Engagement With a Custom-Made Online System Designed to Support Undergraduate Work Placement

This paper describes an online system that was custom-made to allow BSc Optometry undergraduates to submit work electronically, while off-campus on work placement. One of the main aims of the system was to allow internal (college) supervisors to provide students with timely, formative feedback on work submitted. The system was piloted in academic year 2013-14 and an intrinsic case study was carried out to examine the engagement of the students, the external placement supervisors and the internal supervisors with the system. Engagement was gauged by examining all subjects’ interaction with the system and by asking them to complete a post placement questionnaire. The results showed a high level of engagement from both the students and external supervisors but a lower level of engagement from the internal supervisors, in particular with regard to the provision of formative feedback. Possible reasons for the different levels of engagement are discussed and changes to be made to the system for academic year 2014-15 (based on the findings of the case study) are outlined

Components Qualification for a Possible use in the Mu2e Calorimeter Waveform Digitizers

The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab searches for the charged flavor violating conversion of a muon into an electron in the Coulomb field of a nucleus. The detector consists of a straw tube tracker and a CSI crystal electromagnetic calorimeter, both housed in a superconducting solenoid. Both the front-end and the digital electronics, located inside the cryostat, will be operated in vacuum under a 1 T magnetic field, having to sustain the high flux of neutrons and ionizing particles coming from the muons stopping target. These harsh experimental conditions make the design of the calorimeter waveform digitizer quite challenging. All the selected commercial devices must be tested individually and qualified for radiation hardness and operation in high magnetic field. At the moment the expected particles flux and spectra at the digitizers location are not completely simulated and we are using initial rough estimates to select the components for the first prototype. We are gaining experience in the qualification procedures using the selected components but the choice will be frozen only when dose and neutron flux simulations will be completed. The experimental results of the first qualification campaign are presented.Comment: TWEPP 2016 - Topical Workshop on Electronics for Particle Physics, 26-30 September 2016, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT

WGEAWESS: Integrated Ecosystems Assessment of the Western European Shelf Seas

oral presentation abstractTraditionally, integrated ecosystem assessment (IEA) has been developed regionally using different strategies and tools, leading to problems of comparability and integration and even different assessments of status (e.g. GES) across shared boundaries. WGEAWESS undertakes IEA throughout the western European shelf seas to support ecosystem-based management (EBM) measures at the local, national, regional and EU levels. Relevant to key EU Directives (e.g. MSFD, WFD & CFP), IEA makes explicit links between human activities and ecosystem health, assessing the scale of impact and recovery, enabling targeted management and mitigation measures. Employing a combination of integrated trend analyses to generate time series of pressures and impacts, semi-quantitative methods to fill data gaps and inform future research effort, and reviewing and updating existing ecosystem models throughout the regions, WGEAWESS reviews and assesses patterns of human activities, their pressures, and ecosystem components to underpin the process. WGEAWESS is developing plans to advance this work thought a large scale project that would use quantitative integrators of ecosystem functioning (indicators) in experimental platforms to assess and gain insight into pressure effects and proliferation, and to forecast futures under various management scenarios. Case study investigations, with priorities specified via direct engagement with relevant stakeholders, would enable management decisions to be based on regional and/or local priorities, and ensuring recognition of the social context. Finally, a guide on translating IEA into advice for EBM and demonstrating its practical use in informing specific issues regarding the management of ecosystem services would be produced, along with an interactive web-based ‘living’ tool which will and provide a key resource for researchers, decision-makers and the general public alike

Pre-Production and Quality Assurance of the Mu2e Calorimeter Silicon Photomultipliers

