Zero to eight : young children and their internet use

EU Kids Online has spent seven years investigating 9-16 year olds’ engagement with the internet, focusing on the benefits and risks of children’s internet use. While this meant examining the experiences of much younger children than had been researched before EU Kids Online began its work in 2006, there is now a critical need for information about the internet-related behaviours of 0-8 year olds. EU Kids Online’s research shows that children are now going online at a younger and younger age, and that young children’s “lack of technical, critical and social skills may pose [a greater] risk” (Livingstone et al, 2011, p. 3).peer-reviewe

User centered design: Tools for encouraging climate change adaptation

Climate change and it's societal response in the form of mitigation and adaptation strategies have potentially very large impacts in different sectors, especially on regions with a high vulnerability. Climate change will greatly affect agricultural and natural ecosystems and urban centers. The scale and complexity of the interactions represent a challenge for policy makers, researchers and the public at large. It is the role of the policy maker at different levels of government to facilitate and encourage adaptation and to achieve the level of transparency needed to obtain the public support for taking far-reaching measures. The European Climate Adaptation Platform Climate-ADAPT supports Europe in adapting to climate change by providing information and knowledge on expected climate change, current and future vulnerability of regions and sectors; letting users learn from each other's national and transnational adaptation strategies, adaptation case studies and potential adaptation options and, guidance on how to plan for adaptation. The platform was developed through an intensive collaboration with stakeholders, climate adaptation experts, a steering committee and the donor in 1.5 years. Different groups provided feedback at different time intervals ranging from biweekly teleconferences to quarterly workshops. The close collaboration promoted buy-in, an ongoing commitment of users and donors and several champions promoting the platform. In the first three months of the project a scoping document and a software concept were created using semi-structured interviews and wire-frames. During the development phase evolutionary prototypes were used to elicit feedback in the form of comments, paper sketches and story boards to be i mplemented in the following increment. In this process insights changed, new tools were conceived and some early ideas were dropped.</p

User centered design: Tools for encouraging climate change adaptation

Climate change and it's societal response in the form of mitigation and adaptation strategies have potentially very large impacts in different sectors, especially on regions with a high vulnerability. Climate change will greatly affect agricultural and natural ecosystems and urban centers. The scale and complexity of the interactions represent a challenge for policy makers, researchers and the public at large. It is the role of the policy maker at different levels of government to facilitate and encourage adaptation and to achieve the level of transparency needed to obtain the public support for taking far-reaching measures. The European Climate Adaptation Platform Climate-ADAPT supports Europe in adapting to climate change by providing information and knowledge on expected climate change, current and future vulnerability of regions and sectors; letting users learn from each other's national and transnational adaptation strategies, adaptation case studies and potential adaptation options and, guidance on how to plan for adaptation. The platform was developed through an intensive collaboration with stakeholders, climate adaptation experts, a steering committee and the donor in 1.5 years. Different groups provided feedback at different time intervals ranging from biweekly teleconferences to quarterly workshops. The close collaboration promoted buy-in, an ongoing commitment of users and donors and several champions promoting the platform. In the first three months of the project a scoping document and a software concept were created using semi-structured interviews and wire-frames. During the development phase evolutionary prototypes were used to elicit feedback in the form of comments, paper sketches and story boards to be i mplemented in the following increment. In this process insights changed, new tools were conceived and some early ideas were dropped.</p

Transverse-momentum and pseudorapidity distributions of charged hadrons in pppp collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 7 TeV

