Front-End electronics configuration system for CMS

The four LHC experiments at CERN have decided to use a commercial SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) product for the supervision of their DCS (Detector Control System). The selected SCADA, which is therefore used for the CMS DCS, is PVSS II from the company ETM. This SCADA has its own database, which is suitable for storing conventional controls data such as voltages, temperatures and pressures. In addition, calibration data and FE (Front-End) electronics configuration need to be stored. The amount of these data is too large to be stored in the SCADA database [1]. Therefore an external database will be used for managing such data. However, this database should be completely integrated into the SCADA framework, it should be accessible from the SCADA and the SCADA features, e.g. alarming, logging should be benefited from. For prototyping, Oracle 8i was selected as the external database manager. The development of the control system for calibration constants and FE electronics configuration has been done in close collaboration with the CMS tracker group and JCOP (Joint COntrols Project)(1). (1)The four LHC experiments and the CERN IT/CO group has merged their efforts to build the experiments controls systems and set up the JCOP at the end of December, 1997 for this purpose.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures, Icaleps'01 conference PSN WEDT00

Optical properties of Southern Hemisphere aerosols: Report of the joint CSIRO/NASA study

This study was made in support of the LAWS and GLOBE programs, which aim to design a suitable Doppler lidar system for measuring global winds from a satellite. Observations were taken from 5 deg S to 45 deg S along and off the E and SE Australian coast, thus obtaining representative samples over a large latitude range. Observations were made between 0 and 6 km altitude of aerosol physical and chemical properties in situ from the CSIRO F-27 aircraft; of lidar backscatter coefficients at 10.6 micron wavelength from the F-27 aircraft; of lidar backscatter profiles at 0.694 microns at Sale, SE Australia; and of lidar backscatter profiles at 0.532 microns at Cowley Beach, NE Australia. Both calculations and observations in the free troposphere gave a backscatter coefficient of 1-2 x 10 to the -11/m/sr at 10.6 microns, although the accuracies of the instruments were marginal at this level. Equivalent figures were 2-8 x 10 to the -9/m/sr (aerosol) and 9 x 10 to the -9 to 2 x 10 to the -8/m/sr (lidar) at 0.694 microns wavelength at Sale; and 3.7 x 10 to the -9/m/sr (aerosol) and 10 to the -8 to 10 to the -7/m/sr (lidar) at 0.532 microns wavelength at Cowley Beach. The measured backscatter coefficients at 0.694 and 0.532 microns were consistently higher than the values calculated from aerosol size distributions by factors of typically 2 to 10

Procedencia y modelo diagenético de las areniscas de Facies Utrillas en la cordillera Ibérica (Umbral de Ateca) y la meseta norcastellana

Las facies Utrillas de la Cordillera Ibérica, en los alrededores del Umbral de Ateca y en la Meseta norcastellana, provincia de Soria, son un depósito detrítico formado en un ambiente sedimentario de sistemas aluviales que se puede subdividir en dos unidades (Meléndez y Vilas, 1980): la inferior, compuesta por canales y barras de litología conglomerática y areniscos a, se caracteriza por haberse depositado en un medio aluvial de tipo trenzado; y la superior, integrada porlutitas con cuerpos intercalados de areniscas canaliformes originada en un medio fluvial mucho más maduro. Las areniscas de las facies Utrillas son fundamentalmente arcosas y subarcosas, con bajos contenidos en fragmentos de roca y una matriz de tipo silcreta debida a procesos edáficos. La presencia del feldespato-K es el factor determinante de los procesos diagenéticos más importantes sufridos por estas areniscas; aparición de epimatriz de caolinita-ilita, pore filling de caolinita, cierre de la porosidad primaria y generación de porosidad secundaria por disolución de dichos feldespatos. Otros procesos diagenéticos menos significativos y más localizados hacia el techo de las series, lo constituyen: cementos de calcita, dolomita y anhidrita, así como clay coats de esmectita e interestratificados ilita-esmectita. Las areniscas estudiadas muestran un claro ejemplo de procedencia mixta de áreas fuentes compuestas por rocas metamórficas de alto, medio y bajo grado (gneises, esquistos y pizarras), no presentando indicios de aportes procedentes del macizo granítico de Guadarrama. En el Umbral de Ateca yen la unidad inferior, además, se pone de manifiesto la procedencia a partir de rocas sedimentarias areniscosas y pelíticas. La secuencia diagenética encontrada, con un modelo típico de flujos meteóricos, la escasa compactación química y los valores de la Ro = 0,5 nos ha permitido deducir para ellas una etapa de mesodiagénesis semimadura, según los criterios de Schmidt y McDonald (1979)

Haze in the Klang Valley of Malaysia

Continuous measurements of dry aerosol light scattering (Bsp) were made at two sites in the Klang Valley of Malaysia between December 1998 and December 2000. In addition 24-h PM2.5 samples were collected on a one-day-in-six cycle and the chemical composition of the aerosol was determined. Periods of excessive haze were defined as 24-h average Bsp values greater than 150 Mm-1 and these occurred on a number of occasions, between May and September 1999, during May 2000, and between July and September 2000. The evidence for smoke being a significant contributor to aerosol during periods of excessive haze is discussed and includes features of the aerosol chemistry, the diurnal cycle of Bsp, and the coincidence of forest fires on Sumatra during the southwest (SW) monsoon period, as well as transport modelling for one week of the southwest Monsoon of 2000. The study highlights that whilst transboundary smoke is a major contributor to poor visibility in the Klang Valley, smoke from fires on Peninsular Malaysia is also a contributor, and at all times, the domestic source of secondary particle production is present

Relaciones entre el ambiente de sedimentación y los procesos diagenéticos en las areniscas del Buntsandstein del Umbral de Ateca (Cordillera Ibérica).

