Instituto de Estudios Gallegos Padre Sarmiento

In some areas of software engineering research, there are several metamodels claiming to capture the main issues. Though it is profitable to have variety at the beginning of a research field, after some time, the diversity of metamodels becomes an obstacle, for instance to the sharing of results between research groups. To reach consensus and unification of existing metamodels, metamodel-driven software language engineering can be applied. This paper illustrates an application of software language engineering in the agent-oriented software engineering research domain. Here, we introduce a relatively generic agent-oriented metamodel whose suitability for supporting modeling language development is demonstrated by evaluating it with respect to several existing methodology-specific metamodels. First, the metamodel is constructed by a combination of bottom-up and top-down analysis and best practice. The concepts thus obtained and their relationships are then evaluated by mapping to two agent-oriented metamodels: TAO and Islander. We then refine the metamodel by extending the comparisons with the metamodels implicit or explicit within five more extant agent-oriented approaches: Adelfe, PASSI, Gaia, INGENIAS, and Tropos. The resultant FAML metamodel is a potential candidate for future standardization as an important component for engineering an agent modeling language.

In this Technical Design Report (TDR) we describe the NEXT-100 detector that will search for neutrinoless double beta decay (bb0n) in 136Xe at the Laboratorio Subterr´aneo de Canfranc (LSC), in Spain. The document formalizes the design presented in our Conceptual Design Report (CDR): an electroluminescence time projection chamber, with separate readout planes for calorimetry and tracking, located, respectively, behind cathode and anode. The detector is designed to hold a maximum of about 150 kg of xenon at 15 bar, or 100 kg at 10 bar. This option builds in the capability to increase the total isotope mass by 50% while keeping the operating pressure at a manageable level. The readout plane performing the energy measurement is composed of Hamamatsu R11410- 10 photomultipliers, specially designed for operation in low-background, xenon-based detectors. Each individual PMT will be isolated from the gas by an individual, pressure resistant enclosure and will be coupled to the sensitive volume through a sapphire window. The tracking plane consists in an array of Hamamatsu S10362-11-050P MPPCs used as tracking pixels. They will be arranged in square boards holding 64 sensors (8 8) with a 1-cm pitch. The inner walls of the TPC, the sapphire windows and the boards holding the MPPCs will be coated with tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB), a wavelength shifter, to improve the light collection

The NEXT experiment aims to observe the neutrinoless double beta decay of 136Xe in a high-pressure xenon gas TPC using electroluminescence (EL) to amplify the signal from ionization. One of the main advantages of this technology is the possibility to reconstruct the topology of events with energies close to Q ββ . This paper presents the first demonstration that the topology provides extra handles to reject background events using data obtained with the NEXT-DEMO prototype. Single electrons resulting from the interactions of 22Na 1275 keV gammas and electronpositron pairs produced by conversions of gammas from the 228Th decay chain were used to represent the background and the signal in a double beta decay. These data were used to develop algorithms for the reconstruction of tracks and the identification of the energy deposited at the end-points, providing an extra background rejection factor of 24.3 ± 1.4 (stat.)%, while maintaining an efficiency of 66.7 ± 1.% for signal events.

We investigate the potential of using deep learning techniques to reject background events in searches for neutrinoless double beta decay with high pressure xenon time projection chambers capable of detailed track reconstruction. The differences in the topological signatures of background and signal events can be learned by deep neural networks via training over many thousands of events. These networks can then be used to classify further events as signal or background, providing an additional background rejection factor at an acceptable loss of efficiency. The networks trained in this study performed better than previous methods developed based on the use of the same topological signatures by a factor of 1.2 to 1.6, and there is potential for further improvement

