The solar simulation test of the ITALSAT thermal structural model

The ITALSAT structural/thermal model (STM) was submitted to a solar simulation test in order to verify the spacecraft thermal design and the thermal mathematical model which will be used to predict the on orbit temperatures. The STM was representative of the flight model in terms of configuration, structures, appendages and thermal hardware; dissipating dummy units were used to simulate the electronic units. The test consisted of the main phases: on station (beginning of life), on station (end of life), and transfer orbit. Preliminary results indicate that the test performances were satisfactory. The spacecraft measured temperatures were up to 15 degrees higher than the predicted ones. This imposes a careful correlation analysis in order to have reliable flight temperature predictions

Reuso de efluentes nos estoques de carbono e nitrogênio no solo e na produtividade da cana sem despalha a fogo.

A cana-de-açúcar é uma cultura que se destaca para o reuso agrícola de efluentes, devido às grandes extensões de área cultivada e ao potencial de resposta ao cultivo irrigado em áreas sujeitas a deficiência hídrica. Com o objetivo de avaliar os efeitos da irrigação da cana-de-açúcar com esgoto tratado, sobre os estoques de carbono e nitrogênio do solo e na produtividade da segunda soca da cultura, foi conduzido um experimento com lâminas crescentes de irrigação em comparação com cana não irrigada, em área adjacente à uma estação de tratamento de esgoto (lagoas de estabilização) em Piracicaba, SP. A irrigação da cultura de cana-de-açúcar com esgoto tratado contribuiu para o estoque de carbono e nitrogênio no solo, com aumento de 38% (18,0 Mg C ha-1) e 28% (1,3 Mg N ha-1) na camada de 10-20 cm da lâmina de 100% da evapotranspiração da cultura (ETc), respectivamente. A irrigação com efluente mostrou-se uma prática viável para a cultura da cana-de-açúcar, possibilitando incremento significativo de produtividade (58%), sendo a lâmina de 100% da ETc é recomendada, com 130 Mg ha-1

Composições de susbstratos e ambientes de enraizamento na estaquia de Ilex paraguariensis A. St.-Hil.

Devido à carência de informações a respeito da propagação vegetativa de erva-mate, conduziu-se um experimento com o objetivo de avaliar o ambiente de enraizamento e composições de substrato na sobrevivência, enraizamento e vigor de estacas de Ilex paraguariensis de plantas de 12 anos de idade. Testou-se o efeito de três clones (A32, A34 e A36), seis substratos (S1 - substrato para enraizamento à base de casca de pinus; S2 - substrato para enraizamento à base de casca de pinus e vermiculita; S3 - casca de arroz carbonizada + vermiculita fina + substrato para enraizamento à base de casca de pinus e vermiculita (1:1:1 v/v); S4 - casca de arroz carbonizada + substrato para enraizamento à base de casca de pinus e vermiculita (1:1 v/v); S5 - casca de arroz carbonizada + vermiculita fina (1:1 v/v); S6 - fibra de coco) e dois ambientes de enraizamento (casa de vegetação automatizada e simples). Embora não tenham ocorrido grandes variações entre os ambientes testados, o enraizamento das estacas mostrou-se baixo. O uso da mistura de casca de arroz carbonizada + substrato para enraizamento à base de casca de pinus e vermiculita na proporção 1:1 (v/v) é aconselhado para estaquia de erva-mate

Architecture of collaborating frameworks: simulation, visualisation, user interface and analysis

The Anaphe project is an ongoing effort to provide an Object Oriented software environment for data analysis in HENP experiments. A range of commercial and public domain libraries is used to cover basic functionalities; on top of these libraries a set of HENP-specific C++ class libraries for histogram management, fitting, plotting and ntuple-like data analysis has been developed. In order to comply with the user requirements for a command-line driven tool, we have chosen to use a scripting language (Python) as the front-end for a data analysis tool. The loose coupling provided by the consequent use of (AIDA compliant) Abstract Interfaces for each component in combination with the use of shared libraries for their implementation provides an easy integration of existing libraries into modern scripting languages thus allowing for rapid application development. This integration is simplified even further using a specialised toolkit (SWIG) to create "shadow classes" for the Python language, which map the definitions of the Abstract Interfaces almost at a one-to-one level. This paper will give an overview of the architecture and design choices and will present the current status and future developments of the project

Initial Results from the CHOOZ Long Baseline Reactor Neutrino Oscillation Experiment

Initial results are presented from CHOOZ, a long-baseline reactor-neutrino vacuum-oscillation experiment. Electron antineutrinos were detected by a liquid scintillation calorimeter located at a distance of about 1 km. The detector was constructed in a tunnel protected from cosmic rays by a 300 MWE rock overburden. This massive shielding strongly reduced potentially troublesome backgrounds due to cosmic-ray muons, leading to a background rate of about one event per day, more than an order of magnitude smaller than the observed neutrino signal. From the statistical agreement between detected and expected neutrino event rates, we find (at 90% confidence level) no evidence for neutrino oscillations in the electron antineutrino disappearance mode for the parameter region given approximately by deltam**2 > 0.9 10**(-3) eV**2 for maximum mixing and (sin(2 theta)**2) > 0.18 for large deltam**2.Comment: 13 pages, Latex, submitted to Physics Letters

Search for neutrino oscillations on a long base-line at the CHOOZ nuclear power station

This final article about the CHOOZ experiment presents a complete description of the electron antineutrino source and detector, the calibration methods and stability checks, the event reconstruction procedures and the Monte Carlo simulation. The data analysis, systematic effects and the methods used to reach our conclusions are fully discussed. Some new remarks are presented on the deduction of the confidence limits and on the correct treatment of systematic errors.Comment: 41 pages, 59 figures, Latex file, accepted for publication by Eur.Phys.J.

Limits on Neutrino Oscillations from the CHOOZ Experiment

We present new results based on the entire CHOOZ data sample. We find (at 90% confidence level) no evidence for neutrino oscillations in the anti_nue disappearance mode, for the parameter region given by approximately Delta m**2 > 7 x 10**-4 eV^2 for maximum mixing, and sin**2(2 theta) = 0.10 for large Delta m**2. Lower sensitivity results, based only on the comparison of the positron spectra from the two different-distance nuclear reactors, are also presented; these are independent of the absolute normalization of the anti_nue flux, the cross section, the number of target protons and the detector efficiencies.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures, Latex fil