Los sedimentos de facies Buntsandstein del Umbral de Ateca se depositaron en un medio de transición, en áreas intra y supramareales, dentro de un sistema deltaico dominado por procesos de "crevassing". En base a los datos de campo y también a parte de los petrológicos cabe, además, la interpretación, menos probable, de que el medio sedimentario fuera lacustre salobre y esporádicamente evaporítico, donde la sedimentación se realizará, fundamentalmente, a partir de flujos gravitatorios de elevada densidad. Los cuerpos arenosos son arcosas y subarcosas ricas en materia orgánica presentando, asociadas a la misma, una serie de concreciones (microgeodas) originadas posiblemente por acción bacteriana y de hongos. También son frecuentes las rizocreciones y otras marcas de carácter edáfico. Los cementos más significativos y abundantes y su secuencia de formación serían: óxidos de Fe y Mn, calcita, feldespato potásico, siderita, calcita ferrosa, anhidrita, dolomita, baritina, calcita y caolinita. Este tipo de secuencia de cementación no se parece a la encontrada en los sedimentos del Buntsandstein de áreas próximas en la Cordillera Ibérica y es bastante similar al encontrado por CASTELLTORT et al. (1987). en las areniscas de facies evaporíticas (sabkha costera), del Muschelkalk Medio de los Catalánides. Este hecho nos confirma la idea que por datos sedimentológicos de campo se había deducido, respecto a su ambiente de sedimentación y a su posible equivalencia lateral con el Muschelkalk Inferior y Medio de la Cordillera Ibérica en su extremo oriental y de los Catalánides. De la tipología de los granos de cuarzo y de la composición de las areniscas se deduce que las áreas fuentes eran los gneises del Macizo Hespérico, al igual que para el Buntsandstein de áreas próximas (ARRIBAS et al., 1985), con influencia menos marcada de áreas metamórficas de bajo grado, al menos en los sedimentos arenosos

Trajectory measurement of bunches ejected from the CERN PSB

The transfer line of the PS Booster(PSB) recombines beams from the 4 vertically stacked rings of the PSB and sends them to 1 of 3 possible destinations: the 26 GeV PS, ISOLDE, or the measurement line. To acquire the transverse positions of the beam, 18 electrostatic pick-ups are distributed along the lines and variable gain triple-channel amplifiers (DH, DV and S), equipped with a calibration system that operates every cycle, are mounted on each pick-up. The digitisation is achieved with 8-bit 250MHz ADC VME modules. Data treatment allows simultaneous calculations of the beam position corresponding to each ring to be made for all pick-ups on every cycle as well as allowing calibration, base-line correction and auto-ranging for optimising the resolution of the fast ADCs. Measurements are made with a resolution of 0.3 mm (full scale 33 mm) over an intensity range of 100 for a maximum of 1013 protons per ring. The data treatment is performed as a real-time task in a VME crate equipped with a Motorola MVME147 CPU board and conforms to the standard instrumentation protocol as well as the PS control system

The closed orbit measurement system for the CERN Antiproton Decelerator

The closed-orbit measurement system for the new Antiproton Decelerator (AD) employs 59 electrostatic pick-ups (PU). The intensity range from 2·1010 down to 107 particles poses challenging demands on the dynamic range and noise of the head amplifier. A low noiseamplifier has been developed, having an equivalent input noise of 0.6nV/√(Hz), allowing beam positions to be measured to ±0.5 mm with 5·106 particles. Two different gains take care of the large dynamic range. After amplification and multiplexing, the PU signals are fed to a network analyser, where each measurement point corresponds to one PU. The network analyser is phase locked to the RF of the AD, thus acting as a “tracking filter” instrument. An orbit measurement takes from 0.2 to 12 s depending on the IF-bandwidth of the network analyser, selected according to the beam intensity, and the precision required. At the end of the network analyser sweep the data are read via a GPIB interface and treated by a real-time task running in a VME based Power PC

A fluorescence in situ staining method for investigating spores and vegetative cells of Clostridia by confocal laser scanning microscopy and structured illuminated microscopy

Non-pathogenic spore-forming Clostridia are of increasing interest due to their application in biogas production and their capability to spoil different food products. The life cycle for Clostridium includes a spore stage that can assist in survival under environmentally stressful conditions, such as extremes of temperature or pH. Due to their size, spores can be investigated by a range of microscopic techniques, many of which involve sample pretreatment. We have developed a quick, simple and non-destructive fluorescent staining procedure that allows a clear differentiation between spores and vegetative cells and effectively stains spores, allowing recovery and tracking in subsequent experiments. Hoechst 34580, Propidium iodide and wheat germ agglutinin WGA 488 were used in combination to stain four strains of Clostridia at different life cycle stages. Staining was conducted without drying the sample, preventing changes induced by dehydration and cells observed by confocal laser scanner microscopy or using a super-resolution microscope equipped with a 3D-structured illumination module. Dual staining with Hoechst/Propidium iodide differentiated spores from vegetative cells, provided information on the viability of cells and was successfully applied to follow spore production induced by heating. Superresolution microscopy of spores probed by Hoechst 34580 also allowed chromatin to be visualised. Direct staining of a cheese specimen using Nile Red and Fast Green allowed in situ observation of spores within the cheese and their position within the cheese matrix. The proposed staining method has broad applicability and can potentially be applied to follow Clostridium spore behaviour in a range of different environments