Macroscopic charcoal, pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs were isolated from a colluvial soil located on a small hill in Campo Lameiro (NW Spain) in order to elucidate the vegetation history of the area and its relation to fire and human activities. The presence of macroscopic charcoal throughout the 2.10 m thick soil (42 samples) is evidence of frequent fires during the last c. 6300 years. The charcoal record was dominated by Quercus (probably Q. robur), Ericaceae (probably Arbutus unedo and Erica arborea) and Fabaceae (mainly Genista type). Abrupt changes in the charcoal assemblage are less explicit in the pollen sequence, probably as a result of pollen inflow from the downhill surroundings of the study site. Combined results indicated that the original oak woodland was gradually replaced by pyrophytic shrubs (Ericaceae and Fabaceae) as a result of fire recurrence. Non-pollen palynomorphs strongly suggested that vegetation was deliberately ignited by past human societies to facilitate grazing. No evidence of local agricultural practices was found. Episodes of accelerated shrubland expansion occurred c. 6000—5500 cal. BP, c. 4000—3500 cal. BP and c. 1700 cal. BP, the latter of which caused the definitive settlement of shrublands dominated by Ericaceae and Fabaceae which are nowadays widespread in NW Iberia.

NEXT-DEMO is a large-scale prototype of the NEXT-100 detector, an electroluminescent time projection chamber that will search for the neutrinoless double beta decay of 136 Xe using 100-150 kg of enriched xenon gas. NEXT-DEMO was built to prove the expected performance of NEXT-100, namely, energy resolution better than 1% FWHM at 2.5 MeV and event topological reconstruction. In this paper we describe the prototype and its initial results. A resolution of 1.75% FWHM at 511 keV (which extrapolates to 0.8% FWHM at 2.5 MeV) was obtained at 10 bar pressure using a gamma-ray calibration source. Also, a basic study of the event topology along the longitudinal coordinate is presented, proving that it is possible to identify the distinct dE/dx of electron tracks in high-pressure xenon using an electroluminescence TPC.

Two main candidates for the atomic element to be used in situational method engineering (SME) have been proposed: the "method fragment" and the "method chunk". These are examined here in terms of their conceptual integrity and in terms of how they may be used in method construction. Also, parallels are drawn between the two approaches. Secondly, the idea of differentiating an interface from a body has been proposed for method chunks (but not for method fragments). This idea is examined and mappings are constructed between the interface and body concepts of method chunks and the concepts used to describe method fragments. The new ISO/IEC 24744 standard metamodel is used as a conceptual framework to perform these mappings.

The article reviews the usefulness of the historical–anthropological models of peasantry and Germanic Mode of Production applied to the analysis of the Castro culture ( Cultura Castrexa , the Iron Age of the north-western Iberian Peninsula). A historical reconstruction of the period is developed, in which the strain between local community and familial units constitutes one of the most important agents in the process of change, according to a discourse largely based on the proposals of P. Clastres on ‘societies against the state’. A relevant role is given to different forms of violence and conflict; initially they are understood as active mechanisms in inter-community relations although later they would rather become virtual and latent elements that allow the development of a model of social relations that can be defined as a non-class ‘heroic society’.

The Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon Time-Projection Chamber (NEXT) is intended to investigate the neutrinoless double beta decay of 136Xe, which requires a severe suppression of potential backgrounds; therefore, an extensive screening and selection process is underway to control the radio-purity levels of the materials to be used in the experimental set-up of NEXT. The detector design combines the measurement of the topological signature of the event for background discrimination with the energy resolution optimization. Separate energy and tracking readout planes are based on different sensors: photomultiplier tubes for calorimetry and silicon
\nmulti-pixel photon counters for tracking. The design of a radio pure tracking plane, in direct contact with the gas detector medium, was a challenge since the needed components have typically activities too large for experiments requiring ultra-low background conditions. Here, the radiopurity assessment of tracking readout components based on gamma-ray spectroscopy using ultra-low background germanium detectors at the Laboratorio Subterráneo de Canfranc (Spain) is described.
\nAccording to the obtained results, radiopure enough printed circuit boards made of kapton and copper and silicon photomultipliers.

