A spark-resistant bulk-micromegas chamber for high-rate applications Alexopoulos, T.; Burnens, J.; de Oliveira, R. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
06/2011, Letnik:
640, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
We report on the design and performance of a spark-resistant bulk-micromegas chamber. The principle of this design lends itself to the construction of large-area muon chambers for the upgrade of the ...detectors at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN for luminosities in excess of 10
34
cm
−2
s
−1 or other high-rate applications.
Abstract
Our aim was to describe the research practices of doctoral students facing a dilemma to research integrity and to assess the impact of inappropriate research environments, i.e. exposure to ...(a) a post-doctoral researcher who committed a Detrimental Research Practice (DRP) in a similar situation and (b) a supervisor who did not oppose the DRP. We conducted two 2-arm, parallel-group randomized controlled trials. We created 10 vignettes describing a realistic dilemma with two alternative courses of action (good practice versus DRP). 630 PhD students were randomized through an online system to a vignette (a) with (n = 151) or without (n = 164) exposure to a post-doctoral researcher; (b) with (n = 155) or without (n = 160) exposure to a supervisor. The primary outcome was a score from − 5 to + 5, where positive scores indicated the choice of DRP and negative scores indicated good practice. Overall, 37% of unexposed participants chose to commit DRP with important variation across vignettes (minimum 10%; maximum 66%). The mean difference 95%CI was 0.17 − 0.65 to 0.99;, p = 0.65 when exposed to the post-doctoral researcher, and 0.79 − 0.38; 1.94, p = 0.16, when exposed to the supervisor. In conclusion, we did not find evidence of an impact of postdoctoral researchers and supervisors on student research practices.
Trial registration:
NCT04263805, NCT04263506 (registration date 11 February 2020).
Purpose
Dietary behaviours may be influenced by perceptions of barriers to healthy eating. Using data from a large cross-European study (
N
= 5900), we explored associations between various ...perceived barriers to healthy eating and dietary behaviours among adults from urban regions in five European countries and examined whether associations differed across regions and socio-demographic backgrounds.
Methods
Frequency of consumption of fruit, vegetables, fish, fast food, sugar-sweetened beverages, sweets, breakfast and home-cooked meals were split by the median into higher and lower consumption. We tested associations between barriers (irregular working hours; giving up preferred foods; busy lifestyle; lack of willpower; price of healthy food; taste preferences of family and friends; lack of healthy options and unappealing foods) and dietary variables using multilevel logistic regression models. We explored whether associations differed by age, sex, education, urban region, weight status, household composition or employment.
Results
Respondents who perceived any barrier were less likely to report higher consumption of healthier foods and more likely to report higher consumption of fast food. ‘Lack of willpower’, ‘time constraints’ and ‘taste preferences’ were most consistently associated with consumption. For example, those perceiving lack of willpower ate less fruit odds ratio (OR) 0.57; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.50–0.64, and those with a busy lifestyle ate less vegetables (OR 0.54; 95% CI 0.47–0.62). Many associations differed in size, but not in direction, by region, sex, age and household composition.
Conclusion
Perceived ‘lack of willpower’, ‘time constraints’ and ‘taste preferences’ were barriers most strongly related to dietary behaviours, but the association between various barriers and lower intake of fruit and vegetables was somewhat more pronounced among younger participants and women.
In the past years, drift chambers with thin-wall tubes (straws) operating in high vacuum (∼10−5 mb) has become to be used in experimental studies of rare decays. Any drift tube of the operating ...chamber may suffer a mechanical or electrical damage and a subsequent leak. The complete failure of the tube is not excluded either. To protect the chambers against the above damage, we have developed and tested a relatively simple protection system based on uniquely designed energy-independent devices. If air-tightness is broken and gas starts leaking from the tube into the vacuum, they automatically cut off the gas flow on both ends of the damaged tube and disconnect it from the gas supply.
•The work can be used for protection the straw drift chamber in vacuum from vacuum penetration.
NA62 is a fixed-target experiment at the CERN SPS dedicated to measurements of rare kaon decays. Such measurements, like the branching fraction of the K+→π+ν decay, have the potential to bring ...significant insights into new physics processes when comparison is made with precise theoretical predictions. For this purpose, innovative techniques have been developed, in particular, in the domain of low-mass tracking devices. Detector construction spanned several years from 2009 to 2014. The collaboration started detector commissioning in 2014 and will collect data until the end of 2018. The beam line and detector components are described together with their early performance obtained from 2014 and 2015 data.
The steadily increasing luminosity of the LHC requires an upgrade with high-rate and high-resolution detector technology for the inner end cap of the ATLAS muon spectrometer: the New Small Wheels ...(NSW). In order to achieve the goal of precision tracking at a hit rate of about 15 kHz/cm2 at the inner radius of the NSW, large area Micromegas quadruplets with 100µm spatial resolution per plane have been produced. IRFU, from the CEA research center of Saclay, is responsible for the production and validation of LM1 Micromegas modules. The construction, production, qualification and validation of the largest Micromegas detectors ever built are reported here. Performance results under cosmic muon characterization will also be discussed.
