Usage of the Python Programming Language on the CMS Experiment

Being a highly dynamic language and allowing reliable programming with quick turnarounds, Python is a widely used programming language in CMS. Most of the tools used in workflow management and the GRID interface tools are written in this language. Also most of the tools used in the context of release management: integration builds, release building and deploying, as well as performance measurements are in Python. With an interface to the CMS data formats, rapid prototyping of analyses and debugging is an additional use case. Finally in 2008 the CMS experiment switched to using Python as its configuration language. This talk will give an overview of the general usage of Python in the CMS experiment and discuss which features of the language make it well-suited for the existing use cases

The short-term strategy and plan for t¯t and single-top at the LHC

This paper is intended to give an overview of first t¯t and single-top physics results that the CMS and ATLAS Collaborations are going to provide with the early data. Particular attention is given to the determination of the t¯t crosssection and to the observation of the single top process at LHC. Early results on top quark mass determination are also discussed

Collaboration in Truck Appointment System in Container Terminals

Due to the continual increase of the global containerized trade, many container terminals face the problem of high demands that their current resource capacity cannot afford. The consequences of such situation are not only the long queues of trucks at the entrance gates and storage yards but also the large turnaround times of trucks. In response, Truck Appointment Systems (TAS) were introduced to schedule truck arrivals in order to alleviate the terminal rush hours, however, the mandatory appointments developed by TASs have a negative impact on the operations as well as resources of the trucking companies. In recent literature, this issue was considered by introducing collaborative TAS in which the trucking companies as well as the container terminals collaborate to set the truck appointments. This work elaborates on the difference between traditional and collaborative TAS and demonstrates how collaborative TAS can improve the performance of the container terminal and reduce the cost of the trucking companies.&nbsp

Does trust play a role when it comes to donations? A comparison of Italian and US higher education institutions

Higher education institutions (HEIs) have experienced severe cutbacks in funding over the past few years, with universities examining options for alternative funding streams, such as alumni funding. Identifying the factors influencing their alumni's intentions to invest in their alma mater can be of significant importance when establishing a sustainable revenue stream. Within this context, empirical research on the potential role of trust is scarce. This paper aims to deepen the analysis of the relationship between alumni trust and engagement as well as three outcomes, namely support, commitment, and attitude toward donation. A structural equation model was tested on two samples of US (  = 318) and Italian (  = 314) alumni. Although both countries are affluent and developed countries, the USA has an established tradition of alumni donations, which is not such a developed practice in Italy. For both countries, results confirm that engagement is an antecedent of trust, which in turn leads to the three investigated outcomes (support, commitment, and attitude toward donations). In contrast, the effect of commitment on attitude toward donations is significant only for the USA universities. The paper has interesting theoretical and managerial implications. From a theoretical point of view, the study aims to address a gap concerning the role of trust in the HE context. Managerially, the study has significant implications for universities that want to change alumni attitude toward donations. [Abstract copyright: © Springer Nature B.V. 2020.

Pendlingens sociale geografi: Transportmiddelvalg i lyset af pendlerens politiske holdninger, sociale normer og kultur

Danske pendlere kører fortrinsvist i bil – også i store byer som København. Når rejsetiden er 20 minutter i bil var der blandt pendlere bosiddende i Hovedstaden godt 15 % cyklister, 35 % bilister og 15 % i offentlig transport. De resterende 35 % var enten til fods eller vekslede mellem forskellige transportmidler fra dag til dag. Tilsvarende ved 20 minutter var andelene blandt sjællændere godt 5 % cyklister, 55 % bilister og godt 5 % i offentlig transport. Region Nord- og Midtjylland havde begge 5 % på cykel, 75 % i bil og 5 % i offentlig transport. I Syddanmark sås ved 20 minutters rejsetid 10 % cyklister, 60 % i bil og 5 % i bus/tog. Beregningerne er baseret på data fra en spørgeskemaundersøgelse blandt 2235 pendlere. Vi estimerede elasticitet i transportmiddelvalget med hensyn til rejsetid i bil. Rejsetiderne blev beregnet ved brug af Google Maps Distance Matrix. Pendlerne var alle i beskæftigelse, 18-65 år og med samme fordeling af køn, alder, geografi og uddannelse, som den danske baggrundsbefolkning. Desuden præsenteres en typologi afpendlere, der indeholder 4 overordnede grupperinger. “Bilister uden klare holdninger” (32 %), “grønne pendlere i storbyen” (30 %), “bilister der bor uden for de store byer” (23 %) og endelig ”anti-grønne bilister” (15 %). Denne opdeling i pendler-grupperinger indeholdt overraskende få holdninger og kultur

