The use of cluster quality for track fitting in the CSC detector

The new particle accelerators and its experiments create a challenging data processing environment, characterized by large amount of data where only small portion of it carry the expected new scientific information. Modern detectors, such as the Cathode Strip Chamber (CSC), achieve high accuracy of coordinate measurements (between 50 to 70 microns). However, heavy physical backgrounds can decrease the accuracy significantly. In the presence of such background, the charge induced over adjacent CSC strips (cluster) is different from the ideal Matheison distribution. The traditional least squares method which takes the same ideal position error for all clusters loses its optimal properties on contaminated data. A new technique that calculates the cluster quality and uses it to improve the track fitting results is suggested. The algorithm is applied on test beam data, and its performance is compared to other fitting methods. It is shown that the suggested algorithm improves the fitting performance significantly.Comment: Proceedings of 2006 IEEE NSS, San Diego, California, USA, November 200

Pskov region of the Russian Federation as foreign policy actor

ABSTRACT Subnational foreign activities are a new and relatively unexplored aspect of the international system. The absence of clear and universal rules creates an ambiguous political playground that can be misused by both states and their subnational governmental units for reaching their foreign policy and foreign trade goals. Worldwide, different patterns for subnational foreign activities in federal states have emerged. For example, in the United States, member states of the federation are fighting over foreign investments mainly. In Germany, on the other hand, members of the federation have delegated their rights in terms of foreign activities to the federal government. In general, federations with long democratic traditions have managed to introduce the formulas for containing subnational foreign activities. In Russia, in contrast, the breakdown of the Soviet Union confronted both the federal centre and members of federation with a fundamentally new situation. In Soviet times, the territorial units of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (RSFSR), were of administrative nature only, i.e. they lacked the political dimension. Some of the Russian regions were using their newly-gained freedom for the purpose of challenging the federal centre. Pskov region of Russia has been one of the most active subnational actors

Funding projects in Russia and Eastern Partnership Countries

BeSt programmi toetusel loodud e-kursuse "Funding projects in Russia and Eastern Partnership Countries" õppematerjalid

Using a neural network approach for muon reconstruction and triggering

The extremely high rate of events that will be produced in the future Large Hadron Collider requires the triggering mechanism to take precise decisions in a few nano-seconds. We present a study which used an artificial neural network triggering algorithm and compared it to the performance of a dedicated electronic muon triggering system. Relatively simple architecture was used to solve a complicated inverse problem. A comparison with a realistic example of the ATLAS first level trigger simulation was in favour of the neural network. A similar architecture trained after the simulation of the electronics first trigger stage showed a further background rejection.Comment: A talk given at ACAT03, KEK, Japan, November 2003. Submitted to Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section

The external relations of the Pskov region of the Russian Federation

Die vorliegende Studie wurde im Auftrag des Schleswig-Holsteinischen Instituts für Friedenswissenschaften als eine von mehreren Fallstudien über die auswärtigen Beziehungen von "Ostsee-nahen" russischen Regionen erstellt und behandelt die russische Region Pskov. Die Autoren widmen sich zunächst der geographischen Lage, der Demographie und den natürlichen Ressourcen der Pskov Oblast. Im Anschluss daran werden die Entwicklungstrends inklusive der aktuellen Besonderheiten dargestellt. Besonders berücksichtigt werden dabei die ökonomische Entwicklung und der Transformationsprozess des politischen Systems seit 1990. Danach werden die Außenbeziehungen der Region unter folgenden Gesichtspunkten dargestellt: (1) Regionale Verwaltung; (2) das Regionalparlament; (3) der Repräsentant des Außenministers der Russischen Föderation; (4) städtische und lokale Autoritäten; (5) Geschäftsleute; (6) Nichtregierungsorganisationen; (7) Umweltprojekte und (8) Bildung. Im dritten Teil analysieren die Autoren die politischen und konzeptionellen Grundlagen der Außenbeziehungen der Region Pskov. Abschnitt vier beleuchtet die Außenbeziehungen im Kontext des russischen Föderalismus. Der nächste Teil befasst sich mit dem Aufkommen der Regionen als politischen Akteuren im Kontext externer Beziehungen. Die Autoren gehen dabei vor allem auf die rechtlichen Grundlagen ein. Im Anschluss daran erfolgt eine Klassifizierung der Regionen hinsichtlich ihrer Außenbeziehungen. Abschließend stellen die Autoren einige Ergebnisse der regionalen Außenpolitik sowie die institutionalisierten Kanäle subnationaler externer Aktivitäten vor. (ICD

A novel approach to track finding in a drift tube chamber

A novel track finding approach for drift tube detectors

GABA Withdrawal Modifies Network Activity in Cultured Hippocampal Neurons

Dissociated hippocampal neurons, grown in culture for 2 to 3 weeks, tended to fire bursts of synaptic currents at fairly regular intervals, representing network activity. A brief exposure of cultured neurons to GABA caused a total suppression of the spontaneous network activity. Following a washout of GABA, the activity was no longer clustered in bursts and instead, the cells fired at a high rate tonic manner. The effect of removing GABA could be seen as long as 1 to 2 days after GABA withdrawal and is expressed as an increase in the number of active cells in a network, as well as in their firing rates. Such striking effects of GABA removal may underlie part of the GABA withdrawal syndrome seen elsewhere

Tumor necrosis factor alpha induced proliferation of adult neural stem cells is mediated via NF-κB

Widera D, Mikenberg I, Elvers M, Kaltschmidt C, Kaltschmidt B. Tumor necrosis factor alpha triggers proliferation of adult neural stem cells via IKK/NF-kappa B signaling. BMC NEUROSCIENCE. 2006;8(Suppl 1):P1