Summary
We compared ecometric neighbourhood scores of social capital (contextual variation) to mean neighbourhood scores (individual and contextual variation), using several health‐related outcomes ...(i.e. self‐rated health, weight status and obesity‐related behaviours).
Data were analysed from 5,900 participants in the European SPOTLIGHT survey. Factor analysis of the 13‐item social capital scale revealed two social capital constructs: social networks and social cohesion. The associations of ecometric and mean neighbourhood‐level scores of these constructs with self‐rated health, weight status and obesity‐related behaviours were analysed using multilevel regression analyses, adjusted for key covariates.
Analyses using ecometric and mean neighbourhood scores, but not mean neighbourhood scores adjusted for individual scores, yielded similar regression coefficients. Higher levels of social network and social cohesion were not only associated with better self‐rated health, lower odds of obesity and higher fruit consumption, but also with prolonged sitting and less transport‐related physical activity. Only associations with transport‐related physical activity and sedentary behaviours were associated with mean neighbourhood scores adjusted for individual scores.
As analyses using ecometric scores generated the same results as using mean neighbourhood scores, but different results when using mean neighbourhood scores adjusted for individual scores, this suggests that the theoretical advantage of the ecometric approach (i.e. teasing out individual and contextual variation) may not be achieved in practice. The different operationalisations of social network and social cohesion were associated with several health outcomes, but the constructs that appeared to represent the contextual variation best were only associated with two of the outcomes.
We consider one kind of European option for the Black–Scholes model of financial market whose payment function is a certain combination of binary and Asian options. The corresponding hedging scheme ...is analyzed. We deduce a formula for the Clark stochastic integral representation of the corresponding Wiener functional whose integrand is presented in the explicit form.
Summary
Residents of socioeconomically deprived areas perceive their neighbourhood as less conducive to healthy behaviours than residents of more affluent areas. Whether these unfavourable ...perceptions are based on objective neighbourhood features or other factors is poorly understood. We examined individual and contextual correlates of socioeconomic inequalities in neighbourhood perceptions across five urban regions in Europe.
Data were analysed from 5205 participants of the SPOTLIGHT survey. Participants reported perceptions of their neighbourhood environment with regard to aesthetics, safety, the presence of destinations and functionality of the neighbourhood, which were summed into an overall neighbourhood perceptions score. Multivariable multilevel regression analyses were conducted to investigate whether the following factors were associated with socioeconomic inequalities in neighbourhood perceptions: objectively observed neighbourhood features, neighbourhood social capital, exposure to the neighbourhood, self‐rated health and lifestyle behaviours.
Objectively observed traffic safety, aesthetics and the presence of destinations in the neighbourhood explained around 15% of differences in neighbourhood perceptions between residents of high and low neighbourhoods; levels of neighbourhood social cohesion explained around 52%. Exposure to the neighbourhood, self‐rated health and lifestyle behaviours were significant correlates of neighbourhood perceptions but did not contribute to socioeconomic differences.
This cross‐European study provided evidence that socioeconomic differences in neighbourhood perceptions are not only associated with objective neighbourhood features but also with social cohesion. Levels of physical activity, sleep duration, self‐rated health, happiness and neighbourhood preference were also associated with neighbourhood perceptions.
Introduction
. Autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) is the most prevalent among the autoimmune pathologies and multifactorial thyroid diseases; accordingly, remaining a pressing issue for investigation.
Aim
...: to study AIT profile in different age groups of the female population in the western region of Georgia – Adzhariya.
Materials and Methods
. A prospective comparative study in parallel groups was carried out. There were examined 405 samples of venous blood obtained at «Health» Clinic from women of two groups: group 1 – 159 patients with AIT, group 2 (control) – 246 women without AIT. Blood samples were collected between the years 2017 and 2020. There were analyzed serum antibodies against thyroperoxidase (TPOAb), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) as well as level of free thyroxine (FT4) by using enzyme immunoassay.
Results
. Patients with AIT from different age groups vs. control group were found to have decreased level of FT4, but increased amount of TSH and TPOAb. At the reproductive age (18–45 years), a significant increase in the level of TSH was found (6.12 times) compared with the control group (p < 0.0001). The level of FT4 and TSH in AIT women aged 51 to 60 years was 0.7880 ± 0.3584 ng/ml and 4.754 ± 2.433 U/ml that significantly differed from those in the control group – 1.314 ± 0.4044 ng/ml (p < 0.0001) and 2.276 ± 1.409 U/ml (p < 0.0001), respectively.
Conclusion
. AIT occurs in women of all age groups, but is more common in women aged 51 to 60 years. In a number of cases, TPOAb was detected in the control group, which, apparently, is associated with increased intake of dietary iodized salt since 2005 in Georgia (the adoption of the law on universal salt iodization). A significant increase in the level of TSH, in AIT women aged 18–45 years, strongly suggests to perform diagnostics of and screening for AIT not only in females of menopausal period, but also in reproductive age.
PDF
