Palaeohydrology of the Southwest Yukon Territory, Canada, based on multiproxy analyses of lake sediment cores from a depth transect

USGS Publications Warehouse

Anderson, L.; Abbott, M.B.; Finney, B.P.; Edwards, M.E.

2005-01-01

Lake-level variations at Marcella Lake, a small, hydrologically closed lake in the southwestern Yukon Territory, document changes in effective moisture since the early Holocene. Former water levels, driven by regional palaeohydrology, were reconstructed by multiproxy analyses of sediment cores from four sites spanning shallow to deep water. Marcella Lake today is thermally stratified, being protected from wind by its position in a depression. It is alkaline and undergoes bio-induced calcification. Relative accumulations of calcium carbonate and organic matter at the sediment-water interface depend on the location of the depositional site relative to the thermocline. We relate lake-level fluctuations to down-core stratigraphic variations in composition, geochemistry, sedimentary structures and to the occurrence of unconformities in four cores based on observations of modern limnology and sedimentation processes. Twenty-four AMS radiocarbon dates on macrofossils and pollen provide the lake-level chronology. Prior to 10 000 cal. BP water levels were low, but then they rose to 3 to 4 m below modern levels. Between 7500 and 5000 cal. BP water levels were 5 to 6 m below modern but rose by 4000 cal. BP. Between 4000 and 2000 cal. BP they were higher than modern. During the last 2000 years, water levels were either near or 1 to 2 m below modern levels. Marcella Lake water-level fluctuations correspond with previously documented palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic changes and provide new, independent effective moisture information. The improved geochronology and quantitative water-level estimates are a framework for more detailed studies in the southwest Yukon. ?? 2005 Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd.

Three new species of Aspergillus section Flavi isolated from almonds and maize in Portugal

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Three new aflatoxin-producing species belonging to Aspergillus section Flavi are described, Aspergillus mottae, Aspergillus sergii and Aspergillus transmontanensis. These species were isolated from Portuguese almonds and maize. An investigation examining morphology, extrolites and molecular data was...

A Special Family Series. Mario and Clara Hernandez. Clara Finds a Friend = Lina Familia Especial. Mario y Clara Hernandez. Clara Eucuentra una Amiga.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cazares, Maria

These two comic books are part of the "Very Special Family" series, created by and for Hispanic parents of children with special needs. The materials are designed to help parents deal with the emotional difficulties of raising a child with disabilities. The booklets are printed in both English and Spanish. In Part 1, "Mario and Clara Hernandez," a…

Longitudinal distribution of Chironomidae (Diptera) downstream from a dam in a neotropical river.

PubMed

Pinha, G D; Aviz, D; Lopes Filho, D R; Petsch, D K; Marchese, M R; Takeda, A M

2013-08-01

The damming of a river causes dangerous consequences on structure of the environment downstream of the dam, modifying the sediment composition, which impose major adjustments in longitudinal distribution of benthic community. The construction of Engenheiro Sérgio Motta Dam in the Upper Paraná River has caused impacts on the aquatic communities, which are not yet fully known. This work aimed to provide more information about the effects of this impoundment on the structure of Chironomidae larvae assemblage. The analysis of data of physical and chemical variables in relation to biological data of 8 longitudinal sections in the Upper Paraná River showed that composition of Chironomidae larvae of stations near Engenheiro Sérgio Motta Dam differed of the other stations (farther of the Dam). The predominance of coarse sediments at stations upstream and finer sediments further downstream affected the choice of habitat by different morphotypes of Chironomidae and it caused a change in the structure of this assemblage in the longitudinal stretch.

Compatibility between mental disorder and mental capacity: analysis of a particular case of group sexual homicide.

PubMed

Carabellese, Felice; Vinci, Francesco; Catanesi, Roberto

2008-11-01

On the night of August 19, 2000, at the foot of Castel del Monte, an 8-year-old girl was brutally murdered. The perpetrators were identified as five young men who captured their victim and sexually abused her. The policemen found the cadaver by following "Mario," one of the five, who had been discovered lying on the ground, near the castle. Investigation led to demonstrate that the murder was not premeditated. The only desire of the group was to sexually molest the little girl. Mario showed signs of psychiatric pathology and for that he underwent psychiatric evaluation by judicial authorities. Analysis of this case, combined with a criminological and medical-legal perspective led to conclusions very much different from the expectations of Mario's defense attorneys. Mario, a marginal figure and seemingly the least intelligent, played the role of group instigator, both in the initiation of sexually abusing the child, as well as in the elimination of an inconvenient witness. However, the group was able to activate Mario's sadistic fantasies and his sexual perversions, and he ended up in a catalyzing role influencing the behavior of others and realizing what would otherwise remain only fantasies. The circularity of the group allows people like Mario, who are apparently subordinate, to influence the behavior of others. Mario was found to have a mental disorder but it was not sufficient to diminish his personal responsibility related to the crime. In fact, according to Italian judicial code, it is necessary that the motivation for the crime was psychopathological. It was for this reason that, according to Italian law, all of the members of the group were considered to be responsible for the crimes committed and were condemned.

Nine Years of Cooperation: The US-German Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Helicopter Aeromechanics 2003-2012

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-12-01

Hamers , Mario, Lantzsch, Robin, Wolfram, Jens: First Control System Evalua- tion of the Research Helicopter FHS, 33rd European Rotorcraft Forum, Kazan...62nd Annual Forum of the AHS, Phoenix, AZ, 2006 [65] Brenner, Hanno, Hamers , Mario: Preparatory Activities for CH-53 Flight Tests with a Slung...Wolfram, Jens, Hamers , Mario: Increasing Handling Qualities and Flight Control Performance using an Air Resonance Controller. 64th Annual Forum of

"Quantum Interference with Slits" Revisited

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rothman, Tony; Boughn, Stephen

2011-01-01

Marcella has presented a straightforward technique employing the Dirac formalism to calculate single- and double-slit interference patterns. He claims that no reference is made to classical optics or scattering theory and that his method therefore provides a purely quantum mechanical description of these experiments. He also presents his…

A Reconstruction of Humidity Changes for the Last 8000 Years, Yukon Territory, Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, L.; Abbott, M. B.; Burns, S. J.; Bruce, F. P.

2002-12-01

Oxygen isotope data from authigenic carbonate in the sediments from two geographically proximal lakes are used to calculate changes in humidity. Jellybean Lake (60.351 °N, 134.805 °W) is hydrologically open with modern lake water δ18O similar to rivers, spring water and precipitation (-21 per mil) in the region. Sediment-core carbonate values range from -19 to -21 per mil. Marcella Lake (60.074 °N, 133.898 °W) is hydrologically closed, such that most all of the outflow is via evaporation. Modern lake water in Marcella is -8 per mil and sediment-core carbonate values range from -8.5 to -12 per mil. Because Marcella Lake has been hydrologically closed throughout the Holocene, sediment-core δ18O values are primarily controlled by changes in regional humidity, which will govern evaporation rates. However, changes in the δ18O values of input waters, either because of changes in ambient temperature or moisture source regions, or both, may also be responsible. The latter factors can be accounted for by the changes in the δ18O of hydrologically open Jellybean Lake because the lake water is isotopically equivalent to meteoric precipitation. The 1-cm sampling interval used is equivalent to 20 years time. Chronologies for both lakes are constrained by 210Pb, the depth of the White River Ash and radiocarbon ages from terrestrial macrofossils. We calculate the isotopic enrichment in Marcella Lake due to evaporation by correcting the δ18O data with Jellybean Lake δ18O data. Changes in humidity were determined using a model of a terminal lake at hydrological and isotopic steady state. The δ18O of the uppermost sediments generate humidity values between 63 and 65%, which are consistent with the average humidity in Teslin, YT of 64.9%. During the last 2000 years, high values of 70% between ~2000 and 1200 cal yr B.P., are followed by a dry cycle between 1200 and 800 cal yr B.P. Intermediate values between 65 and 68% occurred between 800 and 300 cal yr B.P. At 290 cal yr B.P. (1660 AD ), a very large and rapid shift from 70 to 59% occurs over a 20 year period after which values rise steadily to the present day. These quantitative estimates are the first of their kind for this semi-arid region of the Arctic where changes in aridity may be the predominant manifestation of climate change during the Holocene and into the future.

Human Figure Drawings in Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Naglieri, Jack A.

1993-01-01

Responds to previous article (Motta, Little, and Tobin, this issue) which reviewed data-based studies on figure drawings and found little support for their validity or use in assessing personality, behavior, emotion, or intellectual functioning. Contends that article is unacceptable for publication in present form, with main criticism being that…

Mario Molina, Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and Ozone Depletion

Science.gov Websites

Solomon, Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) Resources with Additional Information Additional information on Prize-winning Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Interview with Mario J. Molina

Mario Bunge's Philosophy of Mathematics: An Appraisal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marquis, Jean-Pierre

2012-01-01

In this paper, I present and discuss critically the main elements of Mario Bunge's philosophy of mathematics. In particular, I explore how mathematical knowledge is accounted for in Bunge's systemic emergent materialism.

Human Figure Drawings: Abusing the Abused.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bardos, Achilles N.

1993-01-01

Responds to previous article (Motta, Little, and Tobin, this issue) which reviewed data-based studies on figure drawings and found little support for their validity or use in assessing personality, behavior, emotion, or intellectual functioning. Notes recent approaches to interpretation of human figure drawings and cites flaws in argument against…

77 FR 40565 - Northwest Forest Plan Provincial Advisory Committees

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-10

.... Addresses: 215 Melody Lane, Wenatchee, WA, 98801. For Further Information Contact: Robin DeMario, 509-664... Highway 12, Naches, WA. For Further Information Contact: Robin DeMario, 509-664-9292. Deschutes PAC...

A Bright Promise but a Dim Future. Researchers Examine Potential of Educational Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pitts, Marcella R., Ed.

Concerns about the current educational technology movement are discussed in these four papers which were presented during a seminar of 20 representatives from 10 Council for Educational Development and Research (CEDaR) member institutions. The first by Marcella Pitts and E. Joseph Schneider provides an overview of the educational technology…

A Picture Is Worth Less than a Thousand Words: Response to Reviewers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Motta, Robert W.; And Others

1993-01-01

Responds to reviewers of authors' previous article (Motta, Little, and Tobin, this issue) which reviewed data-based studies on figure drawings and found little support for their validity or use in assessing personality, behavior, emotion, or intellectual functioning. Defends position of original article and addresses issues raised by reviewers.…

The Kodaikanal Experience: Chapter II. Kahn-Montessori Interview

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

NAMTA Journal, 2013

2013-01-01

This article provides an interview transcript between David Kahn and Mario Montessori (1898-1982), son of Dr. Maria Montessori. Mario Montessori dedicated his life to the preservation, dissemination and application of Montessori's works. Herein Kahn asks Montessori about his time living in the hills of Kodaikanal, India. Montessori touches upon…

Photocatalytic Oxidation and Reduction Chemistry and a New Process for Treatment of Pink Water and Related Contaminated Water

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-10-01

Schiavello, Mario; Sclafani, Antonino ; Marchese, Leonardo; Martra, Gianmario; Miano, Fausto. "Photocatalytic Degradation of Nitrophenols in Aqueous...Photocatalytic System." Appl. Catal., A 101, no. 1 (1993): 7-13. Augugliaro, Vincenzo, Leonardo Palmisano, Mario Schiavello, Antonino Sclafani, Leonardo Marchese

Mario Bunge's Scientific Realism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cordero, Alberto

2012-01-01

This paper presents and comments on Mario Bunge's scientific realism. After a brief introduction in Sects. 1 and 2 outlines Bunge's conception of realism. Focusing on the case of quantum mechanics, Sect. 3 explores how his approach plays out for problematic theories. Section 4 comments on Bunge's project against the background of the current…

Astronauts Mario Runco, Jr. and Andrew S. W. Thomas, both mission specialists, pose for photo while

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

STS-77 ESC VIEW --- Astronauts Mario Runco, Jr. and Andrew S. W. Thomas, both mission specialists, pose for photo while in the mid-deck of the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Endeavour. The scene was recorded with an Electronic Still Camera (ESC).

On Mario Bunge's Definition of System and System Boundary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cavallo, Andrew M.

2012-01-01

In this short paper we discuss Mario Bunge's definition of system boundary. It is quickly discovered that Bunge's definition of system and system boundary are both deficient. We thus propose new definitions, which (hopefully) improve the situation. Our definition of system boundary works off the same intuition behind Bunge's.

75 FR 22139 - Notice of Correction for Notice of Filing of Plat of Survey, New Mexico

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-27

... contained errors in the description format. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: These plats will be available..., New Mexico. Copies may be obtained from this office upon payment. Contact Marcella Montoya at 505-954... Clara Land Tract Beginning at Angle Point 1 on the line between Secs. 21 and 22, T. 20 N., R. 7 E...

Canonizing Latin American Literature: Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Mario Vargas Llosa Enter the English Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cellini, Alva V.

As Latin American literature progressively enters into the English curriculum, two writers deserve special commentary for their representative contribution to the literary world. Through their works, the Columbian author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and the Peruvian author, Mario Vargas Llosa clearly convey the Latin American writer's desire to be…

78 FR 37792 - Mario Julian Martinez-Bernache, Inmate Number #95749-279, CI Big Spring, Corrections Institution...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-24

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Bureau of Industry and Security Mario Julian Martinez-Bernache, Inmate Number 95749-279, CI Big Spring, Corrections Institution, 2001 Rickabaugh Drive, Big Spring, TX 79720... Spring, Corrections Institution, 2001 Rickabaugh Drive, Big Spring, TX 79720, and when acting for or on...

78 FR 37790 - In the Matter of: Mario Salinas-Lucio, Inmate Number #61687-279, FCI La Tuna, Federal Corrections...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-24

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Bureau of Industry and Security In the Matter of: Mario Salinas-Lucio, Inmate Number 61687-279, FCI La Tuna, Federal Corrections Institution, Federal Satellite Low, P.O. Box... Salinas-Lucio, with a last known address at: Inmate Number 61687-279, FCI La Tuna, Federal Corrections...

Astrophysical Applications of Gravitational Lensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mediavilla, Evencio; Muñoz, Jose A.; Garzón, Francisco; Mahoney, Terence J.

2016-10-01

Contributors; Participants; Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Lensing basics Sherry H. Suyu; 2. Exoplanet microlensing Andrew Gould; 3. Case studies of microlensing Veronica Motta and Emilio Falco; 4. Microlensing of quasars and AGN Joachim Wambsganss; 5. DM in clusters and large-scale structure Peter Schneider; 6. The future of strong lensing Chris Fassnacht; 7. Methods for strong lens modelling Charles Keeton; 8. Tutorial on inverse ray shooting Jorge Jimenez-Vicente.

"To Garza's Barber Shop Goes All that Is Good and Bad": Hybrid Identity and Masculine Space in Mario Suarez's "El Hoyo" Story Cycle

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lambert, James S.

2007-01-01

In October of 2004, the University of Arizona Press published a short volume of Mario Suarez's short stories simply titled "Chicano Sketches." "Chicano Sketches" reflects the elusive nature of the stories themselves. Although Suarez himself probably would have considered his stories "sketches," they are much more…

Psycho-Neural Identity as the Basis for Empirical Research and Theorization in Psychology: An Interview with Mario A. Bunge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Virues-Ortega, Javier; Hurtado-Parrado, Camilo; Martin, Toby L.; Julio, Flavia

2012-01-01

Mario Bunge is one of the most prolific philosophers of our time. Over the past sixty years he has written extensively about semantics, ontology, epistemology, philosophy of science and ethics. Bunge has been interested in the philosophical and methodological implications of modern psychology and more specifically in the philosophies of the…

Marcella O'Grady Boveri (1863-1950): her three careers in biology.

PubMed

Wright, M R

1997-12-01

The career of Marcella O'Grady Boveri (1863-1950), a nineteenth-century Catholic woman educated in biology at MIT and Bryn Mawr, is discussed both in the biological context of the times and with regard to the position of women in science. The thesis is that her life pattern differed strikingly from that of other woman biologists of her generation and that the character of her contributions to biology varied with that pattern. Perhaps it is in consequence that the significance of her considerable achievement has been hidden. Boveri's circumstances led her to collaboration rather than independence in research: she worked with skill and interest, but without formal recognition, on her husband's theoretically important and already established research program in Germany (1900-1915). She thought it a privilege to do so. Earlier (1889-1896), at Vassar College, and later (1927-1943), at the newly established Albertus Magnus College, she was an innovator who introduced and developed new curricula in biology, a stimulating and influential teacher, a mentor, and a role model. In addition, she did much to promote international communication, as exemplified both by her English translation of Theodor Boveri's prescient theory of cancer and by her influence in bringing important scientists to the United States.

Can the History of Science Contribute to Modelling in Physics Teaching? The Case of Galilean Studies and Mario Bunge's Epistemology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Machado, Juliana; Braga, Marco Antônio Barbosa

2016-01-01

A characterization of the modelling process in science is proposed for science education, based on Mario Bunge's ideas about the construction of models in science. Galileo's "Dialogues" are analysed as a potentially fruitful starting point to implement strategies aimed at modelling in the classroom in the light of that proposal. It is…

Opportunities Just Beneath the Surface: Participatory and Deliberative Processes in Rwanda

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-06-01

Mario Gilli, “Accountability in Autocracies: The Role of Revolution Threat,” Stockholm School of Economics Asia Working Paper no. 29 (2014); Mario...Political and Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America, (New York: Cambridge, 1991), 10. 19 Przeworski, Democracy and the Market, 24. 8...traditional clientelistic roles because of the main political party’s relative economic independence.34 Although a contributing factor, it cannot by itself

Revolution at Sea Starts Here. A 1987 History of the Naval Surface Warfare Center

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-03-01

MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10 . SPONSOR/MONITOR’S ACRONYM(S) 11. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S REPORT NUMBER(S) 12. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY...Blake, Mary H. Hagen, Mark E. Chase, Gary Kendrick, Barbara Wisdom, George L. Hamlin, Pamela 0. Lama, Marcella Westermeyer, and Dave Meggs. Without...needs over the next 10 to 20 years. These thrusts were to: * Emphasize development and integration of Shipboard Electronic Warfare Systems; * Increase

Democratic Governance and the Rule of Law: Lessons from Colombia

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-12-01

DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE AND THE RULE OF LAW: LESSONS FROM COLOMBIA Gabriel Marcella December 2009 The views expressed in this report are those of the... Government . Authors of Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) publications enjoy full academic freedom, provided they do not disclose classified information...DATES COVERED 00-00-2009 to 00-00-2009 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Democratic Governance and the Rule of Law: Lessons from Colombia 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER

Cryogenic Impinging Jets Subjected to High Frequency Transverse Acoustic Forcing in a High Pressure Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-07-27

Transverse Acoustic Forcing in a High Pressure Environment 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) Mario ...Acoustic Forcing in a High Pressure Environment Mario Roa, Sierra Lobo, Inc. Alex Schumaker, AFRL Doug Talley, AFRL 24-27 July 2016 Joint Propulsion...Distribution A: Approved for Public Release; Distribution Unlimited. PA# 16333 9 Parametric Sweep Super -Critical Results Differences between

A Comparison of Earned Value Management and Earned Schedule as Schedule Predictors on DoD ACAT I Programs

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-01

33 Mario Vanhoucke and Stephan Vandevoorde – “Measuring the Accuracy of Earned Value/Earned Schedule Forecasting Predictors” (2007...technical problem to the present day ‘ super projects’” (Clark and Lorenzoni, 1997: 2). Cost engineering has “application regardless of industry...large construction projects, but also the acceptance of earned schedule principles on an international scale. Mario Vanhoucke and Stephan Vandevoorde

An 8,000 year oxygen isotope record of hydroclimatic change from Paradise Lake, central British Columbia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hillman, A. L.; Abbott, M. B.; Steinman, B. A.; Pompeani, D. P.; Cwiklik, J. P.

2013-12-01

Climate in the Pacific Northwest over the Holocene has primarily been controlled by the position of the Aleutian Low (AL), which is interconnected to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Stable isotopes of authigenic calcite precipitated from lake water and archived as lake sediment can be used to reconstruct changes in precipitation/evaporation (P/E) balance over timescales ranging from individual years to millennia. Several records of this type from southern British Columbia and northern Washington (e.g., Castor and Cleland Lakes), as well as from the southern Yukon Territory (e.g., Marcella and Rantin Lakes) have been produced, but few records from between these two regions exist. Here, we present a record of δ18O and δ13C measurements of authigenic calcite from Paradise Lake, British Columbia (54.68259°N, 122.61154°W), a surficially closed basin, groundwater throughflow lake located in the central interior of British Columbia. A total of 14 AMS radiocarbon dates were used to provide age control for the Paradise Lake record. In sediment from 8,000-4,500 years BP, oxygen isotope values vary around a mean value of -18.0‰. From 4,500-2,000 years BP, a general trend towards more positive oxygen isotope values occurs, with increased variability in both δ18O and δ13C. A gradual shift of ~2‰ in δ18O measurements (to a mean value of -16.0‰) occurs over the last 2,000 years of the record, likely due to lower lake levels. The large magnitude mean state shifts in oxygen isotopes over the last 8,000 years are similar to that observed in the Marcella Lake record (Anderson et al., 2007), although they are of a smaller magnitude. We hypothesize that significant groundwater throughflow at Paradise Lake likely causes a muted hydrologic and isotopic response to climate forcing relative to Marcella Lake, which has more isotopically enriched water and loses a greater proportion of water via evaporation. The Paradise lake δ18O record provides insight into the response of surficially closed, throughflow lakes to changes in hydroclimatic conditions and suggests that centennial to millennial changes in Holocene precipitation-evaporation balance forced by synoptic Pacific Ocean dynamics were coherently expressed across the greater Pacific Northwest region.