Bidirectionally Tolerating Inconsistency: Partial Transformations

Abstract. A foundational property of bidirectional transformations is that they should be correct: that is, the transformation should succeed in restoring consistency between any models it is given. In practice, how-ever, transformation engines sometimes fail to restore consistency, e.g. because there is no consistent model to return, or because the tool is unable to select a best model to return from among equally good candi-dates. In this paper, we formalise properties that may nevertheless hold in such circumstances and discuss relationships and implications.

Signal-to-Noise Measurements on Irradiated CMS Tracker Detector Modules in an Electron Testbeam

The CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN is in the last phase of its construction. The harsh radiation environment at LHC will put strong demands in radiation hardness to the innermost parts of the detector. To assess the performance of irradiated microstrip detector modules, a testbeam was conducted at the Testbeam 22 facility of the DESY research center. The primary objective was the signal-to-noise measurement of irradiated CMS Tracker modules to ensure their functionality up to 10 years of LHC operation. The paper briefly summarises the basic setup at the facility and the hardware and software used to collect and analyse the data. Some interesting subsidiary results are shown, which confirm the expected behaviour of the detector with respect to the signal-to-noise performance over the active detector area and for different electron energies. The main focus of the paper are the results of the signal-to-noise measurements for CMS Tracker Modules which were exposed to different radiation doses

VirE2: A Unique ssDNA-Compacting Molecular Machine

The translocation of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) across membranes of two cells is a fundamental biological process occurring in both bacterial conjugation and Agrobacterium pathogenesis. Whereas bacterial conjugation spreads antibiotic resistance, Agrobacterium facilitates efficient interkingdom transfer of ssDNA from its cytoplasm to the host plant cell nucleus. These processes rely on the Type IV secretion system (T4SS), an active multiprotein channel spanning the bacterial inner and outer membranes. T4SSs export specific proteins, among them relaxases, which covalently bind to the 5' end of the translocated ssDNA and mediate ssDNA export. In Agrobacterium tumefaciens, another exported protein—VirE2—enhances ssDNA transfer efficiency 2000-fold. VirE2 binds cooperatively to the transferred ssDNA (T-DNA) and forms a compact helical structure, mediating T-DNA import into the host cell nucleus. We demonstrated—using single-molecule techniques—that by cooperatively binding to ssDNA, VirE2 proteins act as a powerful molecular machine. VirE2 actively pulls ssDNA and is capable of working against 50-pN loads without the need for external energy sources. Combining biochemical and cell biology data, we suggest that, in vivo, VirE2 binding to ssDNA allows an efficient import and pulling of ssDNA into the host. These findings provide a new insight into the ssDNA translocation mechanism from the recipient cell perspective. Efficient translocation only relies on the presence of ssDNA binding proteins in the recipient cell that compacts ssDNA upon binding. This facilitated transfer could hence be a more general ssDNA import mechanism also occurring in bacterial conjugation and DNA uptake processes

Somatotopic map and inter- and intra-digit distance in Brodmann area 2 by pressure stimulation

The somatotopic representation of the tactile stimulation on the finger in the brain is an essential part of understanding the human somatosensory system as well as rehabilitation and other clinical therapies. Many studies have used vibrotactile stimulations and reported finger somatotopic representations in the Brodmann area 3 (BA 3). On the contrary, few studies investigated finger somatotopic representation using pressure stimulations. Therefore, the present study aimed to find a comprehensive somatotopic representation (somatotopic map and inter- and intra-digit distance) within BA 2 of humans that could describe tactile stimulations on different joints across the fingers by applying pressure stimulation to three joints-the first (p1), second (p2), and third (p3) joints-of four fingers (index, middle, ring, and little finger). Significant differences were observed in the inter-digit distance between the first joints (p1) of the index and little fingers, and between the third joints (p3) of the index and little fingers. In addition, a significant difference was observed in the intra-digit distance between p1 and p3 of the little finger. This study suggests that a somatotopic map and inter- and intra-digit distance could be found in BA 2 in response to pressure stimulation on finger joints.ope