The Mu2e electromagnetic calorimeter has to provide precise information on energy, time and position for $\sim$100 MeV electrons. It is composed of 1348 un-doped CsI crystals, each coupled to two large area Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs). A modular and custom SiPM layout consisting of a 3$\times$2 array of 6$\times$6 mm$^2$ UV-extended monolithic SiPMs has been developed to fulfill the Mu2e calorimeter requirements and a pre-production of 150 prototypes has been procured by three international firms (Hamamatsu, SensL and Advansid). A detailed quality assurance process has been carried out on this first batch of photosensors: the breakdown voltage, the gain, the quenching time, the dark current and the Photon Detection Efficiency (PDE) have been determined for each monolithic cell of each SiPMs array. One sample for each vendor has been exposed to a neutron fluency up to $\sim$8.5~$\times$~10$^{11}$ 1 MeV (Si) eq. n/cm$^{2}$ and a linear increase of the dark current up to tens of mA has been observed. Others 5 samples for each vendor have undergone an accelerated aging in order to verify a Mean Time To Failure (MTTF) higher than $\sim$10$^{6}$ hours.Comment: NDIP 2017 - New Developments In Photodetection, 3-7 July 2017, Tours (France

Inserción laboral de los graduados en la Facultad de Economía del Centro Regional Universitario de Azuero (CRUA), Universidad de Panamá: 1998-2014

The labor insertion and occupational situation of the graduates of the Faculty of Economics of CRUA was started with a descriptive cross-sectional study and a simple random sample of 162 (42% of the population). Significant percentage did not continue their academic training; more than two thirds of the graduates used a single way to access the labor market, mainly using personal contacts and professional practice. High percentage entered the labor market less than a year after completing studies, in commercial and service companies, followed by banking and financial institutions (Finance and Banking) and nonfinancial government enterprises (Economy). Most get a first full-time, indefinite-term contract with an average salary of B/. 457.65, standing 71%, in the range of B/. 500.00 or less. A high percentage of graduates perceived that their first job was "totally" or "partially” related to the training they received and that their job placement was "successful" or "very successful".Se analizó la inserción laboral y la situación ocupacional de los graduados de la Facultad de Economía del CRUA con un estudio descriptivo- transversal y una muestra aleatoria simple de 162 (42% de la población). Significativo porcentaje no ha continuado su formación académica; más de dos tercios de los graduados utilizaron una sola vía para acceder al mercado laboral, principalmente usando contactos personales y la práctica profesional. Alto porcentaje se insertó al mercado laboral a menos de un año después de culminar estudios, en empresas comerciales y de servicios, seguida de las instituciones bancarias y financieras (Finanzas y Banca) y las empresas no financieras del gobierno (Economía). La mayoría logra un primer contrato de tipo indefinido, a tiempo completo y con una media salarial de B/. 457.65, ubicándose un 71%, en el rango de B/. 500.00 o menos. Un alto porcentaje de los graduados percibía que su primer empleo se relacionó “totalmente” o “parcialmente” con la formación recibida y que su inserción laboral fue “exitosa” o “muy exitosa”

Reserva Forestal El Montuoso: Vinculación económica de las comunidades de influencia con su ecosistema

The communities’ economic link to the Forest Reserve El Montuoso (FRM) was analyzed using a stra-tified cluster sampling. Communities depend on the direct benefits from this ecosystem for its survival, through the availability (87 per cent of the homes) and use of their lands for agricultural purposes (74 per cent), in rice and corn crops for self-consumption, and livestock and poultry production (76 per cent), mainly chickens and pigs. Crop and livestock farming allow residents to have access to unpaid jobs or self-employments (53 per cent) and to paid jobs, mainly for temporary farmworkers. Likewise, 67 per cent of the families generate monetary re-venues through the sale of products, mainly livestock. The families’ income indicators are all relatively low evidencing the high state of poverty of these communities. The benefits obtained by the FRM are threatened by the degradation of the ecosystem as a result of deforestation, the use of inappropriate technologies, such as tree-felling and burning, and the non-incorporation of conservation practices. Utilizando un muestreo estratificado por conglomerado, se analizó la vinculación económica de las comunidades con la Reserva Forestal El Montuoso (RFM). Las comunidades dependen, para su supervivencia, de los beneficios directos obtenidos de este ecosistema, a través de la disponibilidad (87% de los hogares) y uso de sus tierras en la agricultura (74%), en cultivos de arroz y maíz para el autoconsumo y en la producción pecuaria (76%), principalmente aves y cerdos. Las actividades agropecuarias permiten a estos habitantes acceder al empleo no asalariado o autoempleo (53%) y al asalariado, sobre todo como jornalero eventual (57%). Igualmente, el 67%de las familias genera ingresos monetarios con la venta de productos mayormente pecuarios. Todos los indica-dores de ingreso familiar son relativamente muy bajos, mostrando estas comunidades un estado de marcada pobreza. Los beneficios obtenidos de la RFM están amenazados por una degradación del ecosistema, caracteri-zado por la deforestación, uso de tecnologías no apropiadas, como tala y quema, y la no incorporación de prác-ticas de conservación