Defensive Information Operations in Support of the Marine Air Ground Task Force

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-05-31

Templeton, M.S.Sc. Accepted this 31st day of May 2002 by: , Director, Graduate Degree Programs Philip J . Brookes, Ph.D. The...ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my wife, Marcella and my children, Christopher, Stehpanie, Benjamin, and Cecilia for their support and encouragement...future. The protection of these C2 centers must be included in the overall force protection plan. As stated by Secretary of Defense William J . Perry in

Corrigendum.

PubMed

2015-04-01

Corrigendum for 'GENETIC DIFFERENCES IN CYTOCHROME P450 ENZYMES AND ANTIDEPRESSANT TREATMENT RESPONSE' by: Karen Hodgson, Katherine Tansey, Mojca Zvezdana Dernovšek, Joanna Hauser, Neven Henigsberg, Wolfgang Maier, Ole Mors, Anna Placentino, Marcella Rietschel, Daniel Souery, Rebecca Smith, Ian W Craig, Anne E Farmer, Katherine J Aitchison, Sarah Belsey, Oliver SP Davis, Rudolf Uher, and Peter McGuffin. Journal of Psychopharmacology 28: 133-141. DOI: 10.1177/0269881113512041. The following author name Sarah Belsey was erroneously misspelled as Sarah Belsy. © The Author(s) 2015.

Expeditionary Readiness Course Expansion Final Supplemental Environmental Assessment, Nevada Test and Training Range

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

Mario Bermudez, Planning Manager Clark County Department of Comprehensive Planning...89191-7007 Mr. Mario Bermudez, Planning Manager Clark County Department of Comprehensive Planning P.O. Box 551744 Las Vegas, NV 89155 Dear Mr...hi ch no co ns tr uc tio n sh ou ld o cc ur . I t ta ke s a m in im um o f 74 d ay s fr om w he n eg gs a re l ai d un til c hi

Overcoming the Fear of Lethal Injury: Evaluating Suicidal Behavior in the Military through the Lens of the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-01

by suicide in Vietnam veterans ( Adams , Barton, Mitchell, Moore, & Einagel, 1998), a finding that may also be relevant to OIF and OEF, as tours of...die by suicide than were veterans in the other military branches ( Adams et al., 1998). Posttraumatic stress symptoms may also contribute to increased...after deployment. Parental deployment has been linked to behavioral and academic problems in children (Caselli & Motta, 1995; Levai , Kaplan, Ackerman

Astronaut Mario Runco in EMU during training in WETF

NASA Image and Video Library

1995-07-26

S95-15847 (26 July 1995) --- Wearing a training version of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) space suit, astronaut Mario Runco Jr., mission specialist, prepares to participate in an underwater rehearsal of a contingency Extravehicular Activity (EVA). This type of training routinely takes place in the 25-feet deep pool of the Johnson Space Center's (JSC) Weightless Environment Training Center (WET-F). The training prepares at least two crew members on each flight for procedures to follow outside the spacecraft in event of failure of remote methods to perform various chores.

Wearing a training version of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) space suit, astronaut Mario

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1995-01-01

STS-77 TRAINING VIEW --- Wearing a training version of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) space suit, astronaut Mario Runco, mission specialist, prepares to participate in an underwater rehearsal of a contingency Extravehicular Activity (EVA). This type of training routinely takes place in the 25-feet deep pool of the Johnson Space Centers (JSC) Weightless Environment Training Center (WET-F). The training prepares at least two crew members on each flight for procedures to follow outside the spacecraft in event of failure of remote methods to perform various chores.

The Solar Tower at Monte Mario: a New Didactic Laboratory for Astronomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Alessio, F.; Faccini, M.; Leoni, R.; Giobbi, G.

The year 2009 witnessed the restoration of the Solar Tower of Astronomical Observatory of Rome, in the INAF main office of Villa Mellini, Monte Mario. This structure underwent a patient restructuring of optics, mechanics and control equipment. Moreover, some areas have been converted into welcome centre for the visitors, so as to transform a scientific instrument - which was active up to a few years ago - into a didactic structure, mainly suitable for school groups. The Solar Tower of Monte Mario, which has been open to the public since January 2010, allows visitors to directly observe the Sun, as well as the spectrum of its light. The Tower therefore becomes an effective didactic instrument in order to teach and talk about a wide range of scientific topics - from Solar Physics to Sun-Earth interactions, to Stellar Evolution. Here we describe the work done by the DivA group of INAF-OAR for putting back into service the Solar Tower, from the technical and didactic viewpoints. We shall also take stock of the activities organized in the first few months of activity.

Theoretical Study of Si(x) Ge(y)Li(z) (x=4-10, y=1-10, z=0-10) Clusters for Designing of Novel Nanostructured Materials to be Utilized as Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-03-16

AFRL-OSR-VA-TR-2015-0088 Theoretical Study of Novel Nanostructured Materials for Lithium - Ion Batteries Mario Sanchez-Vazquez CENTRO DE INVESTIGACION...SiGeLi Clusters for Design of Novel Nanostructured Materials to Be Utilized as Anodes for Lithium - ion Batteries 5a.  CONTRACT NUMBER 5b.  GRANT NUMBER...utilized as anodes for Lithium - ion batteries Final Report Nancy Perez-Peralta and Mario Sanchez-Vazquez Abstract In order to find out if

Theoretical Study of Si(x)Ge(y)Li(z)- (x=4-10, y=1-10, z=0-10) Clusters for Designing of Novel Nanostructured Materials to be Utilized as Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-03-16

AFRL-OSR-VA-TR-2015-0088 Theoretical Study of Novel Nanostructured Materials for Lithium - Ion Batteries Mario Sanchez-Vazquez CENTRO DE INVESTIGACION...of Novel Nanostructured Materials to Be Utilized as Anodes for Lithium - ion Batteries 5a.  CONTRACT NUMBER 5b.  GRANT NUMBER FA9550-13-1-0175 5c...as anodes for Lithium - ion batteries Final Report Nancy Perez-Peralta and Mario Sanchez-Vazquez Abstract In order to find out if silicon

Marcella: the transition from explosive sensoriality to the ability to think.

PubMed

Ferro, Antonino

2003-01-01

The author discusses an analytic case in which it was necessary to first address the patient's need for containment of her protoemotions--her sensoriality--before the analysis could proceed along more standard lines, with interpretation of the transference, work on displacement and aspects of her childhood history, and so forth. Prior to treatment, the patient had resorted to a sort of affective autism in order not to experience dangerously overwhelming emotions, and her emotional lethargy in sessions at first engendered similar feelings in the analyst, making progress impossible until a container was established for her projective identifications.

Diabetic Mario: Designing and Evaluating Mobile Games for Diabetes Education.

PubMed

Baghaei, Nilufar; Nandigam, David; Casey, John; Direito, Artur; Maddison, Ralph

2016-08-01

Traditionally, diabetes education has relied on written materials, with limited resources available for children with diabetes. Mobile games can be effective and motivating tools for the promotion of children's health. In our earlier work, we proposed a novel approach for designing computer games aimed at educating children with diabetes. In this article, we apply our game design to a mobile Android game (Mario Brothers). We also introduce four heuristics that are specifically designed for evaluating the mobile game, by adapting traditional usability heuristics. Results of a pilot study (n = 12) to evaluate gameplay over 1-week showed that the children found the game engaging and improved their knowledge of healthy diet and lifestyle.

Estudo de cavidade reentrante supercondutora a ser utilizada nos transdutores paramétricos do detector brasileiro de ondas gravitacionais Mario Schenberg

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ribeiro, K. L.; Furtado, S. R.; Aguiar, O. D.; Frajuca, C.

2003-08-01

Cavidades reentrantes de nióbio vêm sendo utilizadas pelo grupo Australiano nos transdutores eletromecânicos paramétricos do detector de ondas gravitacionais Niobè. Esses transdutores paramétricos são ativados por um sinal AC na faixa de microondas (banda X), que é modulado pelo sinal mecânico da vibração da antena esférica, com a variação de um parâmetro, que, no caso, é a capacitância da cavidade. Nós estudamos esse tipo de cavidade, com o objetivo de transformá-la de reentrante aberta para reentrante fechada, de forma a utilizá-la nos transdutores paramétricos do detector brasileiro Mario Schenberg. O desempenho do transdutor depende de alguns parâmetros da cavidade, como a sua Figura de Mérito (Q elétrico) e o seu acoplamento elétrico com o circuito externo. Neste trabalho mostramos a medida do Q elétrico como função do acoplamento, do acabamento superficial interno e do vazamento de microondas da cavidade, e mostramos o desempenho esperado para o detector Mario Schenberg usando uma cavidade supercondutora reentrante fechada de nióbio.

The Mario Schenberg Gravitational Wave Antenna

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oliveira, Nei F.; Aguiar, Odylio D.

2016-10-01

This article is an account of the work done in the Mario Schenberg gravitational wave antenna up to date, focusing mainly in the participation of the Laboratório de Estado Sólido e Baixas Temperaturas (LESBT) do Instituto de Física da Universidade de S. Paulo. The text starts with an introduction describing the problem, the Brazilian project, and the participant institutions. This is followed by a description of the construction of the infrastructure, initial tests, and final basic assembly at the LESBT. Results are presented for the thermal and mechanical behaviors of the cryogenic system and for the development of active transducers in its various stages, culminating with the last version in which the project sensitivity of ˜4 × 10-20 Hz-1/2 was attained.

Mario Bunge, Systematic Philosophy and Science Education: An Introduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matthews, Michael R.

2012-10-01

Mario Bunge was born in Argentina in 1919 and is now in his mid-90s. He studied atomic physics and quantum mechanics with Guido Beck (1903-1988), an Austrian refugee and student of Heisenberg. Additionally he studied modern philosophy in an environment that was a philosophical backwater becoming the first South American philosopher of science to be trained in science. His publications in physics, philosophy, psychology, sociology and the foundations of biology, are staggering in number, and include a massive 8-volume Treatise on Philosophy. The unifying thread of his scholarship is the constant and vigorous advancement of the Enlightenment Project, and criticism of cultural and academic movements that deny or devalue the core planks of the project: namely its naturalism, the search for truth, the universality of science, the value of rationality, and respect for individuals. At a time when specialisation is widely decried, and its deleterious effects on science, philosophy of science, educational research and science teaching are recognised, and at a time when `grand narratives' are thought both undesirable and impossible—it is salutary to appraise the fruits of one person's pursuit of the `Big' scientific and philosophical picture or grand narrative. In doing so this special issue brings together philosophers, physicists, biologists, sociologists, logicians, cognitive scientists, economists and mathematicians to examine facets of Mario Bunge's systematic philosophy and to appraise its contribution to important issues in current philosophy and, by implication, education.

The Italian activist

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Catanzaro, Michele

2012-02-01

Italian theoretical physicist Giorgio Parisi has been an outspoken critic of Silvio Berlusconi's lack of support for science. He talks about how physics may fare under the new administration led by the economist Mario Monti.

Interaction of Elastic Waves with Corrosion Damage

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-08-01

Joachim Schneider -Gloetzl, Gloetzl GmbH, Rheinstetten, Germany Rainer Gloetzl, RG Research, Ettlingen, Germany...Katerina Krebber, Sascha Liehr, Mario Wendt, Aleksander Wosniok, BAM, Federal Institute for Materials, Research and Testing, Berlin, Germany

Dr Mario Raviglione, director of the Stop TB Department World Health Organization. Interview by Christo Hall.

PubMed

Raviglione, Mario

2012-03-01

Tuberculosis (TB) is a very global disease; there are over 9 million new incidences of TB every year with the vast majority of cases emerging in the developing world. As one of three major diseases associated with poverty it affects the areas where poverty is most prevalent, notably Asia and Africa. While the incidence rate has been slowly declining in the developed world it continues to pose a major health threat to even the most developed nations. To demonstrate the global, and persistent, nature of TB we asked Dr Mario Raviglione, Director of the World Health Organization's Stop TB Department to provide an analysis on the current TB situation in the United Kingdom and comment on what measures should be taken to alleviate the issue of TB in one of the world's richest countries.

Mario Becomes Cognitive.

PubMed

Schrodt, Fabian; Kneissler, Jan; Ehrenfeld, Stephan; Butz, Martin V

2017-04-01

In line with Allen Newell's challenge to develop complete cognitive architectures, and motivated by a recent proposal for a unifying subsymbolic computational theory of cognition, we introduce the cognitive control architecture SEMLINCS. SEMLINCS models the development of an embodied cognitive agent that learns discrete production rule-like structures from its own, autonomously gathered, continuous sensorimotor experiences. Moreover, the agent uses the developing knowledge to plan and control environmental interactions in a versatile, goal-directed, and self-motivated manner. Thus, in contrast to several well-known symbolic cognitive architectures, SEMLINCS is not provided with production rules and the involved symbols, but it learns them. In this paper, the actual implementation of SEMLINCS causes learning and self-motivated, autonomous behavioral control of the game figure Mario in a clone of the computer game Super Mario Bros. Our evaluations highlight the successful development of behavioral versatility as well as the learning of suitable production rules and the involved symbols from sensorimotor experiences. Moreover, knowledge- and motivation-dependent individualizations of the agents' behavioral tendencies are shown. Finally, interaction sequences can be planned on the sensorimotor-grounded production rule level. Current limitations directly point toward the need for several further enhancements, which may be integrated into SEMLINCS in the near future. Overall, SEMLINCS may be viewed as an architecture that allows the functional and computational modeling of embodied cognitive development, whereby the current main focus lies on the development of production rules from sensorimotor experiences. Copyright © 2017 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

3D range-gated super-resolution imaging based on stereo matching for moving platforms and targets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Liang; Wang, Xinwei; Zhou, Yan

2017-11-01

3D range-gated superresolution imaging is a novel 3D reconstruction technique for target detection and recognition with good real-time performance. However, for moving targets or platforms such as airborne, shipborne, remote operated vehicle and autonomous vehicle, 3D reconstruction has a large error or failure. In order to overcome this drawback, we propose a method of stereo matching for 3D range-gated superresolution reconstruction algorithm. In experiment, the target is a doll of Mario with a height of 38cm at the location of 34m, and we obtain two successive frame images of the Mario. To confirm our method is effective, we transform the original images with translation, rotation, scale and perspective, respectively. The experimental result shows that our method has a good result of 3D reconstruction for moving targets or platforms.

Observations with FG5 and A10 absolute gravimeters on Ross Island and in Terra Nova Bay in November-December 2011

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rogister, Yves; Hothem, Larry; Nielsen, J. Emil; Bernard, Jean-Daniel; Hinderer, Jacques; Forsberg, René; Wilson, Terry; Capra, Alessandro; Zanutta, Antonio; Winefield, Rachelle; Collett, Dave

2013-04-01

A campaign of absolute gravity (AG) measurements was conducted with both FG5 and A10 meters on Ross Island and in Terra Nova Bay in November and December 2011. It resulted from a collaboration between Danish, French, Italian, New Zealand and US agencies and institutes, under the POLENET program. For the second time in 2 years, AG was measured at McMurdo Station and Scott Base. For the fifth time in 21 years, it was measured at Mario Zucchelli Station. Moreover, AG field observations were initiated at various GPS stations of the A-NET network. We will report on the very last campaign, show the gravity trends at McMurdo Station, Scott Base and Mario Zucchelli Station, and describe how they compare to estimates of the gravity variation derived from space measurements by the GRACE twin satellites.

STS-77 Flight Day 6

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

On this sixth day of the STS-77 mission, the flight crew, Cmdr. John H. Casper, Pilot Curtis L. Brown, Jr., and Mission Specialists Andrew S.W. Thomas, Ph.D., Daniel W. Bursch, Mario Runco, Jr., and Marc Garneau, Ph.D., spend some time relaxing, then go back to working in the Spacehab module and preparing to revisit a small cylindrical satellite that they deployed on the mission's third day. Commander John Casper and Pilot Curt Brown monitor Endeavour's systems. Mission Specialist Mario Runco tests an attitude determination system using the GPS attitude and navigation experiment called GANE. The remaining crew members, Mission Specialists Andy Thomas, Dan Bursch and Marc Garneau monitor the health of experiments ongoing in the Spacehab and on the middeck of the orbiter. The crew also conduct a health check of the Aquatic Research Facility (ARF) which contains starfish, mussels and sea urchins.

The emerging field of spiritual neuroscience: An interview with Mario Beauregard, PhD. Interview by Sheldon Lewis.

PubMed

Beauregard, Mario

2008-01-01

Mario Beauregard, PhD, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Montreal in Canada, has been studying the neuroscience of consciousness and mystical experience for many years, including a study investigating the brain activity of Carmelite nuns, for which he has received considerable media attention. He conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Texas and the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University. He was selected by the World Media Net, a consortium of major daily newspapers in Europe and North America created at the turn of the new millenium as one of "100 Pioneers of the 21st Century." He is co-author with Denyse O'Leary of the book The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist's Case for the Existence of the Soul (HarperOne, 2007). Dr Beauregard was recently interviewed by Sheldon Lewis, editor in chief of Advances.

Psycho-neural Identity as the Basis for Empirical Research and Theorization in Psychology: An Interview with Mario A. Bunge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Virues-Ortega, Javier; Hurtado-Parrado, Camilo; Martin, Toby L.; Julio, Flávia

2012-10-01

Mario Bunge is one of the most prolific philosophers of our time. Over the past sixty years he has written extensively about semantics, ontology, epistemology, philosophy of science and ethics. Bunge has been interested in the philosophical and methodological implications of modern psychology and more specifically in the philosophies of the relation between the neural and psychological realms. According to Bunge, functionalism, the philosophical stand of current psychology, has limited explanatory power in that neural processes are not explicitly acknowledged as components or factors of psychological phenomena. In Matter and Mind (2010), Bunge has elaborated in great detail the philosophies of the mind-brain dilemma and the basis of the psychoneural identity hypothesis, which suggests that all psychological processes can be analysed in terms of neural and physical phenomena. This article is the result of a long interview with Dr. Bunge on psychoneural identity and brain-behaviour relations.

Design Framework Validation for a Hot Spot on Complex Aircraft Structures

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-08-01

LEONARD, S. E. OLSON AND M. P. DESIMIO Joachim Schneider -Gloetzl, Gloetzl GmbH, Rh instetten, Germany...Rainer Gloetzl, RG Research, Ettlingen, Ger any Katerina Krebber, Sascha Liehr, Mario Wendt, Aleksander Wosniok, BAM, Federal Institute for

Computer Science Research Review 1974-75

DTIC Science & Technology

1975-08-01

mwmmmimmm^m^mmmrm. : i i 1 Faculty and Visitors Mario Barbaccl Research Associate B.S., Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria , Lima, Peru (1966...Engineer, Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria , Lima, Peru (1968) Ph.D., Carnegie-Mellon University (1974) Carnegie. 1969: Design Automation

16. Photocopy of photograph (original print located in LBNL Photo ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

16. Photocopy of photograph (original print located in LBNL Photo Lab Collection). Photographer unknown. December 29, 1953. BEV-654. INJECTOR, INJECTOR TANK-WIDE ANGLE; MARIO CAROTTA. - University of California Radiation Laboratory, Bevatron, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, Alameda County, CA

A Wavefield Imaging Technique for Delamination Detection in Composite Structures

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-08-01

YANG1, M. P. DESIMIO3, S. E. OLSON3 AND E. D. SWENSON4 Joachim Schneider -Gloetzl, Gloetzl GmbH...Rheinste ten, Germany Rainer Gloetzl, RG Research, Ettling n, Germany Katerina Krebber, Sascha Liehr, Mario Wendt, Aleksander Wosniok, BAM, Federal

Attention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Montessori, Maria

2016-01-01

"The Advanced Montessori Method, Volume 1" was published in 1918 in English and is considered a seminal work along with "The Montessori Method." In the foreword to this book, Mario Montessori writes: "...the refulgent figure of the child, Dr. Montessori pointed out, who had found his own path to mental health, who…

Technical Communications in Urban Operations (Les communications techniques en operations urbaines)

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

SCUTI – Scuola Trasmissioni ed Informatica dell’Esercito Italiano Via dei Genieri, 287, 00143-Roma Cecchignola Email: Mario.DiStefano@selex...comms.com Lt. Fabrizio LAMBIASE SCUTI – Scuola Trasmissioni ed Informatica dell’Esercito Italiano Via dei Genieri, 287, 00143 Roma Cecchignola

Mario Bunge: Physicist and Philosopher

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matthews, Michael R.