En este artículo se analizan las características de la transferencia de conocimiento desde unas disciplinas concretas, las humanidades y ciencias humanas, hacia sus respectivos sectores de aplicación. En primer lugar, se pone en evidencia que la transferencia de conocimiento es un concepto complejo y en evolución. En segundo lugar, se caracteriza la transferencia de conocimiento en estas disciplinas; para ello, se analizan los factores que influyen en la transferencia sobre la base del modelo de Bozeman (2000) y de la información obtenida a partir de entrevistas realizadas a responsables de grupos de investigación de este ámbito en el Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que las características de las diversas dimensiones del proceso de transferencia (agentes, contenidos, medios, destinatarios y entorno), las barreras y los mecanismos más adecuados para lograr una eficiente transferencia de conocimiento, son notablemente diferentes en las humanidades que las que se dan en las ciencias experimentales o las ingenierías.

Analytical pyrolysis-GC/MS and solid-state 13 C NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) were applied to the NaOH-extractable organic matter fraction of a colluvial soil from Galicia (NW Spain) that represents more than 8500 yr of accumulation. While molecular indicators of vegetation change were looked for, it seemed likely that any such signal was disturbed by the intense fire regime of the area. This conclusion was drawn from (1) the presence of three charcoal layers, (2) the high proportion of aryl C in NMR spectra (non-quantitative) and (3) the prevalence of benzenes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the chromatograms (38±6% of total identified peak area), also in charcoal-poor samples. If this conclusion is accurate, the area has been subjected to burning episodes for at least 8000 yr. Additionally, the results indicate that biomass burning residues (black carbon; BC) may become NaOH extractable after long periods of degradation in mineral soil. These results add to our knowledge of the long-term fate of BC in soil, which is a potential agent in the global C cycle.

Este artículo aborda el estudio de dos estelas prehistóricas encontradas recientemente al Norte de la provincia de Sevilla. Se procede en primer lugar describiendo las circunstancias de los descubrimientos de ambas piezas, así como el marco científico-académico en el que se insertan dentro de las investigaciones que la Universidad de Sevilla vienen desarrollando desde finales de los 1980 en Sierra Morena occidental. A continuación se realiza el análisis de ambos monumentos desde el punto de vista de su morfología y simbología, caracterización tecnológica y contexto funcional, espacial y territorial.

NEXT-MM is a general-purpose high pressure (10 bar, ~ 25 l active volume) Xenon-based TPC, read out in charge mode with an 0.8 cm × 0.8 cm-segmented 700 cm2 plane (1152 ch) of the latest microbulk-Micromegas technology. It has been recently commissioned at University of Zaragoza as part of the R&D of the NEXT 0νββ experiment, although the experiment's first stage is currently being built based on a SiPM/PMT-readout concept relying on electroluminescence. Around 2 million events were collected during the last months, stemming from the low energy γ-rays emitted by a 241Am source when interacting with the Xenon gas (Eγ = 26, 30, 59.5 keV). The localized nature of such events around atmospheric pressure, the long drift times, as well as the possibility to determine their production time from the associated α particle in coincidence, allow the extraction of primordial properties of the TPC filling gas, namely the drift velocity, diffusion and attachment coefficients. In this work we focus on the little explored combination of Xe and trimethylamine (TMA) for which, in particular, such properties are largely unknown. This gas mixture offers potential advantages over pure Xenon when aimed at Rare Event Searches, mainly due to its Penning characteristics, wave-length shifting properties and reduced diffusion, and it is being actively investigated by our collaboration. The chamber is currently operated at 2.7 bar, as an intermediate step towards the envisaged 10 bar. We report here its performance as well as a first implementation of the calibration procedures that have allowed the extension of the previously reported energy resolution to the whole readout plane (10.6% FWHM@30 keV).