Design, status and perspective of the Mu2e crystal calorimeter

The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab will search for the charged lepton flavor violating process of neutrino-less $\mu \to e$ coherent conversion in the field of an aluminum nucleus. Mu2e will reach a single event sensitivity of about $2.5\cdot 10^{-17}$ that corresponds to four orders of magnitude improvements with respect to the current best limit. The detector system consists of a straw tube tracker and a crystal calorimeter made of undoped CsI coupled with Silicon Photomultipliers. The calorimeter was designed to be operable in a harsh environment where about 10 krad/year will be delivered in the hottest region and work in presence of 1 T magnetic field. The calorimeter role is to perform $\mu$/e separation to suppress cosmic muons mimiking the signal, while providing a high level trigger and a seeding the track search in the tracker. In this paper we present the calorimeter design and the latest R$\&$D results.Comment: 4 pages, conference proceeding for a presentation held at TIPP'2017. To be published on Springer Proceedings in Physic

Integrated ecosystem analysis in Irish waters; Providing the context for ecosystem-based sheries management

File replaced (docx to pdf) on 26.4.23 by NK (LDS)Fishing has long been considered the most impactful human activity on the marine ecosystem. To adopt ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) requires consideration of all human impacts, not just those of fishing. The ODEMM (Options for Delivering Ecosystem-based Marine Management) approach provides an integrated ecosystem assessment that is a flexible, cost-efficient and expert-based. The framework traces the sectors affecting the marine environment, the pressures they create, and the ecological characteristics affected. This research presents the first application of the ODEMM framework outside of the ODEMM project, completed for Ireland's marine waters. The assessment places fishing in the context of other anthropogenic pressures and highlights areas of threat to Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) descriptors. From 1874 impact chains, just 59 (44 of which were attributed to the fishing sector) account for 64% of the Total Risk score, highlighting areas for management action with a high risk-reduction return. Of the sectors, The analysis showed Waste Water to have the highest average risk of all sectors, followed by Land-based Industry, Fishing and then Shipping. In terms of total risk, Fishing was the most important sector, due to its high connectance to many ecosystem components and widespread influence, even though many of the impacts are relatively low and the components impacted show a high degree of recoverability. Litter was identified as the pressure with the highest total risk scores (average and summed) due to its persistence, and widespread reach. Among the ecological characteristics, deep water habitats that have low resilience to pressures showed the highest average total risk, yet the highest impact risks were for ecological characteristics that were closer to land and were impacted more frequently. These conclusions highlight the importance of context and interpretation in the analysis. The impact chains were further linked through to the MSFD environmental status descriptors, indicating Biological Diversity and Food Webs as the descriptors most at risk, followed by Sea-floor Integrity. As the first independent application of the method, issues arose with interpretation of some categories and definitions, and some modifications are discussed. Overall, this has proven a valuable exercise for helping to identify management priorities. The analysis presented provides useful context for EBFM and a basis for decision making and trade-off analysis for Ireland. The ODEMM framework employed offers a comprehensive, adaptable, globally-applicable tool to guide ecosystem management and the decision-making process, by highlighting risk areas and priorities for management action and research