Mario Bunge was born in Argentina in the final year of the First World War.He learnt atomic physics and quantum mechanics from an Austrian refugee who had been a student of Heisenberg. Additionally he taught himself modern philosophy in an environment that was a philosophical backwater. He was the first South American philosopher of science to be trained in science. His publications in physics, philosophy, psychology, sociology and the foundations of biology, are staggering in number, and include a massive 8-volume Treatise on Philosophy. The unifying thread of his scholarship is the constant and vigorous advancement of the Enlightenment Project, and criticism of cultural and academic movements that deny or devalue the core planks of the project: namely its naturalism, the search for truth, the universality of science, rationality, and respect for individuals. At a time when specialisation is widely decried, and its deleterious effects on science, philosophy of science, educational research and science teaching are recognised - it is salutary to see the fruits of one person's pursuit of the Big'' scientific and philosophical picture.

Motivating Calculus-Based Kinematics Instruction with Super Mario Bros

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nordine, Jeffrey C.

2011-09-01

High-quality physics instruction is contextualized, motivates students to learn, and represents the discipline as a way of investigating the world rather than as a collection of facts and equations. Inquiry-oriented pedagogy, such as problem-based instruction, holds great promise for both teaching physics content and representing the process of doing real science.2 A challenge for physics teachers is to find instructional contexts that are meaningful, accessible, and motivating for students. Today's students are spending a growing fraction of their lives interacting with virtual environments, and these environments—physically realistic or not—can provide valuable contexts for physics explorations3-5 and lead to thoughtful discussions about decisions that programmers make when designing virtual environments. In this article, I describe a problem-based approach to calculus-based kinematics instruction that contextualizes students' learning within the Super Mario Bros. video game—a game that is more than 20 years old, but still remarkably popular with today's high school and college students.

Super Mario's prison break —A proposal of object-intelligent-feedback-based classical Zeno and anti-Zeno effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, Shi-Jian

2009-10-01

Super Mario is imprisoned by a demon in a finite potential well on his way to save Princess Peach. He can escape from the well with the help of a flight of magic stairs floating in the space. However, the hateful demon may occasionally check his status. At that time, he has to make a judgement of either jumping to the inside ground immediately in order to avoid the discovery of his escape intention, or speeding up his escape process. Therefore, if the demon checks him too frequently such that there is no probability for him to reach the top of the barrier, he will be always inside the well, then a classical Zeno effect occurs. On the other hand, if the time interval between two subsequent checks is large enough such that he has a higher probability of being beyond the demon's controllable range already, then the demon's check actually speeds up his escape and a classical anti-Zeno effect takes place.

STS-44 crewmembers conduct DSO 472, Intraocular Pressure, on OV-104's middeck

NASA Image and Video Library

1991-12-01

STS044-04-001 (24 Nov-1 Dec 1991) --- Astronauts F. Story Musgrave (right) and Mario Runco, Jr., mission specialists, team up for one of the biomedical Detailed Supplementary Objective (DSO) test on the eight-day flight, this one involving intraocular pressure.

Runco and Thomas show off trays of food on the middeck

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-05-26

S77-E-5120 (26 May 1996) --- Astronauts Mario Runco, Jr. and Andrew S. W. Thomas, both mission specialists, pose for photo while in the middeck of the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Endeavour. The scene was recorded with an Electronic Still Camera (ESC).

78 FR 37787 - Order Denying Export Privileges

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-24

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Bureau of Industry and Security Order Denying Export Privileges In the... District of Texas, Manuel Mario Pavon (``Pavon'') was convicted of violating Section 38 of the Arms Export... knowingly and willfully exporting and causing to be exported and attempting to export and attempting to...

77 FR 59199 - National Institute of Nursing Research; Notice of Closed Meetings

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-26

... Nursing Research; Notice of Closed Meetings Pursuant to section 10(d) of the Federal Advisory Committee... clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. Name of Committee: National Institute of Nursing...: Mario Rinaudo, MD, Scientific Review Officer, Office of Review, National Institute of Nursing Research...

Timely initiation of breastfeeding and associated factors among mothers in Motta town, East Gojjam zone, Amhara regional state, Ethiopia, 2015: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Tewabe, Tilahun

2016-10-19

Timely initiation of breastfeeding within one hour after birth and exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for the first six months of infant life along with continuation of breastfeeding up to two years. Timely initiation of breastfeeding has the potential to prevent 22 % of neonatal deaths. The objective of this study was to assess timely initiation of breastfeeding and associated factors among mothers who have infants less than six months of age in Motta town, East Gojjam, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia. Community based quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted from April 7, 2015 to May 7, 2015. Simple random sampling technique was applied after taking all registered mothers who have infants less than 6 months old from local health extension workers of each kebele. A total of 423 mothers with infant less than six month old were included in this study. The data was collected from all four Kebeles using interviewer administered questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to present the data. Both bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with timely initiation breastfeeding. Prevalence of timely initiation of breastfeeding was78.8 % [95 % CL: 74.88 %, 82.72 %]. Mothers who gave birth to their infant in a health institution [AOR = 3.486(1.253, 9.700)], birthed vaginally [AOR = 5.722(3.134, 11.246)] and didn't give prelacteal food [AOR = 4.627(2.095, 10.220)] were more likely to initiate breastfeeding early than their counterparts. Prevalence of timely initiation of breastfeeding in the study area was 78.8 %. Place of delivery, mode of delivery and prelactal feeding were the independent predictors of timely initiation of breastfeeding. Recommendations to increase timely initiation of breastfeeding were: encouraging mothers to deliver their child in a health institution, minimizing caesarean delivery as much as possible and educating mothers and community as a whole to avoid traditional prelactal feeding practice.

Community Control of Schools. Studies in Social Economics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levin, Henry M., Ed.

The conference proceedings which comprise this book focus on three problem areas: (1) Objectives and social implications of community governance of city schools, covered as follows: Harold Pfautz discusses the long-run impact of community-governed schools on goals of racial equality and harmony, Mario Fantini suggests the curriculum and other…

A Method for Aligning Acquisition Strategies and Software Architectures

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-01

system • Want to make sure the system can be readily evolved to use new technology Members of the HR staff ( super - visors and those who would use the...References URLs are valid as of the publication date of this document. [Barbacci 2003] Barbacci, Mario , Ellison, Robert, Lattanze, Anthony, Stafford

75 FR 35670 - Changes in Flood Elevation Determinations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-23

... County (10- 7, 2010; Key West Digennaro, Commissioner, 04-1955P). Citizen. District 4, 9400 Overseas... Mario April 26, 2010 125129 of Monroe County (10- 7, 2010; Key West Digennaro, Commissioner, 04-2350P... Daily Mayor, Town of Marana, Territorial. 11555 West Civic Center Drive, Marana, AZ 85653. Pima...

The Journal of the Imagination in Language Learning and Teaching, 2001.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coreil, Clyde, Ed.

2001-01-01

This collection of papers includes the following: "On the Educational Uses of Fantasy" (Geoffrey Madoc-Jones and Kieran Egan); "The Dangers of Empathy with Students" (Mario Rinvolucri); "The Magic of Folktales for Teaching English and Culture" (Planaria Price); "The Inner Voice: A Critical Factor in L2…

Correction to: The NMR contribution to protein-protein networking in Fe-S protein maturation.

PubMed

Banci, Lucia; Camponeschi, Francesca; Ciofi-Baffoni, Simone; Piccioli, Mario

2018-05-31

The article "The NMR contribution to protein-protein networking in Fe-S protein maturation", written by Lucia Banci, Francesca Camponeschi, Simone Ciofi‑Baffoni, Mario Piccioli was originally published electronically on the publisher's internet portal (currently SpringerLink) on 22 March, 2018 without open access.

Genetic and Molecular Characterization of Drosophia Brakeless: A Novel Modifier of Merlin Phenotypes

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-07-01

Maureen Sartor, Jennifer Schwanekamp, Danielle Halbleib, Ismail Mohamed, 2.Rizzuto, R., M. Brini, P.Pizzo, M. Murgia, and Saikumar Karyala, Mario... Medvedovic , and Craig R. Tomlinson T. Pozzan. 1995. Chimeric green fluorescent University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA protein as a tool for

76 FR 3176 - Proposed Extension of Existing Information Collection; Records of Tests and of Examinations of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-01-19

..., Regulations, and Variances, 1100 Wilson Boulevard, Room 2350, Arlington, VA 22209-3939. (4) Hand Delivery or Courier: MSHA, Office of Standards, Regulations, and Variances, 1100 Wilson Boulevard, Room 2350... CONTACT: Mario Distasio, Chief of the Economic Analysis Division, Office of Standards, Regulations, and...

[A pharmacist specialist in Bordeaux at the end of XIXth century, Marie, Victor Julien Lechaux (1840-1900)].

PubMed

Devaux, Guy; Arléry, Sylvie

2014-06-01

Pharmacist in Bordeaux at the end of XIXth century, Mario Lechaux transformed his pharmacy into a commercial pharmacy, what brough him to create diverse patent medicines a wide distribution of which he assured by all the usual means of advertising.

AERA Vocational Education Special Interest Group Proceedings (New Orleans, Louisiana, April 24-28, 2000).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Truell, Allen D., Ed.

This document contains six papers on vocational education. "Blurring the Boundaries: The Emergence of the New Vocational Student" (Mario Delci) documents the benefits of combining an academic curriculum with vocational coursework. "Observable Teaching Effectiveness and Personality Types of Selected Beginning Career and Technical…

Latin America Report, No. 2713

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-07-27

UNOMASUNO in Spanish 8 Jun 83 pp 1, 6 [Article by Sara Lovera and Mario Garcia Sordo] [Text] Yesterday, in the establishment of the National Peasant...Director Rolando Trelles, dated 24 June 1983] [Text] Dear Director and Friend: The aim of the Christian Democratic Party’s [PDC] owners is not

Proof of a new colour decomposition for QCD amplitudes

DOE PAGES

Melia, Tom

2015-12-16

Recently, Johansson and Ochirov conjectured the form of a new colour decom-position for QCD tree-level amplitudes. This note provides a proof of that conjecture. The proof is based on ‘Mario World’ Feynman diagrams, which exhibit the hierarchical Dyck structure previously found to be very useful when dealing with multi-quark amplitudes.

Multiple Intelligences Theory and Iranian Textbooks: An Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taase, Yoones

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate locally designed ELT textbooks in the light of multiple intelligences theory. Three textbooks (grade 1.2.3) used in guidance school of Iranian educational system were analyzed using MI checklist developed by Botelho, Mario do Rozarioand. Catered for kinds of intelligences in the activities and exercises…

COLREGS-Compliant Autonomous Collision Avoidance Using Multi-Objective Optimization with Interval Programming

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-01

chasing our robots on the River as well as hiking out trying desperately not to capsize our super fast sailboat...again. To my unofficial advisors... Mario Bollini, Tan Yew (William) Teck, the Dan Codiga and the University of Rhode Island team, the MIT 2.680 course staff, and certainly the many

STS-54 Astronaut Crew Emergency Egress Training, Press Q&A, TCDT

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

The crew of STS-54, Commander John H. Casper, Pilot Donald R. McMonagle, and Mission Specialists Mario Runco, Jr., Gregory J. Harbaugh, and Susan J. Helms, is seen during a question and answer session with the press and during the Terminal Countdown and Demonstration Test (TCDT), including Emergency Egress Training.

Students Will Erupt with Excitement over New Book

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Curriculum Review, 2009

2009-01-01

Imagine recreating a tsunami's force in a bathtub or exploring the potential of geothermal energy by using steam from a kettle to illuminate a light bulb. These types of activities and more are offered in Matthew Levy and Mario Salvadori's collection of experiments and demonstrations in Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tsunamis. More than 30 easy and…

Navy News Feature

Science.gov Websites

(Released) 180402-N-AM903-013 Naval Support Activity Bethesda (NSAB) conducts a proclamation signing for ) 180402-N-AM903-029 Command Master Chief of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) Huben Specialist 3rd Class Mario Coto (Released) 180323-N-JC445-0134 Tamela Bryan, the deployed resiliency

75 FR 79031 - Proposed Extension of Existing Information, Collection; Representative of Miners; Legal Identity...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-17

.... FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mario Distasio, Chief of the Economic Analysis Division, Office of... civil penalties which, by statute, must take into account the size of the business, its economic viability, and its history of previous violations. Notice of Commencement of Operations and Closing of Mines...

Motivating Calculus-Based Kinematics Instruction with Super Mario Bros

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nordine, Jeffrey C.

2011-01-01

High-quality physics instruction is contextualized, motivates students to learn, and represents the discipline as a way of investigating the world rather than as a collection of facts and equations. Inquiry-oriented pedagogy, such as problem-based instruction, holds great promise for both teaching physics content and representing the process of…

Research Study of River Information Services on the US Inland Waterway Network

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-12-01

management department, team leader and AIS expert • Mario Sattler, development of traffic management department, reporting expert • Christoph Plasil...Coast Guard (USCG) Nationwide Automatic Identification System (NAIS) and the lessons learned from AIS implementation on European waterways the concept...11 7.3.1 Enlarging of the AIS network

76 FR 12691 - Modoc County Resource Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-08

... Self-Determination Act (Pub. L. 110-343) and in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The... 96101. Agenda topics will include voting and discussion of project proposals that meet the intent of.... Dated: March 1, 2011. Mario Longoria, Civil Rights Specialist. [FR Doc. 2011-5167 Filed 3-7-11; 8:45 am...

The Work of the Hand

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ludick, Pat

2013-01-01

Recognizing Maria and Mario Montessori's reverence for the hand, Pat Ludick takes the reader into the wonder of the human body, mind, and spirit and across the planes of education, into the making of a whole personality and grounded intelligence that is ready for the adult world. Putting the hand front and center, she lyrically evolves an overview…

Language, Culture and the Specialist in Ethnic Literature.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Di Pietro, Robert J.

As may be seen in a brief examination of several characters and scenes in Mario Puzo's "The Godfather," analysis of ethnic literature must focus on both the cultural and the linguistic aspects of literature. Often the syntactic structure reflects the structure of the native language of the writer, while word choice frequently depends…

Proof of a new colour decomposition for QCD amplitudes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Melia, Tom

Recently, Johansson and Ochirov conjectured the form of a new colour decom-position for QCD tree-level amplitudes. This note provides a proof of that conjecture. The proof is based on ‘Mario World’ Feynman diagrams, which exhibit the hierarchical Dyck structure previously found to be very useful when dealing with multi-quark amplitudes.

The Possibility of Rhetoric's Early Beginnings. The Van Zelst Lecture in Communication.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poulakos, John

Thanks to Mario Untersteiner and those who followed his example, the talk about the Sophists can be heard not only in rhetoricians' hallways, classroom, and convention halls but also in the hallways, classrooms, and convention halls of philologists, historians, philosophers, and literary critics. Sophistical rhetoric emerged in a culture of…

Wrong turns and dead ends

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fisher, Len

2013-12-01

In his book Brilliant Blunders, Mario Livio offers a detailed and fascinating examination of major errors made by five great scientists - Charles Darwin, Linus Pauling, Lord Kelvin, Fred Hoyle and Albert Einstein - as they sought to understand the evolution of life on Earth, the evolution of the Earth itself and the evolution of the universe as a whole.

Enjoying vs. smiling: Facial muscular activation in response to emotional language.

PubMed

Fino, Edita; Menegatti, Michela; Avenanti, Alessio; Rubini, Monica

2016-07-01

The present study examined whether emotionally congruent facial muscular activation - a somatic index of emotional language embodiment can be elicited by reading subject-verb sentences composed of action verbs, that refer directly to facial expressions (e.g., Mario smiles), but also by reading more abstract state verbs, which provide more direct access to the emotions felt by the agent (e.g., Mario enjoys). To address this issue, we measured facial electromyography (EMG) while participants evaluated state and action verb sentences. We found emotional sentences including both verb categories to have valence-congruent effects on emotional ratings and corresponding facial muscle activations. As expected, state verb-sentences were judged with higher valence ratings than action verb-sentences. Moreover, despite emotional congruent facial activations were similar for the two linguistic categories, in a late temporal window we found a tendency for greater EMG modulation when reading action relative to state verb sentences. These results support embodied theories of language comprehension and suggest that understanding emotional action and state verb sentences relies on partially dissociable motor and emotional processes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Translations on Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs No. 305

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-06-17

Zuluaga, office clerk; Haidee de Ceballos Ruiz, delegate. Miguel Antonio Celin Gonzalez, cashier; Helio Celis Guarin , judge; Mario Cespedes...judge; Alberto Alvarez Zapata, assistant prison director; Tomas Amariz Perez , judge; Jose David Andrade Guzxan, court clerk; Hugo Andrade Pava, judge...Arbelaez Madrid, magistrate; Luis Jaime Arboleda de Angulo, judge; Augusto Arciniegas Perez , court clerk; Luis Ardila Quitian, court reporter

From Michel Foucault to Mario Puzo: Using an Interdisciplinary Approach to Understand Urban Immigration Then and Now

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pecorella, Robert F.

2016-01-01

This article reports on the efforts of a political science professor teaching a multidisciplinary course focused on New York City to develop an interdisciplinary class project designed to lead students to an appreciation of the immigrant experience in the United States "From Ellis Island to JFK" (Foner, 2000). The particular…

Maintaining Medicare HMO's: Problems, Protections and Prospects. Hearing before the Select Committee on Aging. House of Representatives, One Hundredth Congress, First Session.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. House Select Committee on Aging.

This document contains witness testimonies and prepared statements from the Congressional hearing called to examine issues involved in maintaining and strengthening Medicare Health Maintenance Orgranizations (HMO). Opening statements are included from Representatives Edward Roybal, Matthew Rinaldo, Mario Biaggi, Don Bonker, Robert Borski, Louise…

Byron: A Collection of Critical Essays. Twentieth Century Views Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

West, Paul, Ed.

One of a series of works aimed at presenting contemporary critical opinion on major authors, this collection includes essays by G. Wilson Knight, Bernard Blackstone, Mario Praz, Paul West, Guy Steffan, F. R. Leavis, W. W. Robson, Helen Gardner, George M. Ridenour, Edmund Wilson, Gilbert Highet, Bertrand Russell, and John Wain--all dealing with the…

A Morpholino Strategy to Assess TSC Gene Function in Zebrafish

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-11-01

ABSTRACT Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a genetic disorder associated with severe neurological symptoms including mental retardation, autism ...ABSTRACT Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a genetic disorder associated with severe neurological symptoms including mental retardation, autism ...devastating autosomal dominant disease that results in severe neurological symptoms including mental retardation, autism , and seizures (DiMario, 2004

Staff Development for Vocational Education Teachers at the Mario Umana Harbor School of Science and Technology. Project STEP.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge.

A staff development project to create closer integration and mutual support between specialized science and technology curricula and vocational education courses is described. Project activities are listed, and a statement of underlying assumptions is provided. A list of guidelines for coordinating shop and academic projects follows. Guidelines…

No Child Left behind and the Insomnia Plague

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mathis, William J.

2004-01-01

In 1974, Ronald Reagan called the United States a "shining city on a hill." A decade later, Mario Cuomo responded by speaking to us about another city that was not on a shining hill. His "Tale of Two Cities" speech, delivered at the 1984 Democratic National Convention, was not only moving but also haunting. In this other city…

Mario Bunge's Materialist Theory of Mind and Contemporary Cognitive Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Slezak, Peter

2012-01-01

Bunge's writings on the mind-body problem provide a rigorous, analytical antidote to the persistent anti-materialist tendency that has characterized the history of philosophy and science. Bunge gives special attention to dualism and its shortcomings, and this attention is welcome in view of the resurgence of the doctrine today. However, I focus my…

Mario Math with Millennials: The Impact of Playing the Nintendo DS on Student Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gelman, Adam

2010-01-01

One of the biggest innovations of the last century has been the invention of the video game. Video games are an extremely popular form of entertainment today. While some question the use of video games in education, others argue that video games are one innovation that if introduced into the classroom, might change how teachers effectively engage…

diversity | News

Science.gov Websites

, 2018 | Mario Lucero As a group, the Asian/Pacific community at Fermilab is the largest ethnic group, at schoolers April 30, 2018 Jose de la O leads a group on a tour of the lab's accelerators. Photo: Reidar Hahn only about self-doubt in one's abilities, but the thrill of making a discovery and being the one to

An Ontological and Epistemological Analysis of the Presentation of the First Law of Thermodynamics in School and University Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poblete, Joaquin Castillo; Rojas, Rocio Ogaz; Merino, Cristian; Quiroz, Waldo

2016-01-01

Considering the relevance of thermodynamics to the scientific discipline of chemistry and the curriculum of the Western school system, the philosophical system of Mario Bunge, particularly his ontology and epistemology, is used herein to analyze the presentation of the first law of thermodynamics in 15 school and university textbooks. The…

Instilling Combat Effectiveness during the Italian Campaign (1943-1945): The Allied Experience with Folgore and Friuli Combat Groups

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-13

the Chief of the Italian Army, General Mario Roatta, directed the army staff to reorganize some units to take control of Southern Italy in support of...colonies. This concept, codenamed Super - Gymnast and later renamed Torch, worried the Americans due to its demands upon the 20Joint Chiefs of Staff...

[Library and Information Services for Democracy, for Literacy, and for Productivity]. Conference Briefs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bobinski, George, Ed.

