State of the LHC Main Magnets

The main features of the dipole magnet design have been frozen in 1996 and important steps for the preparation of their series production are being taken in the current year. To finilize the technical specifications of the superconducting cables and other components, a number of detail variants are being validated with the construction and test of short and long magnets. Thus, beside a number of 1 m long models, four 10 m long models of the main dipoles and two 14.2 m prototypes are being assembled in industry and at CERN. The fabrication of a further set of 3 full length dipoles is also starting in industry to verify the reproducibility of production performance. The lifetime and fatigue test of the String Test Facility, consisting of three dipoles and one quadrupole and simulating the basic periodic cell of the LHC, has been successfully concluded. The String was repetitively cycled between the injection field of 0.6 T and the operational field of 8.4 T, 24 hours per day, and has accumulated more than 2100 cycles, corresponding to about ten years of machine operation. The final design of the main quadrupoles, based on the use of the dipole coil outer layer cable, is being worked out by CEA, Saclay and the construction of two new prototypes has been launched

The emergence of commercial genomics: analysis of the rise of a biotechnology subsector during the Human Genome Project, 1990 to 2004.

BackgroundDevelopment of the commercial genomics sector within the biotechnology industry relied heavily on the scientific commons, public funding, and technology transfer between academic and industrial research. This study tracks financial and intellectual property data on genomics firms from 1990 through 2004, thus following these firms as they emerged in the era of the Human Genome Project and through the 2000 to 2001 market bubble.MethodsA database was created based on an early survey of genomics firms, which was expanded using three web-based biotechnology services, scientific journals, and biotechnology trade and technical publications. Financial data for publicly traded firms was collected through the use of four databases specializing in firm financials. Patent searches were conducted using firm names in the US Patent and Trademark Office website search engine and the DNA Patent Database.ResultsA biotechnology subsector of genomics firms emerged in parallel to the publicly funded Human Genome Project. Trends among top firms show that hiring, capital improvement, and research and development expenditures continued to grow after a 2000 to 2001 bubble. The majority of firms are small businesses with great diversity in type of research and development, products, and services provided. Over half the public firms holding patents have the majority of their intellectual property portfolio in DNA-based patents.ConclusionsThese data allow estimates of investment, research and development expenditures, and jobs that paralleled the rise of genomics as a sector within biotechnology between 1990 and 2004

Sports Tournament Predictions Using Direct Manipulation

An advanced interface for sports tournament predictions uses direct manipulation to allow users to make nonlinear predictions. Unlike previous interface designs, the interface helps users focus on their prediction tasks by enabling them to first choose a winner and then fill out the rest of the bracket. In real-world tests of the proposed interface (for the 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament and 2015/2016 UEFA Champions League), the authors validated the use of direct manipulation as an alternative to widgets. Using visitor interaction logs, they were able to determine the strategies people use to perform predictions and identify potential areas of improvement for further prediction interfaces

Status of the Construction of the First 15 m Long Superconducting Dipole Prototype for the LHC

CERN and INFN are jointly building the first full-size superconducting dipole prototype for the LHC. This magnet, whose construction was launched in spring 1995, is completely manufactured in industry . Its fabrication required the upgrade of the tooling which was used to build three 10-m long prototypes under a previous CERN-INFN Collaboration. The construction is being completed and the cryostate d magnet is expected to be at CERN for testing by the end of 1997. In this paper we discuss the results of the measurements carried out at 4.2 K and 2 K to determine the conductor properties (Ic of wi res and cables, magnetization), as well as the short sample limit. The main features of the coil construction are presented, together with the results of the main fabrication phases. In particular, th e validity of the fabrication techniques is assessed based on the obtained results

SoccerStories: A Kick-off for Visual Soccer Analysis

This article presents SoccerStories, a visualization interface to support analysts in exploring soccer data and communicating interesting insights. Currently, most analyses on such data relate to statistics on individual players or teams. However, soccer analysts we collaborated with consider that quantitative analysis alone does not convey the right picture of the game, as context, player positions and phases of player actions are the most relevant aspects. We designed SoccerStories to support the current practice of soccer analysts and to enrich it, both in the analysis and communication stages. Our system provides an overview+detail interface of game phases, and their aggregation into a series of connected visualizations, each visualization being tailored for actions such as a series of passes or a goal attempt. To evaluate our tool, we ran two qualitative user studies on recent games using SoccerStories with data from one of the world's leading live sports data providers. The first study resulted in a series of four articles on soccer tactics, by a tactics analyst, who said he would not have been able to write these otherwise. The second study consisted in an exploratory follow-up to investigate design alternatives for embedding soccer phases into word-sized graphics. For both experiments, we received a very enthusiastic feedback and participants consider further use of SoccerStories to enhance their current workflow

Avaliação agronômica de pastagens manejadas em um sistema de pastejo rotacionado no Estado do Amazonas.

Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar aspectos produtivos de modelos de sistemas de pastejo rotacionado intensivo visando a determinar aspectos da pastagem e da produção animal

Characterization of Prototype Superfluid Helium Safety Relief Valves for the LHC Magnets

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN will use high field superconducting magnets operating in pressurized superfluid helium (He II) at 1.9 K. Cold safety valves, with their inlet in direct contact with the He II bath, will be required to protect the cold masses in case of a magnet resistive transition. In addition to the safety function, the valves must limit their conduction heat load to the He II to below 0.3 W and limit their mass leakage when closed to below 0.01 g/s at 1.9 K with 100 mbar differential pressure. The valves must also have a high tolerance to contaminating particles in the liquid helium. The compliance with the specified performance is of crucial importance for the LHC cryogenic operation. An extensive test program is therefore being carried out on prototype industrial valves produced by four different manufacturers. The behavior of these valves has been investigated at room temperature and at 77 K. Precise heat load and mass leak measurements have been performed on a dedicated test facility at superfluid helium temperature. Results of cold and warm tests performed on as-delivered valves are presented