Jet Production in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) =7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

We report on the first measurements done with the ATLAS experiment of the characteristics of energetic jets produced in proton-proton collisions at the center of mass energy of 7 TeV. Jets are reconstructed using the anti-kt clustering algorithm with distance parameter R=0.6. The kinematic region investigated in this paper corresponds to jets with transverse momentum p_T>30$GeV and rapidity |y_jet |<2.8. A critical understanding of the jet production is obtained by comparing the data to predictions based on leading-order QCD matrix elements plus parton shower Monte Carlo simulated events. The results shown are obtained on a data sample corresponding to about 1 nb**-1 of integrated luminosity delivered by the Large Hadron Collider.Comment: 4 pages, Presented at QCD10 - 15th International QCD Conference, Montpellier (France), 28th June-3rd Jul

Recommender Systems by means of Information Retrieval

In this paper we present a method for reformulating the Recommender Systems problem in an Information Retrieval one. In our tests we have a dataset of users who give ratings for some movies; we hide some values from the dataset, and we try to predict them again using its remaining portion (the so-called "leave-n-out approach"). In order to use an Information Retrieval algorithm, we reformulate this Recommender Systems problem in this way: a user corresponds to a document, a movie corresponds to a term, the active user (whose rating we want to predict) plays the role of the query, and the ratings are used as weigths, in place of the weighting schema of the original IR algorithm. The output is the ranking list of the documents ("users") relevant for the query ("active user"). We use the ratings of these users, weighted according to the rank, to predict the rating of the active user. We carry out the comparison by means of a typical metric, namely the accuracy of the predictions returned by the algorithm, and we compare this to the real ratings from users. In our first tests, we use two different Information Retrieval algorithms: LSPR, a recently proposed model based on Discrete Fourier Transform, and a simple vector space model

Market analysis for Acrean timbers

In the state of Acre (Brazil), keys of development are the valorization of natural resources, which include non-ligneous and timber products. The need to develop a sustainable wood industry lead to assess markets that can be targeted from Acre in an sustainable and economic way. The objective of this analysis is so to highlight the opportunities and the marketing strategies that are the most suitable from a timber business point of view, in the specific context of Acre. Care should be taken that all the conclusions that can be interpreted from this work are valid from a timber business point of view, but these market considerations don’t necessarily prevail on other considerations, such as social or political ones. From a general point of view, Acre State, despite its remote location, is not independent of the globalization process. This means that the market analysis is required to start from the world level markets, and has to deepen progressively down to national, regional and local levels, in order to correctly isolate which are the competitive advantages and disadvantages of the specific Acrean context.

State of the art of metalclad airships

Metalclad airship development of the past history are considered along with the immediate prospects for continuation of the development of these airships. The metalclad airships promise high safety even in highly inclement weather, are capable of high speeds, while lifting high useful loads. Metalclad airships which in first cost would compare favorably with the costs of sea-going ships and in operating costs promise to be lower than airplanes

Cambodia Report : Feeding China's Expanding Demand for Wood Pulp

After decades of war, Cambodia is one of the world's poorest nations, its economy and its political life are still suffering from the civil war that racked the country during the latter part of the 20th century. Rice and rubber were traditionally the principal exports of Cambodia, but exports fell sharply after the onset of the civil war, which put most of the rubber plantations out of operation. By the 1990s, however, rubber plantings had been undertaken as part of a national recovery program, and rubber and rice were again being exported. The fishing industry has also somehow been revived, but some food shortages continue. From this period, the largest source of export income has been timber, until the Cambodian government set up a “log export” ban in 1995. With a rather limited national environment supporting the development of an internationally competitive wood processing industry, this industry sector has not benefited from this ban. Wood material exports have continued under a limited processed form, i.e. squared logs and thick boards. Up to now, no development of any wood pulp or chipping industry has been impossible in Cambodia. Additionally, in 2002, any logging activity has been suspended for any forest companies, until the approval of their new forest concessions. Some forest companies which had old logs (harvested before 2001) were still authorized to process them. Further, in 2003, a large portion of the territory (about 24%) was declared as protected area. The industrial growth of the country is now mainly sustained by the garment and tourism sectors. But until now, inadequate transportation hampers the development of national industries, except in some “development pockets”. This poor transportation is a major impediment for the development of pulp wood plantations or pulp and chipping industries in Cambodia.forest; tropical forest; pulp; paper; economy; Cambodia; trade; network; globalisation; China

A Conceptual Framework for Motion Based Music Applications

Imaginary projections are the core of the framework for motion based music applications presented in this paper. Their design depends on the space covered by the motion tracking device, but also on the musical feature involved in the application. They can be considered a very powerful tool because they allow not only to project in the virtual environment the image of a traditional acoustic instrument, but also to express any spatially defined abstract concept. The system pipeline starts from the musical content and, through a geometrical interpretation, arrives to its projection in the physical space. Three case studies involving different motion tracking devices and different musical concepts will be analyzed. The three examined applications have been programmed and already tested by the authors. They aim respectively at musical expressive interaction (Disembodied Voices), tonal music knowledge (Harmonic Walk) and XX century music composition (Hand Composer)

DNA Typing Compatibility with a One Step Saliva Screening Test

Screening a substrate for bodily fluids is an extremely important step for locating areas that may contain DNA. Several different methods have been developed for saliva (1). The Phadebas® Forensic Press (PFP) test is a presumptive saliva test that utilizes a preloaded paper that will react with the enzyme amylase, a component of saliva (2-5). Because of its ability to screen for amylase while simultaneously locating stains, the PFP may prove to be an effective, rapid method for screening. However it is important to assess whether the PFP introduces any inhibitors (7) to downstream processing such as PCR amplification. Based on previous studies, we hypothesize that the PFP will provide a rapid and sensitive method for locating multiple saliva stains simultaneously, without introducing inhibitors to DNA profiling. To test the limitations of PFP as well as evaluated its effects on DNA profiling we first created a dilution series of saliva ranging from neat to 1:5000. After this we preformed sensitivity tests on an indirect method, UV degraded samples and washed samples as well as with bodily fluid mixtures. Once all sensitivity tests were done, cuttings were taken from the substrate and PFP paper and analyzed for DNA. Tests found that the sensitivity ranges of the PFP were between 1:10 and 1:1000, indirect tests were less sensitive than direct, all bodily fluid mixtures were detected, and UV degraded samples took more time to react. In addition our DNA results confirmed our hypothesis that PFP does not inhibit DNA and is a useful method for locating stains. This project was funded by NSFREU Grant DBI 1262832