1990-01-01

This issue is designed to provide delegates and other participants in the New York State Governor's Conference in 1990 and the White House Conference on Library and Information Services in July 1991 with an overview of the current status and future needs of libraries and librarianship in the state. Following a message from Mario Cuomo, Governor of…

Perfect Mirror Design Technology

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-02-01

with Prof. Mario Molina, recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The partnership, along with Aerodyne Research Inc., looked at how sulfur...Corporation is developing standards for nondestructive evaluation ( NDE ) techniques for industry use. Use of the new standards will result in improved...novel testing methodology that dramatically improves the accuracy of NDE techniques used to detect flaws. Basic Research Five years ago, the main

Between the Under-Labourer and the Master-Builder: Observations on Bunge's Method

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Agassi, Joseph

2012-01-01

Mario Bunge has repeatedly discussed contributions to philosophy and to science that are worthless at best and dangerous at worst, especially cases of pseudo-science. He clearly gives his reason in his latest essay on this matter: "The fact that science can be faked to the point of deceiving science lovers suggests the need for a rigorous sifting…

El Escritor y las Normas del Canon Literario (The Writer and the Norms of the Literary Canon).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Policarpo, Alcibiades

This paper speculates about whether a literary canon exists in contemporary Latin American literature, particularly in the prose genre. The paper points to Carlos Fuentes, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Mario Vargas Llosa as the three authors who might form this traditional and liberal canon with their works "La Muerte de Artemio Cruz"…

Concurrent Smalltalk on the Message-Driven Processor

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-09-01

language close to Concurrent Smalltalk and having an almost identical name is CONCURRENTSMALLTALK [39] [40] independently developed by Yasuhiko Yokote and...Laboratory Memo 1044, October 1988. [391 Yokote, Yasuhiko , and Tokoro, Mario. ’The Design and Implementation of Concur- rentSmalltalk." Proceedings...of the 1986 Object-Oriented Programming Systems, Lan- guages, and Applications Conference, September 1986. 222 Bibliography [401 Yokote, Yasuhiko , and

Advanced Data Acquisition and Telemetry System

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-09-15

The Advanced Data Acquisition and Telemetry System team includes front row from left Mario Soto, Sam Habbal, Tiffany Titas, RIchard Hang, Randy Torres, Thang Quach, Otto Schnarr, Matthew Waldersen, Karen Estes, Andy Olvera, Stanley Wertenberger and Rick Cordes. In the second row from left are John Atherly, Doug Boston, Tom Horn, Brady Rennie, Chris Birkinbine, Jim McNally, Martin Munday and Tony Lorek.

From Mario to FIFA: What Qualitative Case Study Research Suggests about Games-Based Learning in a US Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gerber, Hannah R.; Abrams, Sandra Schamroth; Onwuegbuzie, Anthony J.; Benge, Cindy L.

2014-01-01

This article explores the impact of using commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) videogames in a high school curriculum when developed through a connected learning frame by examining the influence that COTS videogames have on transforming students' literacy learning in-school. However, it must be noted that transforming literacy in school is about more…

[STS-44 Onboard 16mm Photography

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

This silent video was filmed by the crew of the STS-44 Space Shuttle using a 16mm camera. Astronauts, Frederick D. Gregory, Terence T. Henricks, F. Story Musgrave, Mario Runco, Jr., James S. Voss, and Thomas J. Hennen, filmed various crew activities inside the shuttle, the deployment of the Defense Support Program satellite (DSP), and several Earth view-footage of arid land masses and cloud cover.

Installation Restoration Program, Phase II (Stage 2-1). Volume 2.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-05-01

Worthington OH PAGES: 89 SOURCE: Radian Library COMMENTS: General manual for well drilling, sample collection . Includes good elementary background. FIRST... Collected from the Base Industrial and Domestic Waste Water Treatment Plants and Field * Sampling Data PAGES: 75 p. SOURCE: Capt. Mario Ierarti * COMMENTS...Analytical results for samples collected from the * base industrial and domestic wastewater treatment plants have been included. RADIAN FIRST AUTHOR

El Salvador: A Communist Objective.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-03-31

in planning their military operations. o The series of contacts between Salvadoran communist leaders and officials of serveral communist states that...about 10 inches, monthly, usually limited to afternoon showers. However, in * June and September temporales , or heavy rains, bring a persistent...Jose Mario Lemus alienated most of its popular support in a series of clashes with demonstrating university students, and on October 26, 1960, it was

A Modular, Reconfigurable Surveillance UAV Architecture

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-09-02

Una Società Galileo Avionica A Modular, Reconfigurable Surveillance UAV Architecture METEOR, Finmeccanica Group Zona Industriale di Soleschiano Via...ES) METEOR, Finmeccanica Group Zona Industriale di Soleschiano Via Mario Stoppani 21 34077 Ronchi dei Legionari (GO) ITALY 8. PERFORMING...PMSFMS RS1Backup FMS NSU Payload Control Actuators Router Router RS2 Recovery Devices Una Società Galileo Avionica • Daylight TV Camera • IR Sensor • HR

Effects of Age and Experience on Physical Activity Accumulation during Kin-Ball

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hastie, Peter A.; Langevin, Francois; Wadsworth, Danielle

2011-01-01

With a specific agenda of creating a fun activity that emphasized teamwork, cooperation, and sportsmanship, Mario Demers, a Canadian physical education professor, created Kin-Ball in the mid 1980s. The game involves three teams of four players each in which a large ball (4 feet diameter and 2.2 pounds weight (1.22 m and 1 kg, respectively) is sent…

Realist Ontology and Natural Processes: A Semantic Tool to Analyze the Presentation of the Osmosis Concept in Science Texts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spinelli Barria, Michele; Morales, Cecilia; Merino, Cristian; Quiroz, Waldo

2016-01-01

In this work, we developed an ontological tool, based on the scientific realism of Mario Bunge, for the analysis of the presentation of natural processes in science textbooks. This tool was applied to analyze the presentation of the concept of osmosis in 16 chemistry and biology books at different educational levels. The results showed that more…

Exercises of Practical Life: 3 to 6 Compared to 6 to 12. Kodaikanal Advanced Course, India, 1943-44, Lecture 76

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Montessori, Mario M.

2013-01-01

This simple, first-published article by Mario Montessori was written in Kodaikanal, India, and reveals a great Montessori truth that has never been so explicit: There are developmental stages for practical life that cross over into nature study and living experiences. Although more abstract, the second plane has a strong practical life component…

KSC-04PD-0956

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. Mario Busacca, with the Safety, Occupational Health and Environmental Division, handles a snake at one of the exhibits for KSCs annual Environmental and Energy Awareness Week, held April 20-22. Presentations included Chemistry Safety, Cost-Effective Solar Applications, Non-Native Invasive Plant Identification and Control, Energy Efficient Lighting Systems, and Historical Changes in KSCs Ecosystems. The slogan for this years event was Today's Conservation Defines Tomorrow's Future.

STS-44 crewmembers exit people mover after landing at EAFB, California

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

STS-44 crewmembers, wearing launch and entry suits (LESs), exit people mover, a crew transport vehicle, after landing at Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB), California. Commander Frederick D. Gregory follows ground crew personnel down the stairway. Gregory leads Mission Specialist (MS) Mario Runco, Jr, and Payload Specialist Thomas J. Hennen. In the background, is Atlantis, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 104, undergoing post flight servicing.

Video-game epilepsy: a European study.

PubMed

Kasteleijn-Nolst Trenité, D G; da Silva, A M; Ricci, S; Binnie, C D; Rubboli, G; Tassinari, C A; Segers, J P

1999-01-01

With the introduction of Nintendo video-games on a large scale, reports of children having seizures while playing suggested a possible specific, provocative factor. Although 50% of the photosensitive patients are also sensitive to a 50-Hz television, nonphotosensitive patients with a history of video-game seizures were described as well. The question arises whether this is a mere coincidence, provoked by fatigue and stress, is related to the reaction to the television screen itself, or depends on the movement and color of the pictures of this specific game. A European study was performed in four countries and five sites. All patients were selected because of a history of television, video- or computer-game seizures, with a history of sun-light-, discotheque-, or black and white pattern-evoked seizures, or were already known to be sensitive to intermittent photic stimulation. A total of 387 patients were investigated; 220 (75%) were female and 214 (55%) of those were < 18 years of age. After a routine examination, intermittent photic, pattern, and television stimulation were performed in a standardized way. The patients were investigated with Super Mario World and a standard relatively nonprovocative TV program, both on a 50- and 100-Hz television. Regardless of the distance, Super Mario World proved to be more provocative than the standard program (Wilcoxon, p < 0.05). Eighty-five percent showed epileptiform discharges evoked by intermittent photic stimulation. Forty-five percent of patients were 50-Hz television sensitive and 26% were 100-Hz television sensitive. Pattern sensitivity was found in 28% of patients. The patients, referred because of a television, video- or computer-game seizure, were significantly more sensitive to pattern and to the 50-Hz television (chi square, p < 0.001). More patients are sensitive when playing Super Mario, compared with the standard program (Wilcoxon, p = 0.001) and more sensitive with playing versus viewing (p = 0.016). Of the patients who were referred because of seizures in front of the television, or evoked by a video- or computer game, 14% proved not to be photosensitive. Although no difference in age or use of medication was found, twice as many men were found in this nonphotosensitive group.

Integrating preventive care and nursing standardized terminologies in nursing education: a case study.

PubMed

Burkhart, Lisa; Sommer, Sheryl

2007-01-01

This study investigated the development of a community-focused curriculum integrating primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention and nursing standardized terminologies as an organizing infrastructure. This is a case study of the curriculum redesign of the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago. Faculty developed a conceptual framework integrating core concepts into curriculum design, course content, and clinical applications. A coherent curriculum was designed using a community-focused approach; primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention strategies; and standardized terminologies as the organizing infrastructure to teach and apply nursing practice. The curriculum provides a meaningful correlation between the classroom and clinical experience. Students journey with their patients throughout the health care experience, applying nursing concepts using standardized terminologies. Clinical experiences provide students with the opportunity to transfer knowledge to the health experiences of patients in their care. Patient encounters, whether at the primary, secondary, or tertiary level of prevention, are used to assist students in developing critical thinking skills through the use of standardized nursing terminologies.

MToolBox: a highly automated pipeline for heteroplasmy annotation and prioritization analysis of human mitochondrial variants in high-throughput sequencing

PubMed Central

Diroma, Maria Angela; Santorsola, Mariangela; Guttà, Cristiano; Gasparre, Giuseppe; Picardi, Ernesto; Pesole, Graziano; Attimonelli, Marcella

2014-01-01

Motivation: The increasing availability of mitochondria-targeted and off-target sequencing data in whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing studies (WXS and WGS) has risen the demand of effective pipelines to accurately measure heteroplasmy and to easily recognize the most functionally important mitochondrial variants among a huge number of candidates. To this purpose, we developed MToolBox, a highly automated pipeline to reconstruct and analyze human mitochondrial DNA from high-throughput sequencing data. Results: MToolBox implements an effective computational strategy for mitochondrial genomes assembling and haplogroup assignment also including a prioritization analysis of detected variants. MToolBox provides a Variant Call Format file featuring, for the first time, allele-specific heteroplasmy and annotation files with prioritized variants. MToolBox was tested on simulated samples and applied on 1000 Genomes WXS datasets. Availability and implementation: MToolBox package is available at https://sourceforge.net/projects/mtoolbox/. Contact: marcella.attimonelli@uniba.it Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:25028726

Natural Laws and Ontological Reflections: The Textual and Didactic Implications of the Presentation of Boyle's Law in General Chemistry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quiroz, Waldo; Rubilar, Cristian Merino

2015-01-01

This study develops a tool to identify errors in the presentation of natural laws based on the epistemology and ontology of the Scientific Realism of Mario Bunge. The tool is able to identify errors of different types: (1) epistemological, in which the law is incorrectly presented as data correlation instead of as a pattern of causality; (2)…

On Algorithms for Nonlinear Minimax and Min-Max-Min Problems and Their Efficiency

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-03-01

dissertation is complete, I can finally stay home after dinner to play Wii with you. LET’S GO Mario and Yellow Mushroom... xv THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY... balance the accuracy of the approximation with problem ill-conditioning. The sim- plest smoothing algorithm creates an accurate smooth approximating...sizing in electronic circuit boards (Chen & Fan, 1998), obstacle avoidance for robots (Kirjner- Neto & Polak, 1998), optimal design centering

Natural Language Direction Following for Robots in Unstructured Unknown Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-15

Looking back, I can safely say my most fruitful research was the result of these collaborations. Seeing peers learn and struggle alongside me has been...performance gains on such diverse problems as autonomous driving, playing Super Mario, handwriting recogni- tion, helicopter control, and image...similarity metric between what the direction says and what the robot sees. These are useful to describe the landmark field of the Spatial Description

STS-44 Mission Specialist (MS) Runco floats on OV-104's middeck

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

STS-44 Mission Specialist (MS) Mario Runco, Jr, wearing communications kit assembly headset (HDST), freefloats on the middeck of Atlantis, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 104. HDST interface unit (HIU) is strapped to Runco's thigh. Note that his back is against the middeck ceiling, his feet at the port side wall, and his left hand at the forward lockers. Runco is also wearing a United States Navy t-shirt.

The Economic Effects of Reduced Defense Spending

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-02-01

Macroeconomics Annual 1987 (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press), pp. 263-315; and Leonardo Leiderman and Mario Blejer, " Modeling and Testing Ricardian ... model ), converting LIFT’s 78-sector forecasts of final demand by product to estimates for some 420 producing sectors. Unlike LIFT, DOM does not...24s in production in Fort Worth, Texas, during World War II. Photo is courtesy of Gen- eral Dynamics Corporation. Preface The past three years

Institutional Research: Its Place in the 1990's. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the North East Association for Institutional Research (17th, Albany, New York, October 21-23, 1990).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

North East Association for Institutional Research.

This document contains papers presented at a conference addressing the direction for the institutional research profession in the 1990s. Papers are as follows: "Reassessing Admission Policies at Public Universities: Cognitive vs. Non-Cognitive Predictors of 'Academic Success'" (Marios H. Agrotes); "Accommodating Team Member Cognitive Styles"…

Special Session on Adaptive Optics in Russia and China. Volume 23

DTIC Science & Technology

1995-01-01

Fisica Aplicada. Universidad de Cantabria. 39005. SANTANDER. SPAIN. Tel: 42-201445. Fax: 42-201402. 1.- INTRODUCTION To estimate the centroid of a light...Lia M. Zerbino ##, Eduardo Aguirre +, Anibal P. Laquidara ++ and Mario-Garavaglia ft. Centro de Investigaciones Opticas (CIOp) CC 124 Correo Central...Professor at Universidad Nacional dt La Plata and CONICET Engiuneer. C (lOp belongs to Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Ticnicas (CONICET

An Evaluation of the TRIPS Computer System (Extended Technical Report)

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-07-08

Mario Marino Nitya Ranganathan Behnam Robatmili Aaron Smith James Burrill Stephen W. Keckler Doug Burger Kathryn S. McKinley Computer Architecture and...Marino, Nitya Ranganathan , Behnam Robatmili, Aaron Smith, James Burrill, Stephen W. Keckler, Doug Burger, Kathryn S. McKinley; ASPLOS 2009, Washington DC...aggressively register allo- cate more memory accesses by using programmer knowledge about pointer aliasing, much of which may be automated. They also

Playing Super Mario 64 increases hippocampal grey matter in older adults.

PubMed

West, Greg L; Zendel, Benjamin Rich; Konishi, Kyoko; Benady-Chorney, Jessica; Bohbot, Veronique D; Peretz, Isabelle; Belleville, Sylvie

2017-01-01

Maintaining grey matter within the hippocampus is important for healthy cognition. Playing 3D-platform video games has previously been shown to promote grey matter in the hippocampus in younger adults. In the current study, we tested the impact of 3D-platform video game training (i.e., Super Mario 64) on grey matter in the hippocampus, cerebellum, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of older adults. Older adults who were 55 to 75 years of age were randomized into three groups. The video game experimental group (VID; n = 8) engaged in a 3D-platform video game training over a period of 6 months. Additionally, an active control group took a series of self-directed, computerized music (piano) lessons (MUS; n = 12), while a no-contact control group did not engage in any intervention (CON; n = 13). After training, a within-subject increase in grey matter within the hippocampus was significant only in the VID training group, replicating results observed in younger adults. Active control MUS training did, however, lead to a within-subject increase in the DLPFC, while both the VID and MUS training produced growth in the cerebellum. In contrast, the CON group displayed significant grey matter loss in the hippocampus, cerebellum and the DLPFC.

Playing Super Mario 64 increases hippocampal grey matter in older adults

PubMed Central

Konishi, Kyoko; Benady-Chorney, Jessica; Bohbot, Veronique D.; Peretz, Isabelle; Belleville, Sylvie

2017-01-01

Maintaining grey matter within the hippocampus is important for healthy cognition. Playing 3D-platform video games has previously been shown to promote grey matter in the hippocampus in younger adults. In the current study, we tested the impact of 3D-platform video game training (i.e., Super Mario 64) on grey matter in the hippocampus, cerebellum, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of older adults. Older adults who were 55 to 75 years of age were randomized into three groups. The video game experimental group (VID; n = 8) engaged in a 3D-platform video game training over a period of 6 months. Additionally, an active control group took a series of self-directed, computerized music (piano) lessons (MUS; n = 12), while a no-contact control group did not engage in any intervention (CON; n = 13). After training, a within-subject increase in grey matter within the hippocampus was significant only in the VID training group, replicating results observed in younger adults. Active control MUS training did, however, lead to a within-subject increase in the DLPFC, while both the VID and MUS training produced growth in the cerebellum. In contrast, the CON group displayed significant grey matter loss in the hippocampus, cerebellum and the DLPFC. PMID:29211727

Alcohol and the Elderly. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Health and Long-Term Care of the Select Committee on Aging. House of Representatives, Ninety-Eighth Congress, First Session (June 10, 1983, Astoria, N.Y.).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. House Select Committee on Aging.

The proceedings of the Congressional hearing on alcohol and the elderly are presented. Following introductory statements by the committee chairman, Senator Claude Pepper, and Representatives Mario Biaggi and Geraldine Ferraro, the briefing paper, "Crisis in Health Care Part 2: Alcoholism," prepared by the subcommittee staff is presented.…

Towards Real-Time GOMS

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-12-28

descriptive parameters (such as half-life) and the principles of operation are not computationally described (for example, it is simply stated that the power ...as Fitts’ law and Hick’s law) follow from the Soar architecture. (Some global laws, such as the power law of practice, have already been shown to be...typical adventure game with treasure to collect, enemies to avoid or kill, and super powers to acquire and use. The user manipulates the hero, Mario

Translations on Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, Number 317

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-08-31

bank robberies - Bamerindus, Rua da Quitanda branch, where 4 million cruzeiros were stolen; Banco do Brazil in Guadalupe, 800,000 cruzeiros, and...which broke out between mafia groups claimed a new victim yesterday when known trafficker Mario Gil Ramirez was slain. This criminal, against whom...persons while he was talking with his wife and other individuals in the "El Canecao" [The Tankard] bar. Gil Ramirez had been involved in several

Translations on Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs No. 298

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-05-06

Cabecao was arrested, and detectives Dagomar Ruas Silva and Vitor Alves da Mota, both of whom were working at the time at the now-closed Vigilancia-Norte...Carvajal. It is believed that Mario Gil Ramirez , husband of Bercey Espinosa de Gil, and Miguel Alberto Lopez, who was recently arrested by F-2, are...clandestine laboratory in that city. Arrested were Segundo Gonzaga Granda, Ocamidoro Gonzaga Diaz and Epaminondas Ramirez Acosta. The traffickers were

KSC-04pd0956

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-04-21

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Mario Busacca, with the Safety, Occupational Health and Environmental Division, handles a snake at one of the exhibits for KSC’s annual Environmental and Energy Awareness Week, held April 20-22. Presentations included Chemistry Safety, Cost-Effective Solar Applications, Non-Native Invasive Plant Identification and Control, Energy Efficient Lighting Systems, and Historical Changes in KSC’s Ecosystems. The slogan for this year’s event was “Today's Conservation Defines Tomorrow's Future.”

Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN).

