MACHe3, a prototype for non-baryonic dark matter search: KeV event detection and multicell correlation

Superfluid He3 at ultra-low temperatures (100 microKelvins) is a sensitive medium for the bolometric detection of particles. MACHe3 (MAtrix of Cells of Helium 3) is a project for non-baryonic dark matter search using He3 as a sensitive medium. Simulations made on a high granularity detector show a very good rejection to background signals. A multicell prototype including 3 bolometers has been developed to allow correlations between the cells for background event discrimination. One of the cells contains a low activity Co57 source providing conversion electrons of 7.3 and 13.6 keV to confirm the detection of low energy events. First results on the multicell prototype are presented. A detection threshold of 1 keV has been achieved. The detection of low energy conversion electrons coming from the Co57 source is highlighted as well as the cosmic muon spectrum measurement. The possibility to reject background events by using the correlation among the cells is demonstrated from the simultaneous detection of muons in different cells

Remembering and knowing: using another's subjective report to make inferences about memory strength and subjective experience

The Remember-Know paradigm is commonly used to examine experiential states during recognition. In this paradigm, whether a Know response is defined as a high-confidence state of certainty or a low-confidence state based on familiarity varies across researchers, and differences in definitions and instructions have been shown to influence participants' responding. Using a novel approach, in three internet-based questionnaires participants were placed in the role of 'memory expert' and classified others' justifications of recognition decisions. Results demonstrated that participants reliably differentiated between others' memory experiences--both in terms of confidence and other inherent differences in the justifications. Furthermore, under certain conditions, manipulations of confidence were found to shift how items were assigned to subjective experience categories (Remember, Know, Familiar, and Guess). Findings are discussed in relation to the relationship between subjective experience and confidence, and the separation of Know and Familiar response categories within the Remember-Know paradigm

Desempenho agro-econômico do feijoeiro comum semeado em duas época da safrinha no médio-norte matogrossense.

Esse trabalho objetivou determinar e analisar os indicadores agro-econômicos de nove cultivares do feijoeiro comum, semeadas na safrinha do ano agrícola de 2010-11 em duas épocas distintas (15/02/2011 e 25/02/2011) dentro do município de Sinop (MT).CONAFE

Desempenho agro-econômico do consórcio entre feijão-comum e Brachiaria ruziziensis implantado simultâneamente na safrinha do médio-norte matogrossense.

Esse trabalho objetivou analisar o desempenho agro-econômico de oito consórcios entre feijão-comum e Brachiaria ruziziensis implantados simultaneamente na safrinha do médio-norte matogrossense, submetidos ou não, á dose reduzida de graminicida.CONAFE

Fitting in a complex chi^2 landscape using an optimized hypersurface sampling

Fitting a data set with a parametrized model can be seen geometrically as finding the global minimum of the chi^2 hypersurface, depending on a set of parameters {P_i}. This is usually done using the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm. The main drawback of this algorithm is that despite of its fast convergence, it can get stuck if the parameters are not initialized close to the final solution. We propose a modification of the Metropolis algorithm introducing a parameter step tuning that optimizes the sampling of parameter space. The ability of the parameter tuning algorithm together with simulated annealing to find the global chi^2 hypersurface minimum, jumping across chi^2{P_i} barriers when necessary, is demonstrated with synthetic functions and with real data

ESF Science Policy briefing on research infrastructures in the digital humanities: landscapes, ecosystems and cultures

Last September the European Science Foundation (ESF) published a so called Science Policy Briefing (SPB) on Research Infrastructures in the Digital Humanities;1 the first ESF publication of this type entirely commissioned by the scientific governance representing the Humanities – a unique body in Europe: the Standing Committee for the Humanities (SCH), chaired by Professor Milena Žic Fuchs. The report aims both at serving a research community that is expanding and eager to see its efforts of engaging with computational modelling recognised as authoritative research in need of adequate research infrastructures, and the policy makers arena, where strategies on research infrastructures for the humanities are rarely shared at the international and sometimes national level. The research community and information professionals – involved in various fashions in the development of this ESF publication as workshop participants, authors,2 reviewers,3 commentators – can make and are making use of this report to legitimise their research questions and funding requests, while policy makers – from research funders to University deans - will also find strategical directions to take on or be inspired by

A different look at the spin state of Co3+^{3+} ions in CoO5_{5} pyramidal coordination

Using soft-x-ray absorption spectroscopy at the Co-$L_{2,3}$ and O-$K$ edges, we demonstrate that the Co$^{3+}$ ions with the CoO$_{5}$ pyramidal coordination in the layered Sr$_2$CoO$_3$Cl compound are unambiguously in the high spin state. Our result questions the reliability of the spin state assignments made so far for the recently synthesized layered cobalt perovskites, and calls for a re-examination of the modeling for the complex and fascinating properties of these new materials.Comment: 5 pages 3 figure

Autobiographical memory and amnesia: using conceptual knowledge to ground the self

A case of retrograde amnesia, PJM, elucidated the relationship between self, episodic memory and autobiographical knowledge. Results from a variety of measures including the I Am Memory Task (IAM Task), where memories are cued by self-generated self concepts, demonstrate that PJM has a coherent, continuous sense of self, despite having lost episodic memories for an 18-month period. Her use of conceptual autobiographical knowledge, in episodic tasks and to support aspects of identity, shows how autobiographical knowledge can support the self when episodic memories are inaccessible. These results are discussed with relation to current neuropsychological models of self and memory

Self-centred memories: the reminiscence bump and the self

The self-memory relationship is thought to be bidirectional, in such a way that memories provide context for the self, and equally, the self exercises control over retrieval (Conway, 2005). Autobiographical memories are not distributed equally across the life span; instead, memories peak between ages 10 and 30. This reminiscence bump has been suggested to support the emergence of a stable and enduring self. In the present study, the relationship between memory accessibility and self was explored with a novel methodology that used generation of self images in the form of I am statements. Memories generated from I am cues clustered around the time of emergence for that particular self image. We argue that, when a new self-image is formed, it is associated with the encoding of memories that are relevant to that self and that remain highly accessible to the rememberer later in life. This study offers a new methodology for academics and clinicians interested in the relationship between memory and identity