The NEXT experiment aims to observe the neutrinoless double beta decay of 136Xe in a high-pressure xenon gas TPC using electroluminescence (EL) to amplify the signal from ionization. Understanding the response of the detector is imperative in achieving a consistent and well understood energy measurement. The abundance of xenon K-shell X-ray emission during data taking has been identified as a multitool for the characterisation of the fundamental parameters of the gas as well as the equalisation of the response of the detector.\n\n\t\t\t\t The NEXT-DEMO prototype is a ~ 1.5 kg volume TPC filled with natural xenon. It employs an array of 19 PMTs as an energy plane and of 256 SiPMs as a tracking plane with the TPC light tube and SiPM surfaces being coated with tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB) which acts as a wavelength shifter for the VUV scintillation light produced by xenon. This paper presents the measurement of the properties of the drift of electrons in the TPC, the effects of the EL production region, and the extraction of position dependent correction constants using Kα X-ray deposits. These constants were used to equalise the response of the detector to deposits left by gammas from 22Na

NEXT-100 experiment aims at searching the neutrinoless double-beta decay of the 136Xe isotope using a TPC filled with a 100 kg of high-pressure gaseous xenon, with 90% isotopic enrichment. The experiment will take place at the Laboratorio Subterr'aneo de Canfranc (LSC), Spain. NEXT-100 uses electroluminescence (EL) technology for energy measurement with a resolution better than 1% FWHM. The gaseous xenon in the TPC additionally allows the tracks of the two beta particles to be recorded, which are expected to have a length of up to 30 cm at 10 bar pressure. The ability to record the topological signature of the ββ0ν events provides a powerful background rejection factor for the ββ experiment. In this paper, we present a novel 3D imaging concept using SiPMs coated with tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB) for the EL read out and its first implementation in NEXT-DEMO, a large-scale prototype of the NEXT-100 experiment. The design and the first characterization measurements of the NEXT-DEMO SiPM tracking system are presented. The SiPM response uniformity over the tracking plane drawn from its gain map is shown to be better than 4%. An automated active control system for the stabilization of the SiPMs gain was developed, based on the voltage supply compensation of the gain drifts. The gain is shown to be stabilized within 0.2% relative variation around its nominal value, provided by Hamamatsu, in a temperature range of 10°C. The noise level from the electronics and the SiPM dark noise is shown to lay typically below the level of 10 photoelectrons (pe) in the ADC. Hence, a detection threshold at 10 pe is set for the acquisition of the tracking signals. The ADC full dynamic range (4096 channels) is shown to be adequate for signal levels of up to 200 pe/μs, which enables recording most of the tracking signals

This article presents the conclusions of a study of pottery from an open‐air Bell Beaker settlement in Thy, northern Jutland, Denmark. The formal characteristics of all of the pottery documented from the site, a total of 140 vessels, are provided. Sherds from the Bell Beaker tradition are accorded particular interest. A study of the distribution of the pottery at the site is presented. Finally, taking into account data from publications in Denmark, the interpretation focuses on characterizing the ceramic style of Bell Beaker contexts, verifying if domestic and funerary contexts respond to the same formal pattern, as well as their possible relationship with neighbouring regions in Europe. It would seem that the Bell Beaker period was a time of such intense social transformation that the pattern of rationality was transformed to the point that we may speak of the first Bronze Age societies in Denmark. This situation is not only reflected in the general material culture, and the Bell Beaker pottery in particular, but also in the results of human activity seen in the available archaeological record. Furthermore, although this study focuses on Denmark, it may be seen that the processes found are not particular to specific geographic circumstances. Instead, they form part of a broad, European dynamic, a change on a European scale. Power over things became power over people. (Kristiansen 2004 Kristiansen, K. 2004. “An essay on material culture. Some concluding reflections.”. In Material Culture and Other Things. Post‐Disciplinary Studies in the 21st Century, Edited by: Fahlander, F and Oestigaard, T. 259–278. Göteborg: Gotarc, Series C 61. [Google Scholar]:267)