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-06-01

U.S. Digital Networks," Telephony, February 6, 1984. Gerla, Mario and Pazos -Rangel, Rodolfo A ., "Bandwidth Allocation and Routing in ISDN’s," IEEE...111116o 1312. jf IL5 11111.4 MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS-1963 A • .4 i U-~ U. NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL G ,.Monterey...Thesis Advisor: C. R. Jones P: A -nroved for nublic release; distribution unlimited 85o 09 s0 082 1--𔃻- S **. -: -* *.- -. ..-. * SECURITY CLASSIFICATION

A Fault Tolerant Self-Routing Computer Network Topology

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-01-01

Herr and Thomas J. Plevyak, *ISDN: The Opportunity Beginso, IEEECommunicationsMaqaz I t, pp. 6-10, November 1986. 5. Mario Gerla and Rodolfo A . Pazos ...WOLAVER a Dean for Research anProfessional Development Air Force Institute Bf Technology Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433-6583 19. KEY WORDS (Continue...DD I 1473 EDITION OF I NOV 65 IS OBSOLETE UM!C[ASSIFIEy SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF THIS PAGE (When Data Entered) 41 ,." 5.’ A Fault Tolerant Self

An Invitation to Imitation

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-03-15

Super Mario Bros, 2010b. URL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anOI0xZ3kGM. S. Ross and J. A. Bagnell. Efficient reductions for imitation learning. In...learning to drive a car in a video game by performing a direct mapping from screen shots to steering angles. Figure 4 illustrates the classic super - an...same distribution and thus the super - vised learning assumption of independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) data is badly violated. A natural

Farewell to the Man in the Red Beret, Enter the Man in the White Silk Mitre: "There Is a Crack in Everything, That's How the Light Gets In"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLaren, Peter

2013-01-01

This essay examines the legacy of the late President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez Frias. Shortly after the death of President Chavez, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected the 266th and current pope of the Catholic Church and took the name, Francis. The essay contrasts the demonization of Hugo Chavez by the Western corporate media with the adulation of…

Modeling and Analysis of Target Echo and Clutter in Range-Dependent Bistatic Environments: FY13 Annual Report for ONR

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-30

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) (of UNESCO ) and the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), British Oceanographic Data... LA , USA, 27 Nov – 1 Dec 2007. [PT09] John S. Perkins and Eric I. Thorsos. Update on the reverberation modeling workshops. J. Acoust. Soc. Am...Undersea Research Centre, La Spezia, Italy, 2008. Conference held at Villa Marigola, Lerici, Italy, 9–12 September 2008. [ZAS10] Mario Zampolli

Book Review: Book review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishchenko, Michael I.

2017-07-01

This fundamental (and in many respects encyclopedic) 755-page monograph was published as part of the "Mario Boella Series on Electromagnetism in Information and Communication" edited by P. L. E. Uslenghi. The main purpose of the book is systematic exposition of several important aspects of the electromagnetic scattering theory along with the presentation of the requisite mathematical apparatus and illustrative numerical results. What distinguishes this volume from the vast majority of related books is the extensive treatment of the time-domain scattering theory.

The Domestic and International Dimensions of Risk: Prospect Theory and Argentina

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-09-01

Nicanor Costa Méndez, Malvinas: ésta la historia (Buenos Aires: Sudamericana, 1993), Mario B. Menédez and Carlos Túrolo, Malvinas: Testimoio de su...5 Figure 1.4 Average Rate of GDP Growth and Per Capita GDP (in five-year periods, 1901-1990) (From Ref.: Felipe A. M. de la Balze...Felipe A. M. de la Balze, Remaking the Argentine Economy (New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1995), 23) ............7 Table 5.1 Levels

Impact of human activities on the geomagnetic field of Antarctica: a high resolution aeromagnetic survey over Mario Zucchelli Station.

PubMed

Armadillo, E; Bozzo, E; Gambetta, M; Rizzello, D

2012-10-15

Environmental protection of Antarctica is a fundamental principle of the Antarctic Treaty. Impact assessment and significance evaluation are due for every human activity on the remote continent. While chemical and biological contaminations are widely studied, very little is known about the electromagnetic pollution levels. In this frame, we have evaluated the significance of the impact of Mario Zucchelli Antarctic Station (Northern Victoria Land) on the local geomagnetic field. We have flown a high resolution aeromagnetic survey in drape mode at 320m over the Station, covering an area of 2km(2). The regional and the local field have been separated by a third order polynomial fitting. After the identification of the anthropic magnetic anomaly due to the Station, we have estimated the magnetic field at the ground level by downward continuation with an original inversion scheme regularized by a minimum gradient support functional to avoid high frequency noise effects. The resulting anthropic static magnetic field at ground extends up to 650m far from the Station and reaches a maximum peak to peak value of about 2800nT. This anthropic magnetic anomaly may interact with biological systems, raising the necessity to evaluate the significance of the static magnetic impact of human installations in order to protect the electromagnetic environment and the biota of Antarctica. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Resposta do detector de ondas gravitacionais Mario Schenberg ao "ringdown" de buraco negros

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Costa, C. A.; Aguiar, O. D.; Magalhães, N. S.

2003-08-01

Acredita-se que quando duas estrelas de nêutrons coalescem, elas, eventualmente, formam um buraco negro com massa igual a soma das massas dos objetos originais. Durante a formação do buraco negro, o espaço-tempo em torno do sistema sofre perturbações que se propagam na forma de radiação gravitacional. A forma de onda associada a radiação gravitacional, durante este estágio, aproxima-se a uma senóide exponencialmente amortecida. Este tipo de sinal é conhecido como "ringdown", e seu comportamento e parametrização são muito bem conhecidos. Neste trabalho, simulamos computacionalmente sinais provenientes do "ringdown" de buracos negros, com a finalidade de testar o desempenho do detector de ondas gravitacionais Mario Schenberg em observá-los, quando entrar em funcionamento. Este primeiro teste teórico ajudou-nos a criar estratégias de detecção de sinais imersos no ruído instrumental. Calculamos a relação sinal-ruído como uma função da frequência, bem como sua integral dentro da faixa de sensibilidade do detector. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que o detector Schenberg terá sensibilidade suficiente para detectar este tipo de sinal, proveniente de fontes astrofísicas localizadas dentro de um raio de ~100kpc.

STS-44 crew poses for their onboard (in-space) portrait on OV-104's middeck

NASA Image and Video Library

1991-12-01

STS044-50-033 (24 Nov-1 Dec 1991) --- The six crewmembers for STS-44 assemble on the middeck. An auto-set 35mm camera recorded this view of them enroute to a more formal pose. Astronaut Frederick D. Gregory, Mission Commander, is at center. Clockwise from his position, other crewmembers are Payload Specialist Thomas J. Hennen; and astronauts James S. Voss, Mario Runco Jr. and F. Story Musgrave, all Mission Specialists, and Terence T. (Tom) Henricks, Pilot.

Third International Conference on Plant-Based Vaccines and Antibodies.

PubMed

Rybicki, Edward P

2009-09-01

This relatively new biennial meeting - the first was in Prague in 2005 - was chaired by Julian Ma (Guy's Hospital, London, UK), with Mario Pezzotti (University of Verona, Italy) as local organizer, and attracted approximately 180 delegates from 25 countries. The theme was 'Plant Expression Systems for Recombinant Pharmacologics': there were 46 talks gathered into two plenaries, 12 themed sessions and 72 posters. Topics covered included publicly funded and commercial developments, innovation, regulation and commercialization, competition with conventional technology, manufacture and new products.

Crewmember in the middeck with Commercial Generic Bioprocessing experiment.

NASA Image and Video Library

1993-01-19

STS054-30-009 (13 Jan 1993) --- Astronaut Susan J. Helms communicates with ground controllers about the Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA) on Endeavour's middeck. The mission specialist holds samples from the CGBA in her left hand. Sleep restraints can be seen in their temporary stow position in the left part of the frame, near the airlock hatch. Also onboard the spacecraft for the six-day mission were astronauts John H. Casper, Donald R. McMonagle, Gregory J. Harbaugh and Mario Runco Jr.

Geomagnetic field observations at a new Antarctic site, within the AIMNet project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lepidi, Stefania; Cafarella, Lili; Santarelli, Lucia; Pietrolungo, Manuela; Urbini, Stefano; Piancatelli, Andrea; Biasini, Fulvio; di Persio, Manuele; Rose, Mike

2010-05-01

During the 2007-2008 antarctic campaign, the Italian PNRA installed a Low Power Magnetometer within the framework of the AIMNet (Antarctic International Magnetometer Network) project, proposed and coordinated by BAS. The magnetometer is situated at Talos Dome, around 300 km geographically North-West from Mario Zucchelli Station (MZS), and approximately at the same geomagnetic latitude as MZS. In this work we present a preliminary analysis of the geomagnetic field 1-min data, and a comparison with simultaneous data from different Antarctic stations.

The concept of hierarchy in general systems theory.

PubMed

Gasparski, W

1994-01-01

The paper reviews main ideas related to the concept of hierarchy as they are discussed in contemporary general systems theory. After presenting a dictionary definition of the concept, the author examines the intuitive idea of hierarchy quoting Mario Bunge's notion of level structure. Then relationship between two other concepts: a system and a hierarchy is characterised on the bases of Bowler's, Bunge's again, Klir's, and the author's studies. Finally, the paper is concluded that hierarchy is not an otological concept but epistemological one.

[Sacrospinous colpopexy complications].

PubMed

Estrade, J-P; Agostini, A; Roger, V; Dallay, D; Blanc, B; Cravello, L

2004-10-01

To evaluate complications of sacrospinous ligament fixation. Monocentric retrospective study. Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, La Conception University Hospital, Marcella. Between January 1991 and September 2002, 277 women (mean age 64.9 years, range 37 to 92 years) underwent a sacrospinous ligament fixation; 91% had a menopausal status, and 15.5% used hormone replacement therapy. 33.2% of the patients had prior hysterectomy, 28.9% had a history of surgery for prolapse, and 18.8% had associated symptoms of stress urinary incontinence. In all cases, sacrospinous ligament fixation was performed under visual control using conventional stitch. Sacrospinous ligament fixation was combined with the following procedures: anterior vaginal repair (N =137), additional incontinence surgery (N =31), vaginal hysterectomy (N =137), levator myorraphy (N =203). Intraoperative complications, postoperative complications, long-term painful symptoms. Intraoperative complications were represented by 1 case of vascular wound and four rectal injuries. Main postoperative complications were vaginal haematomas (N =6) and abscesses (N =2). Long-term symptoms were perineal pain, sciatic neuralgia, and dyspareunia. There was no surgical mortality, and we noted low rates of major complications. Sacrospinous ligament fixation assumes high priority in our therapeutic regimen.

Passage performance of long-distance upstream migrants at a large dam on the Paraná River and the compounding effects of entry and ascent

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wagner, Ricardo Luiz; Makrakis, Sergio; Castro-Santos, Theodore R.; Makrakis, Maristela Cavicchioli; Dias, João Henrique Pinheiro; Belmont, René Fuster

2012-01-01

This paper presents results of a fishway evaluation performed at the Engenheiro Sérgio Motta Hydroelectric Power Plant (known as Porto Primavera) - CESP, Paraná River, Brazil. The evaluation was designed to quantify entry and passage proportions of 4 long-distance migratory fish species: Brycon orbignyanus (piracanjuba), Piaractus mesopotamicus (pacu), Prochilodus lineatus (curimba), and Rhinelepis aspera (cascudo-preto). Proportions finding and entering the fishway differed between species, ranged from 7.4 % (Prochilodus lineatus) to 55.4% (Piaractus mesopotamicus). Also, proportion passing was different between species, ranged from 31% (R. aspera) to 100% (Prochilodus lineatus). Fish that were marked and released within the fishway had greater failure rates than those that entered volitionally. Total time to pass ranged from 1.48 hours (Prochilodus lineatus) to 178.9 hours (R. aspera). Failure rates were greatest in the lower end of the fishway. Although some individuals of all species passed successfully, significant challenges remain to restoring connectivity of the upper Paraná River.

On acoplamento mecânico entre a antena e o transdutor no detector de ondas gravitacionais Mario Schenberg

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melo, J. L.; Aguiar, O. D.; Velloso, W. F., Jr.; Lucena, A. U.

2003-08-01

O detector de ondas gravitacionais MARIO SCHENBERG consistirá de uma massa esférica de cobre-alumínio de 1150kg resfriada a 4K, sobre a qual serão instalados 6 transdutores de nióbio. Com estes trandutores pretende-se converter um possível sinal de onda gravitacional detectado em sinal elétrico, para tanto é necessário que o acoplamento mecânico entre os transdutores e a massa ressonante seja o maior possível. Isto significa que o transdutor deve ser ressonante na mesma freqüência que a antena (aproximadamente 3200Hz). Neste trabalho foi desenvolvida uma geometria para a estrutura mecânica do trandutor. Isto foi feito criando-se modelos em elementos finitos usando-se o "software" MSC/Nastran. Estes modelos criados foram analisados estaticamente (cálculo de tensões) e dinamicamente (cálculo das freqüências de ressonâncias e seus respectivos modos normais) de maneira a se obter o primeiro modo normal do transdutor em 3200Hz. A partir destes cálculos escolheu-se a melhor geometria para o transdutor. Os próximos passos do trabalho serão: usinar este transdutor em uma barra de nióbio e testá-lo à temperatura ambiente e à baixa temperatura. Após isto, pretende-se testá-lo na própria antena resfriada.

Toys in Space, 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Herbert, Dexter (Editor)

1993-01-01

In this educational video from the 'Liftoff to Learning' series, astronauts from the STS-54 Mission (Mario Runco, John Casper, Don McMonagle, Susan Helms, and Greg Harbaugh) explain how microgravity and weightlessness in space affects motion by using both mechanical and nonmechanical toys (gravitrons, slinkys, dart boards, magnetic marbles, and others). The gravitational effects on rotation, force, acceleration, magnetism, magnetic fields, center of axis, and velocity are actively demonstrated using these toys through experiments onboard the STS-54 Mission flight as a part of their spaceborne experiment payload. [Resource Guide referenced in the video is not available.

Fully Burdened Cost of Retrograde, Redeployment, Reconstitution, and Reset and Analysis of Alternatives (FBCR4 & AoA): New Model to Formulate Strategic Decisions for Deployed Ground Vehicle Equipment

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-11-05

key leadership of critical R4 cost analysis. The second objective is to equip DoD planners with the framework for solving retrograde dilemmas in...informing key leadership of critical R4 cost analysis. The second objective is to equip DoD planners with the framework for solving retrograde...replicate the same dedication to individuals in similar situations in years to come.  To Captains Aaron Burciaga, Mario Solano, and Maro Enoka, as well

2016 AMS Mario J. Molina Symposium

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Renyi

A named symposium to honor Dr. Mario J. Molina was held 10–14 January 2016, as part of the 96th American Meteorological Society (AMS) Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. Dr. Molina first demonstrated that industrially produced chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) decompose in the stratosphere and release chlorine atoms, leading to catalytic ozone destruction. His research in stratospheric chemistry was instrumental to the establishment of the 1987 United Nations Montreal Protocol to ban ozone-depleting substances worldwide. Dr. Molina’s contributions to preserving the planet Earth not only save the atmospheric ozone layer, but also protect the climate by reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases.more » He was awarded the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his pioneering research in understanding the stratospheric ozone loss mechanism. In 2013, President Barack Obama announced Dr. Molina as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The 2016 AMS Molina Symposium honored Dr. Molina’s distinguished contributions to research related to atmospheric chemistry. The symposium contained an integrated theme related to atmospheric chemistry, climate, and policy. Dr. Molina delivered a keynote speech at the Symposium. The conference included invited keynote speeches and invited and contributed oral and poster sessions, and a banquet was held on Tuesday January 12, 2016. The symposium covered all aspects of atmospheric chemistry, with topics including (1) Stratospheric chemistry, (2) Tropospheric chemistry, (3) Aerosol nucleation, growth, and transformation, (4) Aerosol properties, (5) Megacity air pollution, and (6) Atmospheric chemistry laboratory, field, and modeling studies. This DOE project supported 14 scientists, including graduate students, post docs, junior research scientists, and non-tenured assistant professors to attend this symposium.« less

Space Shuttle Projects

NASA Image and Video Library

1996-02-01

The crew assigned to the STS-77 mission included (seated left to right) Curtis L. Brown, pilot; and John H. Casper, commander. Standing, left to right, are mission specialists Daniel W. Bursch, Mario Runco, Marc Garneau (CSA), and Andrew S. W. Thomas. Launched aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on May 19, 1996 at 6:30:00 am (EDT), the STS-77 mission carried three primary payloads; the SPACEHAB-4 pressurized research module, the Inflatable Antenna Experiment (IAE) mounted on a Spartan 207 free-flyer, and a suite of four technology demonstration experiments known as Technology Experiments for Advancing Missions in Space (TEAMS).

PREFACE: XX International School on Nuclear Physics, Neutron Physics and Applications (Varna2013)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stoyanov, Chavdar; Dimitrova, Sevdalina

2014-09-01

The present volume contains the lectures and short talks given at the XX International School on Nuclear Physics, Neutron Physics and Applications. The School was held from 16-22 September 2013 in 'Club Hotel Bolero' located in 'Golden Sands' (Zlatni Pyasaci) Resort Complex on the Black Sea coast, near Varna, Bulgaria. The School was organized by the Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Co-organizer of the School was the Bulgarian Nuclear Regulatory Agency and the Bogoliubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics of Joint Institute for Nuclear Research - Dubna. Financial support was also provided by the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science. According to the long-standing tradition the School has been held every second year since 1973. The School's program has been restructured according to our enlarged new international links and today it is more similar to an international conference than to a classical nuclear physics school. This new image attracts many young scientists and students from around the world. This year, 2013, we had the pleasure to welcome more than sixty distinguished scientists as lecturers. Additionally, twenty young colleagues received the opportunity to present a short contribution. Ninety-four participants altogether enjoyed the scientific presentations and discussions as well as the relaxing atmosphere at the beach and during the pleasant evenings. The program of the School ranged from latest results in fundamental areas such as nuclear structure and reactions to the hot issues of application of nuclear methods, reactor physics and nuclear safety. The main topics have been the following: Nuclear excitations at various energies. Nuclei at high angular moments and temperature. Structure and reactions far from stability. Symmetries and collective phenomena. Methods for lifetime measurements. Astrophysical aspects of nuclear structure. Neutron nuclear physics. Nuclear data. Advanced methods in nuclear waste treatment. Nuclear methods for applications. A special session in honor of the late Mario Stoitsov, was also part of the program. Many colleagues of Mario from all over the world came to Varna to pay tribute to this prominent scientist and loyal friend. Several colleagues contributed to the organization of the School. We would like to thank them and especially the Scientific Secretary of the School Dr Elena Stefanova and the members of the Organizing Committee Dr Dimitar Tarpanov and Peter Zivkov for their cordiality and high level assistance. We are also grateful to Dr Jacek Dobaczewski, who reached out to the collaborators of Mario Stoitsov on behalf of the conference. Sofia, 20 March 2014 Co-chair persons of the Organizing Committee Prof Dr Sc Ch Stoyanov Prof Dr Sc S Dimitrova Details of the committees are available in the PDF.

PREFACE: Young Researcher Meeting in Rome 2012

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agostini, Fabio; Cattani, Giordano; Mazzaferro, Luca; Migliaccio, Marina; Pietrobon, Davide; Ricci Pacifici, Daniel; Stellato, Francesco; Veneziani, Marcella

2012-10-01

Conference logo At its third edition, the Young Researcher Meeting in Rome (YRMR) proves to be a growing event in the Italian scientific panorama. The high-quality content of the abstracts submitted to the scientific committee resulted in an exciting conference, held, for the second time, at the University of Rome 'Tor Vergata' on 20 January 2012. A busy schedule covered a large variety of cutting-edge science topics: fundamental interactions, particle physics, cosmology, astrophysics, condensed matter and biomedical physics. The broad range of the subjects discussed is the distinctive feature of the YRMR, a meeting aimed at enhancing the synergy among complementary branches of science by stimulating a fruitful exchange between theoretical, experimental and computational physics. Promoting collaborations between PhD students, postdoctoral fellows and young researchers creates a solid scientific network with an open-minded approach to discovery. In this volume, we collect the contributions that have been presented both in the form of talks and of posters. YRMR Organising and Editorial Committee Fabio Agostini (fabio.agostini@roma2.infn.it) Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma 'Tor Vergata' Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Roma Italy Giordano Cattani (giordano.cattani@roma2.infn.it) Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma 'Tor Vergata' INFN sezione di Roma 'Tor Vergata' Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Roma Italy Luca Mazzaferro (luca.mazzaferro@roma2.infn.it) Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma 'Tor Vergata' INFN sezione di Roma 'Tor Vergata' Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Roma Italy Marina Migliaccio (migliaccio@ifca.unican.es) Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria, Edificio Juan Jorda, Avenida de los Castros, E-39005 Santander, Cantabria Spain Davide Pietrobon (davide.pietrobon@jpl.nasa.gov) Jet Propulsion Laboratory - California Institute of Technology 4800 Oak Grove Drive 169-237 91109 Pasadena, CA USA Daniel Ricci Pacifici (Daniel.Ricci.Pacifici@roma2.infn.it) Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma 'Tor Vergata' INFN sezione di Roma 'Tor Vergata' Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Roma Italy Francesco Stellato (francesco.stellato@cfel.de) Center for Free Electron Laser science c/o DESY 22607 Hamburg Germany Marcella Veneziani (marcella.veneziani@caltech.edu) California Institute of Technology 1200 California Blvd, Pasadena, 91125, CA USA Institution logos Acknowledgments The organizers of the 3rd Young Researcher Meeting in Rome would like to thank all the scientists who participated in the meeting. We thank the Science Faculty of the University of Rome 'Tor Vergata' for hosting the conference. The 'Tor Vergata' Division of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) and the Department of Physics of the University of Rome 'Tor Vergata' who have sponsored the event, covering the organization costs and allowing for travel grants to the speakers. We are grateful to Professor Francesco Fucito, Professor Piergiorgio Picozza, Professor Rinaldo Santonico, Dr Jose Francisco Morales and Ms Francesca Luna for their valuable support.