Charged-hadron transverse-momentum and pseudorapidity distributions in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 7$~TeV are measured with the inner tracking system of the CMS detector at the LHC. The charged-hadron yield is obtained by counting the number of reconstructed hits, hit-pairs, and fully reconstructed charged-particle tracks. The combination of the three methods gives a charged-particle multiplicity per unit of pseudorapidity \dnchdeta|_{|\eta| < 0.5} = 5.78\pm 0.01\stat\pm 0.23\syst for non-single-diffractive events, higher than predicted by commonly used models. The relative increase in charged-particle multiplicity from $\sqrt{s} = 0.9$ to 7~TeV is 66.1\%\pm 1.0\%\stat\pm 4.2\%\syst. The mean transverse momentum is measured to be 0.545\pm 0.005\stat\pm 0.015\syst\GeVc. The results are compared with similar measurements at lower energies.Charged-hadron transverse-momentum and pseudorapidity distributions in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV are measured with the inner tracking system of the CMS detector at the LHC. The charged-hadron yield is obtained by counting the number of reconstructed hits, hit-pairs, and fully reconstructed charged-particle tracks. The combination of the three methods gives a charged-particle multiplicity per unit of pseudorapidity, dN(charged)/d(eta), for |eta| < 0.5, of 5.78 +/- 0.01 (stat) +/- 0.23 (syst) for non-single-diffractive events, higher than predicted by commonly used models. The relative increase in charged-particle multiplicity from sqrt(s) = 0.9 to 7 TeV is 66.1% +/- 1.0% (stat) +/- 4.2% (syst). The mean transverse momentum is measured to be 0.545 +/- 0.005 (stat) +/- 0.015 (syst) GeV/c. The results are compared with similar measurements at lower energies

Measurement of the charge ratio of atmospheric muons with the CMS detector

We present a measurement of the ratio of positive to negative muon fluxes from cosmic ray interactions in the atmosphere, using data collected by the CMS detector both at ground level and in the underground experimental cavern at the CERN LHC. Muons were detected in the momentum range from 5 GeV/ c to 1 TeV/ c . The surface flux ratio is measured to be 1.2766±0.0032(stat.)±0.0032(syst.) , independent of the muon momentum, below 100 GeV/ c . This is the most precise measurement to date. At higher momenta the data are consistent with an increase of the charge ratio, in agreement with cosmic ray shower models and compatible with previous measurements by deep-underground experiments.We present a measurement of the ratio of positive to negative muon fluxes from cosmic ray interactions in the atmosphere, using data collected by the CMS detector both at ground level and in the underground experimental cavern at the CERN LHC. Muons were detected in the momentum range from 5 GeV/c to 1 TeV/c. The surface flux ratio is measured to be 1.2766 \pm 0.0032(stat.) \pm 0.0032 (syst.), independent of the muon momentum, below 100 GeV/c. This is the most precise measurement to date. At higher momenta the data are consistent with an increase of the charge ratio, in agreement with cosmic ray shower models and compatible with previous measurements by deep-underground experiments

Search for Pair Production of Second-Generation Scalar Leptoquarks in pp Collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search for pair production of second-generation scalar leptoquarks in the final state with two muons and two jets is performed using proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV collected by the CMS detector at the LHC. The data sample used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 34 inverse picobarns. The number of observed events is in good agreement with the predictions from the standard model processes. An upper limit is set on the second-generation leptoquark cross section times beta^2 as a function of the leptoquark mass, and leptoquarks with masses below 394 GeV are excluded at a 95% confidence level for beta = 1, where beta is the leptoquark branching fraction into a muon and a quark. These limits are the most stringent to date

Measurement of the B+B^+ Production Cross Section in pp Collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 7 TeV

Measurements of the total and differential cross sections with respect to transverse momentum and rapidity for B+ mesons produced in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV are presented. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 5.8 inverse picobarns collected by the CMS experiment operating at the LHC. The exclusive decay $B^+ \to J/\psi K^+$, with the $J/\psi$ decaying to an oppositely charged muon pair, is used to detect B+ mesons and to measure the production cross section as a function of the transverse momentum and rapidity of the B. The total cross section for p_t(B) > 5 GeV and |y(B)| 5 GeV and |y(B)| < 2.4 is measured to be 28.1 +/- 2.4 +/- 2.0 +/- 3.1 microbarns, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, and the last is from the luminosity measurement

Measurement of Dijet Angular Distributions and Search for Quark Compositeness in pp Collisions at sqrts=7sqrt{s} = 7 TeV

Dijet angular distributions are measured over a wide range of dijet invariant masses in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, at the CERN LHC. The event sample, recorded with the CMS detector, corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 36 inverse picobarns. The data are found to be in good agreement with the predictions of perturbative QCD, and yield no evidence of quark compositeness. With a modified frequentist approach, a lower limit on the contact interaction scale for left-handed quarks of Lambda = 5.6 TeV is obtained at the 95% confidence level