Simulations of Galactic Cosmic Rays Impacts on the Herschel/PACS Photoconductor Arrays with Geant4 Code

We present results of simulations performed with the Geant4 software code of the effects of Galactic Cosmic Ray impacts on the photoconductor arrays of the PACS instrument. This instrument is part of the ESA-Herschel payload, which will be launched in late 2007 and will operate at the Lagrangian L2 point of the Sun-Earth system. Both the Satellite plus the cryostat (the shield) and the detector act as source of secondary events, affecting the detector performance. Secondary event rates originated within the detector and from the shield are of comparable intensity. The impacts deposit energy on each photoconductor pixel but do not affect the behaviour of nearby pixels. These latter are hit with a probability always lower than 7%. The energy deposited produces a spike which can be hundreds times larger than the noise. We then compare our simulations with proton irradiation tests carried out for one of the detector modules and follow the detector behaviour under 'real' conditions.Comment: paper submitted to Experimental Astronomy in March 200

Renewable sources urban cells microgrid. A case study

Nowadays, microgrid technologies play a relevant role in the research field as well as in the commercial market. The opportunity to provide electricity in wide areas without using centralized electrical infrastructure networks is a reliable key for achieving the European Union sustainability goals. In this regard, the proposed research aims at describing an electric microgrid configuration powered by a photovoltaic system, supplying three school buildings located in the center of Italy. Additionally, the resilience theme is deeply investigated, analyzing the use of an emergency generator system (EGS) in case of electric grid blackouts. MATLAB/Simulink was chosen to simulate the users’ energy demand as well as to calculate the microgrid performance. Results show that almost the total consumption of the microgrid is covered by the photovoltaic system, and the use of an EGS allows energy resilience and moderate economic savings for the communit

Automated Generation of Executable RPA Scripts from User Interface Logs

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) operates on the user interface (UI) of software applications and automates - by means of a software (SW) robot - mouse and keyboard interactions to remove intensive routine tasks (or simply routines). With the recent advances in Artificial Intelligence, the automation of routines is expected to undergo a radical transformation. Nonetheless, to date, the RPA tools available in the market are not able to automatically learn to automate such routines, thus requiring the support of skilled human experts that observe and interpret how routines are executed on the UIs of the applications. Being the current practice time-consuming and error-prone, in this paper we present SmartRPA, a cross-platform tool that tackles such issues by exploiting UI logs to automatically generate executable RPA scripts that automate the routines enactment by SW robots

Improved Fast Neutron Spectroscopy via Detector Segmentation

Organic scintillators are widely used for fast neutron detection and spectroscopy. Several effects complicate the interpretation of results from detectors based upon these materials. First, fast neutrons will often leave a detector before depositing all of their energy within it. Second, fast neutrons will typically scatter several times within a detector, and there is a non-proportional relationship between the energy of, and the scintillation light produced by, each individual scatter; therefore, there is not a deterministic relationship between the scintillation light observed and the neutron energy deposited. Here we demonstrate a hardware technique for reducing both of these effects. Use of a segmented detector allows for the event-by-event correction of the light yield non-proportionality and for the preferential selection of events with near-complete energy deposition, since these will typically have high segment multiplicities.Comment: Accepted for publication in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section

The application of Geant4 simulation code for brachytherapy treatment

Brachytherapy is a radiotherapeutic modality that makes use of radionuclides to deliver a high radiation dose to a well-defined volume while sparing surrounding healthy structures. At the National Institute for Cancer Research of Genova a High Dose Rate remote afterloading system provides Ir(192) endocavitary brachytherapy treatments. We studied the possibility to use the Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation toolkit in brachytherapy for calculation of complex physical parameters, not directly available by experiment al measurements, used in treatment planning dose deposition models

A mobile antineutrino detector with plastic scintillators

We propose a new type segmented antineutrino detector made of plastic scintillators for the nuclear safeguard application. A small prototype was built and tested to measure background events. A satisfactory unmanned field operation of the detector system was demonstrated. Besides, a detailed Monte Carlo simulation code was developed to estimate the antineutrino detection efficiency of the detector.Comment: 23 pages, 11 figures; accepted for publication in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research

A practical algorithmic approach to mature aggressive B cell lymphoma diagnosis in the double/triple hit era. Selecting cases, matching clinical benefit. A position paper from the Italian Group of Haematopathology (G.I.E.)

An accurate diagnosis of clinically distinct subgroups of aggressive mature B cell lymphomas is crucial for the choice of proper treatment. Presently, precise recognition of these disorders relies on the combination of morphological, immunophenotypical, and cytogenetic/molecular features. The diagnostic workup in such situations implies the application of costly and time-consuming analyses, which are not always required, since an intensified treatment option is reasonably reserved to fit patients. The Italian Group of Haematopathology proposes herein a practical algorithm for the diagnosis of aggressive mature B cell lymphomas based on a stepwise approach, aimed to select cases deserving molecular analysis, in order to optimize time and resources still assuring the optimal management for any patient

Methodology framework for prioritisation of renewable energy sources in port areas

Ports play a crucial role in increasing the decarbonisation of urban environments to mitigate the environmental impacts of maritime transport and promote sustainable intermodal mobility. Various efforts have been made to increase energy self-sufficiency using renewable energy sources (RESs) in different ports worldwide. However, the ports played an essential role in the pollution process of the nearest cities due to the short distance and merging with urban areas. In this case, solar and wind were measured using the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2) data of four Lazio province ports. Each RES was evaluated using 10 years of monthly data for mapping and 1 year of hourly data for potential assessment and energy converters installation. Furthermore, the time series method has been considered to design and develop better management of RESs for decision making monitoring the energy needs of ports. This time series method has been applied to the generated energy source based on various parameters of the RESs used in port

Cognitive and linguistic abnormalities in benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes

Aim: To assess the cognitive function and language ability in children with benign partial epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes. Methods: Twenty-five patients with benign partial epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes were included. They were divided into two subgroups. Group I: 10 patients with rolandic focus who were not treated. Group II: 15 patients with rolandic focus receiving treatment. A third Group of 12 healthy subjects have been studied. All children underwent standardized neuropsychological testing: electroencephalogram recording, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-revised, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III (PPVT-III) and Boston Naming Test (BNT), both during active disease (T1) and 2 years after recovery from epilepsy (T2). Results: At T1 evaluation, no significant differences in group I and II patients about general intelligence, when compared with controls, were found. Group I and II patients were impaired with respect to controls in the receptive and expressive vocabulary evaluated with PCVT-III and BNT, respectively. At T2 evaluation, group I and II patients showed a normalization of the language abnormalities. Conclusion: Deficits of speech-related abilities can be detected in children with this type of epilepsy: these dysfunctions seem to be independent of the effects of antiepileptic treatment and are reversible after remission of epilepsy