STS-44 Atlantis, OV-104, crewmembers participate in JSC FB-SMS training

NASA Image and Video Library

1991-04-22

S91-38355 (28 May 1991) --- Seen floating about the vacant spaces of the Johnson Space Center's KC-135 "zero-gravity" aircraft are the six crewmembers for the STS 44 mission. Left to right are Terence T. Henricks, James S. Voss, F. Story Musgrave (partially obscured), Frederick D. Gregory, Thomas J. Hennen and Mario Runco Jr. Gregory is mission commander. Hennen is payload specialist for this flight, dedicated to the Department of Defense. The flight served as a refresher and a preview of the experience of weightlessness, as the special aircraft flew a series of parabolas which provided short sessions of zero-gravity.

Cyclic Mario worlds — color-decomposition for one-loop QCD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kälin, Gregor

2018-04-01

We present a new color decomposition for QCD amplitudes at one-loop level as a generalization of the Del Duca-Dixon-Maltoni and Johansson-Ochirov decomposition at tree level. Starting from a minimal basis of planar primitive amplitudes we write down a color decomposition that is free of linear dependencies among appearing primitive amplitudes or color factors. The conjectured decomposition applies to any number of quark flavors and is independent of the choice of gauge group and matter representation. The results also hold for higher-dimensional or supersymmetric extensions of QCD. We provide expressions for any number of external quark-antiquark pairs and gluons. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Gas and dust spectral analysis of galactic and extragalactic symbiotic stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Angeloni, Rodolfo

2009-02-01

Symbiotic stars are recognized as unique laboratories for studying a large variety of phenomena that are relevant to a number of important astro-physical problems. This PhD thesis deals with a spectral analysis of galactic and extragalactic symbiotic stars. The former are mainly D-type symbiotic stars for which a comprehensive study, from radio to X-ray spectral region, has been performed. With the latter, we refer to symbiotic stars in the Magellanic Clouds, to be analyzed mainly in the IR range. The common theoretical scenario that lies in the background of this work is the colliding-wind model, developed already during the 80's, supported by first observational evidence at the beginning of 90's (mainly thanks to Nussbaumer and collaborators), and finally completed with detailed and powerful hydrodynamical simulations by various authors in these recent years. In the light of this scenario, we have tried to interpret gas and dust spectra of our targets in a unique and self-consistent way. The spectral analysis has been performed by means of the numerical code SUMA, developed at the Instituto Astronomico e Geofisico of the University of Sao Paulo by Sueli M. Viegas (Aldrovandi) and Marcella Contini from the School of Physics and Astronomy of the Tel-Aviv University.

Boveri's research at the Zoological Station Naples: Rediscovery of his original microscope slides at the University of Würzburg.

PubMed

Scheer, Ulrich

2018-02-14

Eric Davidson once wrote about Theodor Boveri: "From his own researches, and perhaps most important, his generalized interpretations, derive the paradigms that underlie modern inquiries into the genomic basis of embryogenesis" (Davidson, 1985). As luck would have it, the "primary data" of Boveri's experimental work, namely the microscope slides prepared by him and his wife Marcella during several stays at the Zoological Station in Naples (1901/02, 1911/12 and 1914), have survived at the University of Würzburg. More than 600 slides exist and despite their age they are in a surprisingly good condition. The slides are labelled and dated in Boveri's handwriting and thus can be assigned to his published experimental work on sea urchin development. The results allowed Boveri to unravel the role of the cell nucleus and its chromosomes in development and inheritance. Here, I present an overview of the slides in the context of Boveri's work along with photographic images of selected specimens taken from the original slides. It is planned to examine the slides in more detail, take high-resolution focal image series of significant specimens and make them online available. Copyright © 2018 The Author. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Odd-frequency triplet pairing in mixed-parity superconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cuoco, Mario; Gentile, Paola; Noce, Canio; Romano, Alfonso; Annunziata, Gaetano; Linder, Jacob

2012-02-01

We show that mixed-parity superconductors may exhibit equal-spin pair correlations that are odd-in-time and can be tuned by means of an applied field. The direction and the amplitude of the pair correlator in the spin space turn out to be strongly dependent on the symmetry of the order parameter, and thus provide a tool to identify different types of singlet-triplet mixed configurations. We suggest that odd-in-time spin-polarized pair correlations can be generated without magnetic inhomogeneities in superconducting/ferromagnetic hybrids with non-centrosymmetric superconductor or when parity mixing is induced at the interface. Paola Gentile, Canio Noce, Alfonso Romano, Gaetano Annunziata, Jacob Linder, Mario Cuoco, arXiv:1109.4885

Fractional exclusion and braid statistics in one dimension: a study via dimensional reduction of Chern-Simons theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Fei; Marchetti, P. A.; Su, Z. B.; Yu, L.

2017-09-01

The relation between braid and exclusion statistics is examined in one-dimensional systems, within the framework of Chern-Simons statistical transmutation in gauge invariant form with an appropriate dimensional reduction. If the matter action is anomalous, as for chiral fermions, a relation between braid and exclusion statistics can be established explicitly for both mutual and nonmutual cases. However, if it is not anomalous, the exclusion statistics of emergent low energy excitations is not necessarily connected to the braid statistics of the physical charged fields of the system. Finally, we also discuss the bosonization of one-dimensional anyonic systems through T-duality. Dedicated to the memory of Mario Tonin.

STS-44 onboard (in-space) crew portrait features "Trash Man" Hennen

NASA Image and Video Library

1991-12-01

STS044-17-030 (24 Nov-1 Dec 1991) --- The six crewmembers for STS-44 pose for a second crew portrait on Atlantis' flight deck. This portrait was intended to focus on Payload Specialist Thomas J. Hennen (front center), who earned the nickname, "Trash Man" during the flight. It was Hennen who "starred" in a brief onboard video production about the disposal of trash and waste. Others in the picture are (front row) Astronauts Frederick D. Gregory (left), Mission Commander; and James S. Voss, Mission Specialist; and (back row, left to right) Astronauts Mario Runco Jr. and F. Story Musgrave, both Mission Specialists; and Terence T. (Tom) Henricks, Pilot.

Between Homo Sociologicus and Homo Biologicus: The Reflexive Self in the Age of Social Neuroscience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pickel, Andreas

2012-10-01

The social sciences rely on assumptions of a unified self for their explanatory logics. Recent work in the new multidisciplinary field of social neuroscience challenges precisely this unproblematic character of the subjective self as basic, well-defined entity. If disciplinary self-insulation is deemed unacceptable, the philosophical challenge arises of systematically bringing together neurological, psychological, sociological, and anthropological dimensions of analysis in one framework such as dynamic systems theory; and of finding bridging concepts such as memory, social cognition, and cultural scripts that can facilitate the cross disciplinary study of the reflexive self. Relying on the systemic philosophy of science developed by Mario Bunge, this paper takes some steps in this direction.

Narrow-band multi-filter radiometer for total ozone content measurements: Mario Zucchelli Station (Antarctica) campaign.

PubMed

Scaglione, Salvatore; Zola, Danilo; Menchini, Francesca; Sarcina, Ilaria Di

2017-02-01

The importance of ground-based measurements of ultraviolet radiation has increased since the discovery of the stratospheric ozone layer depletion. Spectroradiometers are the most widely used class of instruments, although the requirement to work in attended stations is sometimes limiting. In this work we present a filter radiometer, named F-RAD, with good optical stability, very short sampling time (1 min), and proven reliability. The instrument is based on a stand-alone functioning, making it suitable for operation in hostile environments. The total ozone column (TOC) was estimated by the irradiance ratio at wavelengths where the ozone absorbs the solar radiation and where the radiation is not absorbed. Direct correlation between the TOC values estimated by F-RAD and by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) was found, and the standard deviations of the ratios between such values were calculated. Three wavelength ratios were identified to take into account the dependence of the measurements from the Solar Zenith Angle, A_F-RAD (306.0 nm/325.3 nm) for SZA<50°, B_F-RAD (309.9 nm/325.3 nm) and C_F-RAD (317.5 nm/325.3 nm) for SZA>50°. Considering the OMI ozone data as the reference values, the accuracy of the filter radiometer is estimated to be ±4%. The data collected during the calibration campaign in Lampedusa (June-July 2009, Italy) and during the first Antarctica winter of the 2009-2013 measurement campaign at Mario Zucchelli Station (MZS) are reported. The TOC measured by the F-RAD instrument, by the OMI on board of EOS-Aura satellite (NASA), and by the NOAA UV Monitoring Station in McMurdo (USA) are compared to assess the appropriateness of F-RAD for a long-term measurement campaign.

Observations of CI Cam needed to support spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waagen, Elizabeth O.

2016-10-01

Kelly Gourdji and Marcella Wijngaarden (graduate students at the University of Amsterdam/Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy) have requested AAVSO observers' assistance in providing optical photometry of CI Cam in support of their high-resolution spectroscopy from now through January 2017. They write: "...We are currently observing the variable star CI Cam (the B[e] optical counterpart of a HMXB system) with the HERMES spectrograph at the Mercator Telescope in La Palma. Having observed the star for three nights now, the object appears to be in outburst. In particular, H alpha was measured to be 80 times the continuum flux, and increasing between Oct. 9 and 12. This is similar to the previous outburst in 2004/5. Photometric data obtained during the 2004/5 outburst suggested an outburst duration of about 3 months and a peak brightness of 11.2 in the V band." More information is available in ATel #9634 (Wijngaarden et al.). Multiple snapshot observations per night in BVRI are requested beginning immediately and continuing through January 2017. Time series are not necessary unless requested later via an AAVSO Special Notice. Observations made using other filters will be useful as well as long as there are multiple observations in these bands. Finder charts with sequence may be created using the AAVSO Variable Star Plotter (https://www.aavso.org/vsp). Observations should be submitted to the AAVSO International Database. See full Alert Notice for more details.

Can the History of Science Contribute to Modelling in Physics Teaching?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Machado, Juliana; Braga, Marco Antônio Barbosa

2016-10-01

A characterization of the modelling process in science is proposed for science education, based on Mario Bunge's ideas about the construction of models in science. Galileo's Dialogues are analysed as a potentially fruitful starting point to implement strategies aimed at modelling in the classroom in the light of that proposal. It is argued that a modelling process for science education can be conceived as the evolution from phenomenological approaches towards more representational ones, emphasizing the role of abstraction and idealization in model construction. The shift of reference of theories—from sensible objects to conceptual objects—and the black-box models construction process, which are both explicitly presented features in Galileo's Dialogues, are indicated as highly relevant aspects for modelling in science education.

[The cultural psychiatry in Latin America].

PubMed

Villaseñor-Bayardo, Sergio J; Rojas-Malpica, Carlos; Aceves-Pulido, Martha P

2014-01-01

This paper presents only some of the most important contributions in the development of cultural psychiatry in Latin America. The continental efforts to understand the role that culture plays in the manifestation and treatment of mental disorders have been fruitful. The authors included are: Fernando Pagés of Argentina; Mario G. Hollweg of Bolivia; Rubim Alvaro de Pinho and Adalberto Barreto of Brazil; Carlos A. Leon and Carlos A. Uribe of Colombia; Antonio José A. Bustamante and Santa Cruz de Cuba, Carlos Leon Andrade of Ecuador, Guatemala Cristina Chavez; Sergio Villasenor J. Bayardo of Mexico; Carlos A. Seguin, Hermilio Valdizán and Javier Mariátegui in Peru; Y. Bespaldi of Consens of Uruguay; Rojas and Carlos Malpica and Jacqueline Briceño Clarac of Venezuela.

STS-54 MS1 Runco uses DSO 802 and Physics of Toys racetrack on OV-105's middeck

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

STS-54 Mission Specialist 1 (MS1) Mario Runco, Jr watches as a toy friction car navigates a loop track on the middeck of the Earth-orbiting Endeavour, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 105. The demonstration was part of Application Specific Preprogrammed Experiment Culture System Physics of Toys (ASPEC) and Detailed Supplementary Objective (DSO) 802, Educational activities. Through telephone and television (TV) downlinks, students at Sacred Heart School (notice banner in the background) in Bronx, New York -- Runco's birthplace -- asked him questions about the several toys he demonstrated. The entire collection of toys will be videotaped for an educational program to be distributed to schools in the autumn. This scene was downlinked at 17:37:03:12 GMT.

EVA Crewmembers emerging from the air lock into the middeck.

NASA Image and Video Library

1993-01-19

STS054-06-019 (17 Jan. 1993) --- Astronaut Susan J. Helms almost squeezes into the tight quarters of Endeavour's airlock to share space with her fellow mission specialists -- both attired in extravehicular mobility units (EMU) spacesuits. Astronauts Mario Runco Jr. (hands on outer edge of hatch) and Gregory J. Harbaugh spent four-plus hours on the extravehicular activity (EVA) on January 17, 1993. Helms trained with the pair for several months in preparation for the EVA. From the shirt-sleeved environment of Endeavour, she maintained communications with the two throughout the spacewalk. Also onboard NASA's newest Shuttle for the six-day mission were astronauts John H. Casper, mission commander; and Donald R. McMonagle, pilot. The photograph was taken with a 35mm camera.

PREFACE: Young Researcher Meeting, Trieste 2013

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agostini, F.; Antolini, C.; Aversa, R.; Cattani, G.; Martinelli, M.; Mazzaferro, L.; Migliaccio, M.; Paci, F.; Pietrobon, D.; Ricci Pacifici, D.; Stellato, F.; Veneziani, M.

2013-12-01

YRM logo The Young Researcher Meeting (www.yrmr.it) has been a rapidly growing event for the last few years. Together with other initiatives which have emerged in several research areas, the young researcher meeting marks the awareness and the desire of PhD students, postdoctoral fellows and young researchers to play a major role in scientific progress. Devoted to the discussion and the interchange of new developments and ideas in physics, the meeting is primarily aimed at graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, who are encouraged to present their work in an informal atmosphere. One of the main purposes of the conference is to create an international network of young researchers, both experimentalists and theorists, and fruitful collaborations across the different branches of physics. Born in Rome in 2009, after three editions that strengthened it, the Young Researcher Meeting 2013 was held in Trieste. Propelled by the past success, the fourth meeting was a two-day conference on 3-4June. It was sponsored by the International School for Advanced Studies - SISSA - and the University of Padova, thus acquiring an even further international drive. In this volume, we collect some of the contributions that were presented at the conference. They cover topics in astrophysics and cosmology, particle and theoretical physics, soft and condensed matter, biophysics and medical physics. YRM Organising and Editorial Committee Fabio Agostini (fabio.agostini@roma2.infn.it) Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma 'Tor Vergata' Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Roma, Italy Claudia Antolini (claudia.antolini@sissa.it) SISSA - Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati Via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy Rossella Aversa (raversa@sissa.it) SISSA - Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati Via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy Giordano Cattani (giordano.cattani@gmail.com) Matteo Martinelli (mmartin@sissa.it) SISSA - Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati Via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy Luca Mazzaferro (luca.mazzaferro@roma2.infn.it) Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma 'Tor Vergata' Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Roma, Italy Marina Migliaccio (mm858@ast.cam.ac.uk) Institute of Astronomy and Kavli Institute for Cosmology Madingley Road, CB3 0HA Cambridge, United Kingdom Francesco Paci (fpaci@sissa.it) SISSA - Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati Via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy Davide Pietrobon (davide.pietrobon@jpl.nasa.gov) California Institute of Technology - Jet Propulsion Laboratory 4800 Oak Grove Drive 169-237 91109 Pasadena, CA, USA Daniel Ricci Pacifici (Daniel.Ricci.Pacifici@pd.infn.it) Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università degli Studi di Padova INFN, Sezione di Padova Via Marzolo 8, 35131, Padova, Italy Francesco Stellato (francesco.stellato@cfel.de) Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, DESY Notkestrase 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany Marcella Veneziani (marcella@ipac.caltech.edu) Infrared Processing and Analysis Center California Institute of Technology 1200 E California Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA SISSA logoPadua logo Acknowledgments The organizers of the 4th Young Researcher Meeting, held in Trieste, would like to thank all the scientists who participated in the meeting. We thank the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) for hosting the conference, covering the organization costs and allowing some travel grants for the speakers. We are greateful to Professor Guido Martinelli, director of SISSA, for his valuable support and advice. The publication of the proceedings of the conference is sponsored by the Padova university project CPDA119349 (P I Professor Marco Matone). The event was broadcast live by OggiScienza (http://oggiscienza.wordpress.com).

Between the Under-Labourer and the Master-Builder: Observations on Bunge's Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agassi, Joseph

2012-10-01

Mario Bunge has repeatedly discussed contributions to philosophy and to science that are worthless at best and dangerous at worst, especially cases of pseudo-science. He clearly gives his reason in his latest essay on this matter: "The fact that science can be faked to the point of deceiving science lovers suggests the need for a rigorous sifting device". Moreover, this sifting has its rewards, as "sometimes intellectual gold comes mixed with muck". Furthermore, the sifting device is a demarcation of science, which answers interesting questions: what is valuable in science and what makes it tick? The question is under dispute. So before coming to it we should admit a few preliminary ideas that are more difficult to contest than ideas that purport to demarcate science.

Workers’ Liberty, Workers’ Welfare: The Supreme Court Speaks on the Rights of Disabled Employees

PubMed Central

Bayer, Ronald

2003-01-01

On June 10, 2002, a unanimous US Supreme Court rejected the claim by Mario Echazabal that he had been denied his rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act when Chevron USA had refused to employ him because he had hepatitis C. Chevron believed that Echazabal’s exposure to hepatotoxic chemicals in its refinery would pose a grave risk to his health. This case poses critical questions about the ethics of public health: When, if ever, is paternalism justified? Must choice always trump other values? What ought to be the balance between welfare and liberty? Strikingly, the groups that came to Echazabal’s defense adopted an antipaternalistic posture fundamentally at odds with the ethical foundations of occupational health and safety policy. PMID:12660193

Long-term monitoring of PKS0558­-504, a highly accreting AGN with a radio jet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gliozzi, Mario

Mario Gliozzi, mgliozzi@gmu.edu George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, United States The radio-loud Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 galaxy PKS 0558-504 is a highly variable, X-ray bright source with super-Eddington accretion rate and a powerful radio jet that does not dominate the emission beyond the radio band. Hence this source represents an ideal laboratory to study the link between accretion and ejection phenomena. Here we present the preliminary results from a 5-year monitoring campaign with RXTE as well as from a 1.5-year multi-wavelength campaign with Swift, complemented with radio observations from the ATCA and VLBI. We combine several pieces of information from different energy bands to shed some light on the energetics of accretion and ejection phenomena in this extreme black hole system.

[Speech by Carlos Matus in the presentation of Adiós, Señor Presidente].

PubMed

Matus, Carlos

2014-04-01

The text of this article was written by Carlos Matus and read aloud by him at the first presentation of his book Adiós, Señor Presidente [Goodbye, Mr. President] in Venezuela in 1987. Matus describes the problems of the governments of Latin America of that day, in order to address the growing gap between the capacity of governments to govern and the complexity of social systems. For Matus, bridging this gap requires theories, techniques, systems and methods so as to develop government projects in which the governability of the system is not less than the magnitude of its problems. This document was recovered from the Mario Testa fund, in the Center for Documentation and Research Pensar en Salud (CEDOPS) of the Institute of Collective Health in the Universidad Nacional de Lanús.

Retrospective on reverse genetics in mice around the world and in Japan.

PubMed

Aizawa, Shinichi

2008-06-01

The 2007 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Mario R. Capecchi, Martin J. Evans and Oliver Smithies for their contribution in generating mutant mice by gene targeting in embryonic stem (ES) cells. Although there are many experimental animals, it is yet only in mouse that one can genetically examine functions of genes at will. It was merely a dream in the early 1980s that genetic studies with mutants would one day become a reality in mammals. The story began with tetratocarcinoma/embryonal carcinoma cells. Now, through the successes of cloning in mammals, somatic cells such as our skin cells will shortly be transformed into ES-like (induced pluripotent stem) cells by the proper activation of endogenous genes such as Oct4 and Sox2 with chemicals. How have times changed?

Assisted suicide in the care of mentally ill patients: the Lucio Magri's case.

PubMed

Frati, Paola; Gulino, Matteo; Mancarella, Paola; Cecchi, Rossana; Ferracuti, Stefano

2014-01-01

A year after Mario Monicelli's suicide, the death of another famous person in Italy, Lucio Magri, reawakened the Italian debate on social, ethical and juridical issues in end-of-life decisions. Unlike Monicelli, Lucio Magri decided to end his own life in Switzerland with the help of a physician because his mental illness rendered his life unbearable. Both Monicelli and Magri suffered from a severe depression. The authors analyze the ethical issues regarding the right to die for mentally ill patients and neurological disabled patients, discussing the decision-making autonomy in persons suffering from severe depression. The role of the psychiatry in the management of end-of-life decision requests is considered along with pros and cons of suicide prevention and rationale suicide. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.