[gl] Preséntanse os resultados das diversas campañas de escavación dun dos túmulos mais señeiros da comarca de Ortigueira e que pola contra, presentaba un estado de conservación pésimo: o túmulo 5 do conxunto de Formo dos Mouros, na serra de Coriscada. O obxectivo final destas intervencións foi, ademáis de recuperar información sobre este monumento, preservar e acondicionar as súas estructuras para que fose comprensible a xente en xeral, así como intégralo nun plan de posta en valor coma recurso cultural e turístico da comarca. Trátase dun xacemento de gran tamaño, cos restos de estructuras monumentais aínda que moi alterado uestes últimos séculos. A singularidade deste xacemento é a presencia das estructuras dun primeiro túmulo soterrado baixo as masa tumular do segundo, o que permitiu documentar un primeiro monumento que, polas datacións radiocarbónicas, corresponde ós inicio do megalitismo, coas estructuras centrais en un estado de conservación excepcional, así como a complexidade do proceso constructivo que levou ó xacemento o seu aspecto final.

A technical description of NEXT-MM and its commissioning and first performance is reported. Having an active volume of ~ 35 cm drift × 28 cm diameter, it constitutes the largest Micromegas-read TPC operated in Xenon ever constructed, made by a sectorial arrangement of the 4 largest single wafers manufactured with the Microbulk technique to date. It is equipped with a suitably pixelized readout and with a sufficiently large sensitive volume ( ~ 23 l) so as to contain long ( ~ 20 cm) electron tracks. First results obtained at 1 bar for Xenon and Trymethylamine (Xe-(2%)TMA) mixture are presented. The TPC can accurately reconstruct extended background tracks. An encouraging full-width half-maximum of 11.6 % was obtained for ~ 29 keV gammas without resorting to any data post-processing

We report on results obtained with the NEXT-DEMO prototype of the NEXT-100
\nhigh-pressure xenon gas time projection chamber (TPC), exposed to an alpha decay calibration
\nsource. Compared to our previous measurements with alpha particles, an upgraded detector and
\nimproved analysis techniques have been used. We measure event-by-event correlated fluctuations
\nbetween ionization and scintillation due to electron-ion recombination in the gas, with correlation
\ncoeffcients between -0.80 and -0.56 depending on the drift field conditions. By combining the
\ntwo signals, we obtain a 2.8% FWHM energy resolution for 5.49 MeV alpha particles and a measurement
\nof the optical gain of the electroluminescent TPC. The improved energy resolution also
\nallows us to measure the specific activity of the radon in the gas due to natural impurities. Finally,
\nwe measure the average ratio of excited to ionized atoms produced in the xenon gas by alpha particles to be 0:561 0:045, translating into an average energy to produce a primary scintillation photon ofWex = (39:2 3:2) eV.

Se desarrolla textualmente el enfoque arqueotectónico reflejado en el póster homónimo presentado en el I Seminario Internacional de Arqueología de la Arquitectura con el que se pretendía mostrar gráficamente la potencialidad y aplicabilidad al registro arqueológico de determinadas analíticas y metodologías desarrolladas en el ámbito interdisciplinar de la Arqueología de la Arquitectura. Partiendo de una propuesta teórica concreta definida a partir de la Arqueología del Paisaje postprocesual, abordamos el análisis sintáctico del espacio doméstico a nivel de poblado como herramienta básica para alcanzar una definición de modelos o patrones de organización espacial que fundamenten una interpretación sociológica de las formaciones socioculturales del pasado. En este sentido mostramos un ejemplo práctico concreto: la aplicación de analíticas espaciales a un poblado fortificado galaicorromano prácticamente excavado en extensión permitirá esbozar el modelo de espacialidad vigente en ese período ahondando en la problemática de la estabilidad y pervivencia de tradiciones arquitectónicas de la Edad del Hierro conjuntamente con el factor de cambio y ruptura impuestos por la romanización del NW peninsular.