close to the TM. We describe in detail the most relevant aspects of the liquid actuator and discuss how it can be used in gravity experiments. In particular we analyse an application to test the inverse square law in the mm to cm distance region

A quasi-complete mechanical model for a double torsion pendulum

We present a dynamical model for the double torsion pendulum nicknamed PETER, where one torsion pendulum hangs in cascade, but off-axis, from the other. The dynamics of interest in these devices lies around the torsional resonance, that is at very low frequencies (mHz). However, we find that, in order to properly describe the forced motion of the pendulums, also other modes must be considered, namely swinging and bouncing oscillations of the two suspended masses, that resonate at higher frequencies (Hz). Although the system has obviously 6+6 Degrees of Freedom, we find that 8 are sufficient for an accurate description of the observed motion. This model produces reliable estimates of the response to generic external disturbances and actuating forces or torques. In particular, we compute the effect of seismic floor motion (tilt noise) on the low frequency part of the signal spectra and show that it properly accounts for most of the measured low frequency noise.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure

Altmetrics in Institutional Repositories: New Perspectives for Assessing Research Impact

Poster (and extended abstract) presented at the 13th International Conference "Libraries in the Digital Age (LIDA 2014)" held on 16-20th June, University of Zadar, Zadar, CroatiaThe aim of this project is to find out if and how Institutional Repositories (IR) are using alternative metrics or Altmetrics (besides usage statistics and citation counts) as a value-added service to showcase their content impact and give some hints on how this tool can be used to supplement the traditional research performance assessment exercise in an institution. Altmetrics can provide a measure of impact for all non-journal scholarly works available in Open Access (OA), like usage statistics, but it can go further by contextualizing the readership of an author’s research output. The increasing importance of Altmetrics indicators led to its inclusion in the 2014 edition of the Ranking Web of Repositories. This project promises to be useful for repositories managers in that it gives some examples of good practices of implementation of Altmetrics along with other metrics in IRs which can help to increase the content, foster the adoption of OA by authors, contribute to the visibility of the institution and meet the funding agencies requirements, thus making a strong case for the relevance of IRs in the context of the research assessment process

The IBaCoP planning system: instance-based configured portfolios

Sequential planning portfolios are very powerful in exploiting the complementary strength of different automated planners. The main challenge of a portfolio planner is to define which base planners to run, to assign the running time for each planner and to decide in what order they should be carried out to optimize a planning metric. Portfolio configurations are usually derived empirically from training benchmarks and remain fixed for an evaluation phase. In this work, we create a per-instance configurable portfolio, which is able to adapt itself to every planning task. The proposed system pre-selects a group of candidate planners using a Pareto-dominance filtering approach and then it decides which planners to include and the time assigned according to predictive models. These models estimate whether a base planner will be able to solve the given problem and, if so, how long it will take. We define different portfolio strategies to combine the knowledge generated by the models. The experimental evaluation shows that the resulting portfolios provide an improvement when compared with non-informed strategies. One of the proposed portfolios was the winner of the Sequential Satisficing Track of the International Planning Competition held in 2014.We thank the authors of the base planners because our work is based largely on their previous effort. This work has been partially supported by the Spanish projects TIN2011-27652-C03-02, TIN2012-38079-C03-02 and TIN2014-55637-C2-1-R

Does surgency moderate the relationship betweenparenting and children's aggression in middlechildhood?

Parenting and child temperament have both been linked to aggression among children. This study explores the moderating effects of children's surgency and sex and paternal/maternal parenting practices on aggressive behaviour in middle childhood. We analyse whether the moderating effects observed fit a Diathesis-Stress, Differential Susceptibility or Vantage Sensitivity model. Participants were 203 school children aged 7–8 years (M = 92.42 months, SD = 3.52) from southern Spain. Maternal inconsistency and coercion and paternal hostility and indulgence, had a direct effect on children's aggressive behaviour. The effects of maternal hostility and anticipatory problem solving on children's aggression were moderated by surgency (Diathesis-Stress), as was the effect of paternal coercion on aggression (Vantage Sensitivity). Children's sex was not found to moderate any effect. It therefore seems that not all children are equally sensitive to the influence of parenting on their aggression levels, and that this influence depends on their temperament

Inclusive Culture in Compulsory Education Centers: Values, Participation and Teachers’ Perceptions

[EN] This article explores teachers’ perceptions concerning educational inclusion as part of an inclusive culture. The study focuses on compulsory education from the teachers’ point of view. We used three factors indicated in the “Index of Inclusion”: inclusive values, degree of participation in the educational community, and the teachers’ perceptions of the educational response offered to SEN students. To comply with the proposed objective, we explored nine variables to understand their influence on the attitudes of teachers and other professionals towards educational inclusion. These variables were gender, age, teaching seniority, educational stage, professional profile, type of center, geographic location of the center, years of experience and characteristics of SEN students, as well as the training received to meet the needs of all students. We found significant differences in the variables of age, educational stage, student characteristics, and training received, and recommendations are provided to address the needs detected.SIUniversidad de León (Plan para la Innovación y Buenas Prácticas Docentes, referencia PAGID-015