Daily variation characteristics at polar geomagnetic observatories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lepidi, S.; Cafarella, L.; Pietrolungo, M.; Di Mauro, D.

2011-08-01

This paper is based on the statistical analysis of the diurnal variation as observed at six polar geomagnetic observatories, three in the Northern and three in the Southern hemisphere. Data are for 2006, a year of low geomagnetic activity. We compared the Italian observatory Mario Zucchelli Station (TNB; corrected geomagnetic latitude: 80.0°S), the French-Italian observatory Dome C (DMC; 88.9°S), the French observatory Dumont D'Urville (DRV; 80.4°S) and the three Canadian observatories, Resolute Bay (RES; 83.0°N), Cambridge Bay (CBB; 77.0°N) and Alert (ALE, 87.2°N). The aim of this work was to highlight analogies and differences in daily variation as observed at the different observatories during low geomagnetic activity year, also considering Interplanetary Magnetic Field conditions and geomagnetic indices.

Final Blaze of Glory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2001-01-01

This video gives an overview of planetary nebulae through a computerized animation, images from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and interviews with Space Telescope Science Institute Theorist Dr. Mario Livio. A computerized animation simulates a giant star as it swallows its smaller companion. HST images display various planetary nebulae, such as M2-9 Twinjet Nebula, NGC 3568, NGC 3918, NGC 5307, NGC 6826, NGC 7009, and Hubble 5. An artist's concept shows what our solar system might look like in a billion years when the Sun has burned out and cast off its outer layers in a shell of glowing gas. Dr. Livio describes the shapes of the planetary nebulae, gives three reasons to study planetary nebulae, and what the observations made by HST have meant to him. A succession of 17 HST images of planetary nebulae are accompanied by music by John Serrie.

Mario Bunge's Materialist Theory of Mind and Contemporary Cognitive Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slezak, Peter

2012-10-01

Bunge's writings on the mind-body problem provide a rigorous, analytical antidote to the persistent anti-materialist tendency that has characterized the history of philosophy and science. Bunge gives special attention to dualism and its shortcomings, and this attention is welcome in view of the resurgence of the doctrine today. However, I focus my comments selectively on Bunge's more controversial, provocative claims, not to dismiss them, but to engage with them seriously. For example, a difficulty arising from Bunge's rhetorical style and its undoubted virtues is that not all the targets of his selfconfessed "bashings" (2010, xi) are equally deserving. For example, Bunge suggests "most contemporary philosophers of mind are indifferent to psychology, or are remarkably uninformed about it". This charge cannot be sustained today in light of the work of foremost philosophers today.

External-PIXE analysis for the study of pigments from a painting from the Museum of Contemporary Art

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rizzutto, M. A.; Moro, M. V.; Silva, T. F.; Trindade, G. F.; Added, N.; Tabacniks, M. H.; Kajiya, E. M.; Campos, P. H. V.; Magalhães, A. G.; Barbosa, M.

2014-08-01

External Ion Beam Analysis is a useful tool for the characterization of cultural heritage objects. During the last decade, several significant collaborations have been established between Ion Beam Analysis (IBA) scientists and art or archeology professionals, demanding in-air IBA for a variety of different cultural heritage objects. In-air Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) analyses of an oil painting by the Italian painter, Mario Sironi, from the Museum of Contemporary Art of the University of São Paulo (MAC-USP), were examined. This painting is particularly interesting due to paintings on both sides (oil on canvas on the front and oil on wood on the back side). PIXE analysis helped the identification of the pigment similarities on both sides of the painting, suggesting the same authorship.

[The reciprocity rule in the construction of relationships as the key in relational processes].

PubMed

Fenelli, Antonio; Volpi, Cecilia; Guarracino, Emanuele; Galli, Virginia; Esposito, Massimo

2011-01-01

Reciprocity as an expression of the therapist-patient relationship is pointed-out by Mario Reda who refers to Comparetti's studies on the mother-foetus reciprocity, mediated by the so-called "jumps". Reciprocal behaviours are clearly observable during bird and other animal courtship behaviour, whereas in the Sapiens sapiens species, we may observe the establishing of a very complex reciprocity system, which starts with gestures and bodily attitudes, subsequently activating sensory-motor emotional schemata and internal working models, thus enabling the construction of personal meanings. A relationship may result from an encounter provided that "compatible" meanings are constructed in the context of "possible reciprocity" of significant systems. The observation of reciprocity provides a concrete possibility to reduce the risk of absolute subjectivity related to the I or the you, superceding it through the us.

European National Society Cardiovascular Journals

PubMed Central

Alfonso, F.; Ambrosio, G.; Pinto, F.J.; van der Wall, E.E.

2008-01-01

Anesti Kondili MD, Djamaleddine Nibouche MD, Karlen Adamyan MD, Kurt Huber MD, Hugo Ector MD, Izet Masic MD, Rumiana Tarnovska MD, Mario Ivanusa MD, Vladimír Stane˘k MD, Jørgen Videbæk MD, Mohamed Hamed MD, Alexandras Laucevicius MD, Pirjo Mustonen MD, Jean-Yves Artigou MD, Ariel Cohen MD, Mamanti Rogava MD, Michael Böhm MD, Eckart Fleck MD, Gerd Heusch MD, Rainer Klawki MD, Panos Vardas MD, Christodoulos Stefanadis MD, József Tenczer MD, Massimo Chiariello MD, Aleksandras Laucevicius MD, Joseph Elias MD, Halima Benjelloun MD, Olaf Rødevand MD, Piotr Kul/akowski MD, Edvard Apetrei MD, Victor A. Lusov MD, Rafael G. Oganov MD, Velibor Obradovic MD, Gabriel Kamensky MD, Miran F. Kenda MD, Christer Höglund MD, Thomas F. Lüscher MD, René Lerch MD, Moufid Jokhadar MD, Habib Haouala MD, Vedat Sansoy MD, Valentin Shumakov MD, Adam Timmis MD. (European National Society Cardiovascular Journals Editors, see Appendix for complete affiliations) PMID:18665206

A Nearly Complete Census Of Young Stars Distribution In The Nearest Molecular Clouds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Myers, Philip C.

2001-01-01

Under this grant we prepared a program of observations based on our previous plans for observations with the WIRE satellite. Our main effort was to use our WIRE plans to prepare estimates for a SIRTF Legacy Science proposal, From Molecular Cores to Planets (N. Evans, PI). For this purpose, L. Allen compiled catalogs of dense cores with and without associated stars, of stars in the youngest evolutionary stages (Class 0, I, and II), and of embedded clusters observed in the near infrared. Further, Tyler Bourke, Mario van den Ancker, and Chang Won Lee compiled and edited a refined lists of 150 isolated cores in the nearest star-forming regions within several hundred pc of the Sun, suitable for surveying with SIRTF. Our SIRTF Legacy Science proposal was selected for funding, and we are continuing with our planning for the observations.

Kennedy Space Center Director Update

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-03-06

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Community leaders, business executives, educators, and state and local government leaders were updated on NASA Kennedy Space Center programs and accomplishments during Center Director Bob Cabana’s Center Director Update at the Debus Center at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Attendees talk with Trey Carlson, Kennedy Master Planner, at the Center Planning and Development Directorate, or CPDD, display. In the background is Mario Busacca, chief of CPDD’s Spaceport Planning Office. Attendees talked with Cabana and other senior Kennedy managers and visited displays featuring updates on Kennedy programs and projects, including International Space Station, Commercial Crew, Ground System Development and Operations, Launch Services, Center Planning and Development, Technology, KSC Swamp Works and NASA Education. The morning concluded with a tour of the new Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit at the visitor complex. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

STS-77 Shuttle Endeavour clears tower (front left)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

A flawless countdown culminates with an on-time liftoff as the Space Shuttle Endeavour lights up the morning sky. Endeavour was launched on Mission STS-77 from Pad 39B at 6:30:00 a.m. EDT, May 19. The fourth Shuttle mission of 1996 is devoted to the continuing effort to help open the commercial space frontier. Heading up the six-member crew is Commander John H. Casper. Curtis L. Brown Jr. is the pilot and there are four mission specialists on board: Daniel W. Bursch, Mario Runco Jr., Andrew S. W. Thomas and Marc Garneau, who represents the Canadian Space Agency. During the approximately 10-day mission, the astronauts will perform a variety of payload activities, including microgravity research aboard the SPACEHAB-4 module, deployment and retrieval of the Spartan 207 carrying the Inflatable Antenna Experiment (IAE) and deployment and rendezvous with the Passive Aerodynamically-Stabilized Magnetically-Damped Satellite (PAMS).

Heliophysics: Active Stars, their Astrospheres, and Impacts on Planetary Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schrijver, C. J.; Bagenal, F.; Sojka, J. J.

2016-04-01

Preface; 1. Introduction Carolus J. Schrijver, Frances Bagenal and Jan J. Sojka; 2. Solar explosive activity throughout the evolution of the Solar System Rachel Osten; 3. Astrospheres, stellar winds, and the interstellar medium Brian Wood and Jeffrey L. Linsky; 4. Effects of stellar eruptions throughout astrospheres Ofer Cohen; 5. Characteristics of planetary systems Debra Fischer and Ji Wang; 6. Planetary dynamos: updates and new frontiers Sabine Stanley; 7. Climates of terrestrial planets David Brain; 8. Upper atmospheres of the giant planets Luke Moore, Tom Stallard and Marina Garland; 9. Aeronomy of terrestrial upper atmospheres David E. Siskind and Stephen W. Bougher; 10. Moons, asteroids, and comets interacting with their surroundings Margaret G. Kivelson; 11. Dusty plasmas Mihály Horányi; 12. Energetic-particle environments in the Solar System Norbert Krupp; 13. Heliophysics with radio scintillation and occultation Mario M. Bisi; Appendix 1. Authors and editors; List of illustrations; List of tables; References; Index.

The practicality or otherwise of biomedical rejuvenation therapies: a response to Kyriazis.

PubMed

de Grey, Aubrey D N J

2014-08-01

Elsewhere in this issue, Marios Kyriazis articulates a sharply skeptical assessment of the feasibility of medical rejuvenation, otherwise known as the "damage repair" approach to postponing the ill health of old age. His critique incorporates many errors of fact and/or interpretation and/or logic, which I enumerate here. I recognize that many of these errors are by no means Kyriazis's alone but are shared by numerous observers across the full range of biological expertise. It is for that reason above all that I hope this exchange will be of value to readers. Additionally, Kyriazis raises a number of valid concerns that have not been systematically addressed, by myself or by others, in past publications; I will attempt to remedy that here. For clarity, I will not structure this response as an essay, but instead as a simple point-by-point list of comments concerning individual statements and inferences that Kyriazis makes.

STS-54 crewmembers with DSO 802 and Physics of Toys on OV-105's middeck

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

STS-54 Commander John H. Casper, holding microphone, talks to a television (TV) audience including students on the middeck of the Earth-orbiting Endeavour, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 105. Surrounded by crewmembers, Casper explains how specific toys function differently in the classroom versus in space as part of Application Specific Preprogrammed Experiment Culture System Physics of Toys (ASPEC) and Detailed Supplementary Objective (DSO) 802, Educational activities. Through telephone and TV downlinks, Casper and crewmembers conversed with students in four schools who participated in the special lesson. Counter clockwise from the left are Mission Specialist 3 (MS3) Susan J. Helms, Casper, Pilot Donald R. McMonagle, MS1 Mario Runco, Jr, and MS2 Gregory J. Harbaugh. The entire collection of toys will be videotaped for an educational program to be distributed to schools in the autumn. This scene was downlinked at 18:28:04:18 GMT.

Pair production in the gravitational field of a cosmic string

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harari, Diego D.; Skarzhinsky, Vladimir D.

1990-04-01

We show that many elementary particle physics processes, such as pair production by a high energy photon, that take place in Minkowski space only if a non-uniform external field provides for momentum non-conservation, do occur in the space-time around a straight cosmic string, even though the space is locally flat and there is no local gravitational potential. We exemplify this mechanism through the evaluation of the cross section per unit length of string for the decay of a massless scalar particle into a pair of massive particles. The cross sections for this kind of processes are typically small. Nevertheless, it is interesting to realize how these reactions occur due to topological properties of space, rather than to the action of a local field. V.S. is grateful to Mario Castagnino for hospitality at the Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio during a visit while this work was done.

Projeto do sistema anti-ressonante da fiação dos transdutores para o detector Mario Schenberg

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vieira, S. J.., Jr.; Melo, J. L.

2003-08-01

O detector de ondas gravitacionais Mario Schenberg está sendo projetado e construído pelo grupo Gráviton. Sua construção está ocorrendo no Laboratório de Estado Sólido e Baixas Temperaturas (LESBT) da Universidade de São Paulo, na cidade de São Paulo. Esse detector possui uma massa ressonante esférica de cobre-alumínio, com 65 cm de diâmetro, pesando aproximadamente 1150 Kg, suspensa por um sistema de isolamento vibracional, que se encontra em fase de testes preliminares. A real eficácia desse sistema, entretanto, só poderá ser comprovada quando o detector estiver aparelhado com, pelo menos, um transdutor eletromecânico de altíssima sensibilidade acoplado à massa ressonante. Neste momento, não só este sistema de isolamento vibracional será posto em teste, como o do projeto da fiação que transporta os sinais de microondas até os transdutores e destes para a pré-amplificação. Apesar dessa fiação ter sido projetada para não apresentar nenhum contato com a superfície esférica da antena, de maneira a não haver nenhuma transmissão de ruído vibracional do laboratório para esta, deve-se minimizar o ruído microfônico produzido nessa fiação por oscilações mecânicas, uma vez que ela não utiliza nenhum sistema de isolamento vibracional. Com o intuito de resolver este problema, projetamos uma estrutura, formada por pequenos cilindros conectados por barras, a qual não terá nenhuma ressonância mecânica na faixa de freqüências de interesse para detecção (3000 - 3400 Hz). Desta forma, as vibrações nessa faixa não serão amplificadas. O projeto foi feito usando iterativamente, de maneira a otimizar os resultados obtidos, o programa de elementos finitos Msc/Nastran. Através de simulações feitas neste programa, determinamos os parâmetros geométricos ideais a serem utilizados, os quais proporcionam a maior região espectral de interesse livre de ressonâncias.

Virtual Environmental Enrichment through Video Games Improves Hippocampal-Associated Memory

PubMed Central

Clemenson, Gregory D.

2015-01-01

The positive effects of environmental enrichment and their neural bases have been studied extensively in the rodent (van Praag et al., 2000). For example, simply modifying an animal's living environment to promote sensory stimulation can lead to (but is not limited to) enhancements in hippocampal cognition and neuroplasticity and can alleviate hippocampal cognitive deficits associated with neurodegenerative diseases and aging. We are interested in whether these manipulations that successfully enhance cognition (or mitigate cognitive decline) have similar influences on humans. Although there are many “enriching” aspects to daily life, we are constantly adapting to new experiences and situations within our own environment on a daily basis. Here, we hypothesize that the exploration of the vast and visually stimulating virtual environments within video games is a human correlate of environmental enrichment. We show that video gamers who specifically favor complex 3D video games performed better on a demanding recognition memory task that assesses participants' ability to discriminate highly similar lure items from repeated items. In addition, after 2 weeks of training on the 3D video game Super Mario 3D World, naive video gamers showed improved mnemonic discrimination ability and improvements on a virtual water maze task. Two control conditions (passive and training in a 2D game, Angry Birds), showed no such improvements. Furthermore, individual performance in both hippocampal-associated behaviors correlated with performance in Super Mario but not Angry Birds, suggesting that how individuals explored the virtual environment may influence hippocampal behavior. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The hippocampus has long been associated with episodic memory and is commonly thought to rely on neuroplasticity to adapt to the ever-changing environment. In animals, it is well understood that exposing animals to a more stimulating environment, known as environmental enrichment, can stimulate neuroplasticity and improve hippocampal function and performance on hippocampally mediated memory tasks. Here, we suggest that the exploration of vast and visually stimulating environments within modern-day video games can act as a human correlate of environmental enrichment. Training naive video gamers in a rich 3D, but not 2D, video game, resulted in a significant improvement in hippocampus-associated cognition using several behavioral measures. Our results suggest that modern day video games may provide meaningful stimulation to the human hippocampus. PMID:26658864

Virtual Environmental Enrichment through Video Games Improves Hippocampal-Associated Memory.

PubMed

Clemenson, Gregory D; Stark, Craig E L

2015-12-09

The positive effects of environmental enrichment and their neural bases have been studied extensively in the rodent (van Praag et al., 2000). For example, simply modifying an animal's living environment to promote sensory stimulation can lead to (but is not limited to) enhancements in hippocampal cognition and neuroplasticity and can alleviate hippocampal cognitive deficits associated with neurodegenerative diseases and aging. We are interested in whether these manipulations that successfully enhance cognition (or mitigate cognitive decline) have similar influences on humans. Although there are many "enriching" aspects to daily life, we are constantly adapting to new experiences and situations within our own environment on a daily basis. Here, we hypothesize that the exploration of the vast and visually stimulating virtual environments within video games is a human correlate of environmental enrichment. We show that video gamers who specifically favor complex 3D video games performed better on a demanding recognition memory task that assesses participants' ability to discriminate highly similar lure items from repeated items. In addition, after 2 weeks of training on the 3D video game Super Mario 3D World, naive video gamers showed improved mnemonic discrimination ability and improvements on a virtual water maze task. Two control conditions (passive and training in a 2D game, Angry Birds), showed no such improvements. Furthermore, individual performance in both hippocampal-associated behaviors correlated with performance in Super Mario but not Angry Birds, suggesting that how individuals explored the virtual environment may influence hippocampal behavior. The hippocampus has long been associated with episodic memory and is commonly thought to rely on neuroplasticity to adapt to the ever-changing environment. In animals, it is well understood that exposing animals to a more stimulating environment, known as environmental enrichment, can stimulate neuroplasticity and improve hippocampal function and performance on hippocampally mediated memory tasks. Here, we suggest that the exploration of vast and visually stimulating environments within modern-day video games can act as a human correlate of environmental enrichment. Training naive video gamers in a rich 3D, but not 2D, video game, resulted in a significant improvement in hippocampus-associated cognition using several behavioral measures. Our results suggest that modern day video games may provide meaningful stimulation to the human hippocampus. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/3516116-10$15.00/0.

Spatial variability of detrended soil plow layer penetrometer resistance transect in a sugarcane field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pérez, Luis D.; Cumbrera, Ramiro; Mato, Juan; Millán, Humberto; Tarquis, Ana M.

2015-04-01

Spatial variability of soil properties is relevant for identifying those zones with physical degradation. In this sense, one has to face the problem of identifying the origin and distribution of spatial variability patterns (Brouder et al., 2001; Millán et al., 2012). The objective of the present work was to quantify the spatial structure of soil penetrometer resistance (PR) collected from a transect data consisted of 221 points equidistant. In each sampling, readings were obtained from 0 cm till 70 cm of depth, with an interval of 5 cm (Pérez, 2012). The study was conducted on a Vertisol (Typic Hapludert) dedicated to sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) production during the last sixty years (Pérez et al., 2010). Recently, scaling approach has been applied on the determination of the scaling data properties (Tarquis et al., 2008; Millán et al., 2012; Pérez, 2012). We focus in the Hurst analysis to characterize the data variability for each depth. Previously a detrended analysis was conducted in order to better study de intrinsic variability of the series. The Hurst exponent (H) for each depth was estimated showing a characteristic pattern and differentiating PR evolution in depth. References Brouder, S., Hofmann, B., Reetz, H.F., 2001. Evaluating spatial variability of soil parameters for input management. Better Crops 85, 8-11. Millán, H; AM Tarquís, Luís D. Pérez, Juan Mato, Mario González-Posada, 2012. Spatial variability patterns of some Vertisol properties at a field scale using standardized data. Soil and Tillage Research, 120, 76-84. Pérez, Luís D. 2012. Influencia de la maquinaria agrícola sobre la variabilidad espacial de la compactación del suelo. Aplicación de la metodología geoestadística-fractal. PhD thesis, UPM (In Spanish). Pérez, Luís D., Humberto Millán, Mario González-Posada 2010. Spatial complexity of soil plow layer penetrometer resistance as influenced by sugarcane harvesting: A prefractal approach. Soil and Tillage Research, 110(1), 77-86. Tarquis, A.M., N. Bird, M.C. Cartagena, A. Whitmore and Y. Pachepsky, 2008. Multiscale entropy-based analyses of soil transect data. Vadose Zone Journal, 7(2), 563-569.

Lake carbonate-δ18 records from the Yukon Territory, Canada: Little Ice Age moisture variability and patterns

USGS Publications Warehouse

Anderson, Lesleigh; Finney, Bruce P.; Shapley, Mark D.

2011-01-01

A 1000-yr history of climate change in the central Yukon Territory, Canada, is inferred from sediment composition and isotope geochemistry from small, groundwater fed, Seven Mile Lake. Recent observations of lake-water δ18O, lake level, river discharge, and climate variations, suggest that changes in regional effective moisture (precipitation minus evaporation) are reflected by the lake’s hydrologic balance. The observations indicate that the lake is currently 18O-enriched by summer evaporation and that during years of increased precipitation, when groundwater inflow rates to the lake increase, lake-water δ18O values decrease. Past lake-water δ18O values are inferred from oxygen isotope ratios of fine-grained sedimentary endogenic carbonate. Variations in carbonate δ18O, supplemented by those in carbonate and organic δ13C, C/N ratios, and organic carbon, carbonate and biogenic silica accumulation rates, document changes in effective moisture at decadal time scales during the early Little Ice Age period to present. Results indicate that between ∼AD 1000 and 1600, effective moisture was higher than today. A shift to more arid climate conditions occurred after ∼AD 1650. The 19th and 20th centuries have been the driest of the past millennium. Temporal variations correspond with inferred shifts in summer evaporation from Marcella Lake δ18O, a similarly small, stratified, alkaline lake located ∼250 km to the southwest, suggesting that the combined reconstructions accurately document the regional paleoclimate of the east-central interior. Comparison with regional glacial activity suggests differing regional moisture patterns during early and late Little Ice Age advances.

[Evaluation of PAE and AE for identifying generalized tracks using snakes in Hidalgo, Mexico].

PubMed

Montiel-Canales, Gustavo; Mayer-Goyenechea, Irene Goyenechea; Fernández Badillo, Leonardo; Castillo Cerón, Jesús M

2016-12-01

One of the most important concepts in Panbiogeography is the generalized track, which represents an ancestral biota fragmented by geological events that can be recovered through several methods, including Parsimony analysis of endemicity (PAE) and endemicity analysis (EA). PAE has been frequently used to identify generalized tracks, while EA is primarily designed to find areas of endemicity, but has been recently proposed for identifying generalized tracks as well. In this study we evaluated these methods to find generalized tracks using the distribution of the 84 snake species of Hidalgo. PAE found one generalized track from three individual tracks (Agkistrodon taylori, Crotalus totonacus and Pliocercus elapoides), supported by 89 % of Bootstrap, and EA identified two generalized tracks, with endemicity index values of 2.71-2.96 and 2.84-3.09, respectively. Those areas were transformed to generalized tracks. The first generalized track was retrieved from three individual tracks (Micrurus bernadi, Rhadinaea marcellae and R. quinquelineata), and the second was recovered from two individual tracks (Geophis mutitorques and Thamnophis sumichrasti). These generalized tracks can be considered a unique distribution pattern, because they resembled each other and agreed in shape. When comparing both methods, we noted that both are useful for identifying generalized tracks, and although they can be used independently, we suggest their complementary use. Nevertheless, to obtain accurate results, it is useful to consider theoretical bases of both methods, along with an appropriate choice of the size of the area. Results using small-grid size in EA are ideal for searching biogeographical patterns within geopolitical limits. Furthermore, they can be used for conservation proposals at state level where endemic species become irreplaceable, and where losing them would imply the extinction of unique lineages.

Lake carbonate-δ 18O records from the Yukon Territory, Canada: Little Ice Age moisture variability and patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, Lesleigh; Finney, Bruce P.; Shapley, Mark D.

2011-04-01

A 1000-yr history of climate change in the central Yukon Territory, Canada, is inferred from sediment composition and isotope geochemistry from small, groundwater fed, Seven Mile Lake. Recent observations of lake-water δ 18O, lake level, river discharge, and climate variations, suggest that changes in regional effective moisture (precipitation minus evaporation) are reflected by the lake's hydrologic balance. The observations indicate that the lake is currently 18O-enriched by summer evaporation and that during years of increased precipitation, when groundwater inflow rates to the lake increase, lake-water δ 18O values decrease. Past lake-water δ 18O values are inferred from oxygen isotope ratios of fine-grained sedimentary endogenic carbonate. Variations in carbonate δ 18O, supplemented by those in carbonate and organic δ 13C, C/N ratios, and organic carbon, carbonate and biogenic silica accumulation rates, document changes in effective moisture at decadal time scales during the early Little Ice Age period to present. Results indicate that between ˜AD 1000 and 1600, effective moisture was higher than today. A shift to more arid climate conditions occurred after ˜AD 1650. The 19th and 20th centuries have been the driest of the past millennium. Temporal variations correspond with inferred shifts in summer evaporation from Marcella Lake δ 18O, a similarly small, stratified, alkaline lake located ˜250 km to the southwest, suggesting that the combined reconstructions accurately document the regional paleoclimate of the east-central interior. Comparison with regional glacial activity suggests differing regional moisture patterns during early and late Little Ice Age advances.

Introducing the MIT Regional Climate Model (MRCM)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eltahir, Elfatih A. B.; Winter, Jonathn M.; Marcella, Marc P.; Gianotti, Rebecca L.; Im, Eun-Soon

2013-04-01

During the last decade researchers at MIT have worked on improving the skill of Regional Climate Model version 3 (RegCM3) in simulating climate over different regions through the incorporation of new physical schemes or modification of original schemes. The MIT Regional Climate Model (MRCM) features several modifications over RegCM3 including coupling of Integrated Biosphere Simulator (IBIS), a new surface albedo assignment method, a new convective cloud and rainfall auto-conversion scheme, and a modified boundary layer height and cloud scheme. Here, we introduce the MRCM and briefly describe the major model modifications relative to RegCM3 and their impact on the model performance. The most significant difference relative to the RegCM3 original configuration is coupling the Integrated Biosphere Simulator (IBIS) land-surface scheme (Winter et al., 2009). Based on the simulations using IBIS over the North America, the Maritime Continent, Southwest Asia and West Africa, we demonstrate that the use of IBIS as the land surface scheme results in better representation of surface energy and water budgets in comparison to BATS. Furthermore, the addition of a new irrigation scheme to IBIS makes it possible to investigate the effects of irrigation over any region. Also a new surface albedo assignment method used together with IBIS brings further improvement in simulations of surface radiation (Marcella and Eltahir, 2013). Another important feature of the MRCM is the introduction of a new convective cloud and rainfall auto-conversion scheme (Gianotti and Eltahir, 2013). This modification brings more physical realism into an important component of the model, and succeeds in simulating convective-radiative feedback improving model performance across several radiation fields and rainfall characteristics. Other features of MRCM such as the modified boundary layer height and cloud scheme, and the improvements in the dust emission and transport representations will be discussed.

Chromatic microlensing in HE0047-1756 and SDSS1155+6346

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rojas, K.; Motta, V.; Mediavilla, E.; Falco, E.; Muñoz, J. A.

2014-10-01

The gravitational lens effect occurs when the light is deflected in the presence of a gravitational field, generating multiple images or arcs. Microlensing happens when a compact object, in the lens galaxy halo, passes across a quasar lensed image. We analyzed two double systems: HE0047-1756 and SDSS1155+6346. We used spectra obtained with Magellan/IMACS (2007) and MMT/Blue-Channel (2008). The flux of emission line cores was separated from the continuum flux under them and integrated using DIPSO software. Comparing the magnitude differences in the emission line cores with the magnitude differences in the continuum under the lines (Motta et. al 2012), we found evidence of chromatic microlensing in HE0047-1756 and SDSS1155+6346. Emission line core fluxes are used to model the systems with lensmodel. SIS + γ are the best models in both cases, which are in agreement with literature. SDSS1155+6346 model shows a large shear, due to the presence of MaxBCG J178.81693+63.83446 cluster. We follow Mediavilla et al. 2011, modeling the accretion disk as a Gaussian intensity profile I(R) ∝ exp(-R^{2}/2r_{s}^{2}), with r_s(λ) ∝ λ^{p}, where r_{s} is the accretion disk size and p is the power law related to the temperature of the disk p = 1/β. We estimate the probability of r_{s} and p using the measured microlensing magnification with linear and logarithmic priors on r_{s}. We found within 1σ of uncertainty, sizes between 3 and 15 light days and temperature profiles values between 1 and 1.2. These values are in agreement with the literature and Shakura & Sunyaev (1973) prediction. We acknowledge to FONDECYT 1120741 and Centro de Astrofísica, Universidad de Valparaíso.

Molecular phylogenetic and chemical analyses of the microbial mats in deep-sea cold seep sediments at the northeastern Japan Sea.

PubMed

Arakawa, Shizuka; Sato, Takako; Sato, Rumi; Zhang, Jing; Gamo, Toshitaka; Tsunogai, Urumu; Hirota, Akinari; Yoshida, Yasuhiko; Usami, Ron; Inagaki, Fumio; Kato, Chiaki

2006-08-01

Microbial communities inhabiting deep-sea cold seep sediments at the northeastern Japan Sea were characterized by molecular phylogenetic and chemical analyses. White patchy microbial mats were observed along the fault offshore the Hokkaido Island and sediment samples were collected from two stations at the southern foot of the Shiribeshi seamount (M1 site at a depth of 2,961 m on the active fault) and off the Motta Cape site (M2 site at a depth of 3,064 m off the active fault). The phylogenetic and terminal-restriction fragment polymorphism analyses of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA genes revealed that microbial community structures were different between two sampling stations. The members of ANME-2 archaea and diverse bacterial components including sulfate reducers within Deltaproteobacteria were detected from M1 site, indicating the occurrence of biologically mediated anaerobic oxidation of methane, while microbial community at M2 site was predominantly composed of members of Marine Crenarchaeota group I, sulfate reducers of Deltaproteobacteria, and sulfur oxidizers of Epsilonproteobacteria. Chemical analyses of seawater above microbial mats suggested that concentrations of sulfate and methane at M1 site were largely decreased relative to those at M2 site and carbon isotopic composition of methane at M1 site shifted heavier ((13)C-enriched), the results of which are consistent with molecular analyses. These results suggest that the mat microbial communities in deep-sea cold seep sediments at the northeastern Japan Sea are significantly responsible for sulfur and carbon circulations and the geological activity associated with plate movements serves unique microbial habitats in deep-sea environments.

Julio Cortázar quotes on normal and abnormal movements: magical realism or reality?

PubMed

Merello, Marcelo

2006-08-01

Together with Mario Vargas Llosa and Gabriel García Márquez, Julio Cortázar was one of the most representative authors of the Latin American magical realism genre. Within his extensive body of work, many descriptions of characters suffering physical disabilities, as well as situations suggesting such medical conditions, can be extracted. In this review, two short stories by Cortázar are presented. In the first one, the main character could easily be a man suffering from corticobasal degeneration; in the second, an old woman with symptoms suggestive of progressive supranuclear palsy is clearly depicted. Despite the fact that one of the main ingredients in Cortázar's magical realism is fiction, cases described here fit real medical conditions quite well, making it hard to believe that they represent purely fantastic descriptions rather than the product of Cortázar's inquisitive observation and the description of real patients. (c) 2006 Movement Disorder Society

Older Adult Video Game Preferences in Practice: Investigating the Effects of Competing or Cooperating.

PubMed

Souders, Dustin J; Boot, Walter R; Charness, Neil; Moxley, Jerad H

2016-01-01

Video game interventions with the aim to improve cognition have shown promise for both younger (e.g., Powers et al., 2013) and older adults (e.g., Toril, Reales, and Ballesteros, 2014). Most studies suggest that fast-paced action games produce the largest benefits, but a recent video game intervention with older adults found that an action game intervention can result in poor adherence (Boot et al., 2013). To increase intervention adherence, we investigated older adult video game preferences that might bolster adherence by having participants play a competitive game (Mario Kart DS) or a cooperative game (Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga) alone or with a partner. Although hypotheses regarding cooperative and multi-player gameplay were not supported, converging evidence suggests multi-player game play may lead to greater enjoyment, which was related to intervention adherence in a previous study (Boot et al., 2013). Insights for gaming intervention studies in older populations are also provided.

Polar Bears Across the Arctic Face Shorter Sea Ice Season

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

Polar bears already face shorter ice seasons - limiting prime hunting and breeding opportunities. Nineteen separate polar bear subpopulations live throughout the Arctic, spending their winters and springs roaming on sea ice and hunting. The bears have evolved mainly to eat seals, which provide necessary fats and nutrients in the harsh Arctic environment. Polar bears can't outswim their prey, so instead they perch on the ice as a platform and ambush seals at breathing holes or break through the ice to access their dens. The total number of ice-covered days declined at the rate of seven to 19 days per decade between 1979 and 2014. The decline was even greater in the Barents Sea and the Arctic basin. Sea ice concentration during the summer months — an important measure because summertime is when some subpopulations are forced to fast on land — also declined in all regions, by 1 percent to 9 percent per decade. Read more: go.nasa.gov/2cIZSSc Photo credit: Mario Hoppmann

COMMITTEES: Proceedings of the 13th Gravitational Waves Data Analysis Workshop (GWDAW13), San Juan, Puerto Rico, 19-22 January 2009 Proceedings of the 13th Gravitational Waves Data Analysis Workshop (GWDAW13), San Juan, Puerto Rico, 19-22 January 2009

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2009-10-01

Science Organising Committee (SOC) Bruce Allen, AEI, Germany Patrick Brady, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, USA Deepto Chakrabarty, MIT, USA Eugenio Coccia, INFN, Gran Sasso, Italy James Cordes, Cornell University, USA Mario Díaz (Chair), University of Texas Brownsville, USA Sam Finn, Penn State, USA Neil Gehrels, NASA GSFC, USA Fredrick A Jenet, University of Texas Brownsville, USA Nobuyuki Kanda, Osaka City University, Japan Erik Katsavounides, MIT, USA Dick Manchester, ATNF, Australia Soumya Mohanty, University of Texas Brownsville, USA Benoit Mours, LAPP-Annecy, France Maria Alessandra Papa, AEI, Germany Kate Scholberg, Duke University, USA Susan Scott, The Australian National University Alberto Vecchio, University of Birmingham, UK Andrea Vicere, INFN - Sezione di Firenze, Italy Stan Whitcomb, LIGO CALTECH, USA Local Organising Committee (LOC) Paulo Freire (Arecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico) Murray Lewis (Arecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico) Wanda Wiley (University of Texas Brownsville, USA)

[History and Technique of Epidural Anaesthesia].

PubMed

Waurick, Katrin; Waurick, René

2015-07-01

In 1901, the first Epidural anesthesia via a caudal approach was independently described by two FrenchmanJean-Anthanase Sicard and Fernand Cathelin.. The Spanish military surgeon, Fidel Pagés Miravé, completed the lumbar approach successfully in 1921. The two possibilities for identification of the epidural space the "loss of resistance" technique and the technique of the "hanging drop" were developed by Achille Mario Dogliotti, an Italian, and Alberto Gutierrez, an Argentinean physician, at the same time. In 1956 John J. Bonica published the paramedian approach to the epidural space. As early as 1931 Eugene Aburel, a Romanian obstetrician, injected local anaesthetics via a silk catheter to perform lumbar obstetric Epidural analgesia. In 1949 the first successful continuous lumbar Epidural anaesthesia was reported by Manuel Martinez Curbelo, a Cuban. Epidural anaesthesia can be performed in sitting or lateral position in all segments of the spinal column via the median or paramedian approach. Different off-axis angles pose the challenge in learning the technique. © Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York.

STS-77 Flight Day 10

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

On this tenth day of the STS-77 mission, the flight crew, Cmdr. John H. Casper, Pilot Curtis L. Brown, Jr., and Mission Specialists Andrew S.W. Thomas, Ph.D., Daniel W. Bursch, Mario Runco, Jr., and Marc Garneau, Ph.D., perform a routine check of the shuttle's flight control surfaces and reaction control system jets, wrap up work with a number of scientific investigations, and begin securing the cabin for the trip back to Earth. Most experiments aboard the shuttle have been completed and stowed away, although a few will operate throughout the night and be deactivated once the crew wakes. Crew members Andy Thomas, a native of Australia, and Marc Garneau, a Canadian, each receive special greetings today as STS-77 nears its end. South Australia Premier Dean Brown called Thomas with congratulations early this morning as the shuttle passed above Brown's office in Adelaide, Australia, Thomas' hometown. Later, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien called Garneau to congratulate him on the mission and the joint Canadian Space Agency and NASA experiments that were conducted.

Hydro-Quebec is at it again

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hamilton, G.

1993-12-31

When New York governor Mario Cuomo pulled the plug on a purchase of 1,000 megawatts of power from Hydro-Quebec last June, the provincial utility talked tough. The cancellation, a senior Hydro-Quebec official claimed, would not jeopardize the future of its controversial Great Whale hydro project in the North. Bu Hydro-Quebec has quietly shoved Great Whale onto the back burner while an environmental review is underway. In the meantime the utility is barreling ahead with another mega-dam. The Ste. Marquerite project planned for north-eastern Quebec is modest by Hydro-Quebec standards, generating less than a third the power of Great Whale. Still,more » with an 880-megawatt power station and 190 square miles of reservoirs, it is one of the largest hydro projects on any drawing board in North America. Environmentalists say it is being pushed ahead without a serious study of its impacts. This article details the environmental impacts of the project, and the extended impacts, not yet accounted for.« less

Older Adult Video Game Preferences in Practice: Investigating the Effects of Competing or Cooperating

PubMed Central

Souders, Dustin J.; Boot, Walter R.; Charness, Neil; Moxley, Jerad H.

2017-01-01

Video game interventions with the aim to improve cognition have shown promise for both younger (e.g., Powers et al., 2013) and older adults (e.g., Toril, Reales, and Ballesteros, 2014). Most studies suggest that fast-paced action games produce the largest benefits, but a recent video game intervention with older adults found that an action game intervention can result in poor adherence (Boot et al., 2013). To increase intervention adherence, we investigated older adult video game preferences that might bolster adherence by having participants play a competitive game (Mario Kart DS) or a cooperative game (Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga) alone or with a partner. Although hypotheses regarding cooperative and multi-player gameplay were not supported, converging evidence suggests multi-player game play may lead to greater enjoyment, which was related to intervention adherence in a previous study (Boot et al., 2013). Insights for gaming intervention studies in older populations are also provided. PMID:29033698

Midwife to the greens: the electron capture detector.

PubMed

Lovelock, J E

1997-03-01

James E. Lovelock makes an account of the path he has followed since he started his scientific research at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) in London in the 1940s, emphasizing the aspects related to environmental sciences. Lovelock explains the origins of the electron capture detector (ECD). So far, the ECD is the most sensitive, easily portable and inexpensive analytical apparatus capable of detecting substances present in the atmosphere at concentrations as low as parts per trillion (10(-12)). It has been the first device specifically sensitive to pollutants, and its use has provided the grounds for the development of environmental sciences, and green politics. The data gathered by the ECD about the persistence of pesticides in the environment led American biologist Rachel Carson to write her seminal book Silent Spring; data regarding the global presence of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) in the atmosphere led Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina to develop their theory of ozone depletion. The results of his research over the years led Lovelock himself to the development of the Gaia theory.

Physics of the Jovian Magnetosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dessler, A. J.

2002-08-01

List of tables; Foreword James A. Van Allen; Preface; 1. Jupiter's magnetic field and magnetosphere Mario H. Acuña, Kenneth W. Behannon and J. E. P. Connerney; 2. Ionosphere Darrell F. Strobel and Sushil K. Atreya; 3. The low-energy plasma in the Jovian magnetosphere J. W. Belcher; 4. Low-energy particle population S. M. Krimigis and E. C. Roelof; 5. High-energy particles A. W. Schardt and C. K. Goertz; 6. Spectrophotometric studies of the Io torus Robert A. Brown, Carl B. Pilcher and Darrell F. Strobel; 7. Phenomenology of magnetospheric radio emissions T. D. Carr, M. D. Desch and J. K. Alexander; 8. Plasma waves in the Jovian magnetosphere D. A. Gurnett and F. L. Scarf; 9. Theories of radio emissions and plasma waves Melvyn L. Goldstein and C. K. Goertz; 10. Magnetospheric models T. W. Hill, A. J. Dessler and C. K. Goertz; 11. Plasma distribution and flow Vytenis M. Vasyliunas; 12. Microscopic plasma processes in the Jovian magnetosphere Richard Mansergh Thorne; Appendixes; References; Index.

Legalising medical use of cannabis in South Africa: Is the empirical evidence sufficient to support policy shifts in this direction?

PubMed

Parry, Charles D H; Myers, Bronwyn J

2014-03-12

Inkatha Freedom Party MP Mario Oriani-Ambrosini's impassioned plea to legalise the medical use of cannabis must be understood in the context of his own condition as well as legislative changes in at least ten countries. This article argues that any decisions to shift policy must be based on a consideration of the evidence on the risks and benefits associated with the medical use of cannabis for the individual and broader society. It concludes that there are important gaps in the evidence base, particularly in human trials supporting the efficacy of cannabis use for treating and preventing medical conditions and alleviating negative symptoms associated with these conditions. South African researchers should be enabled actively to support development of the necessary evidence base actively by conducting preclinical and clinical research in this area. Human trials to establish the efficacy of the use of cannabis/cannabinoids in addressing AIDS wasting syndrome and other negative sequelae of HIV and AIDS are especially needed.

Historical Notes on the Expanding Universe

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Way, Michael J.; Belenkyi, Ari; Nussbaumer, Harry; Peacock, John

2014-01-01

The article Measuring the Hubble constant by Mario Livio and Adam Riess (Physics Today, October 2013, page 41) reviewed studies of the expanding universe from the 1920s to the present. Although the history of the subject underwent considerable compression to fit the length of a magazine article, we think it may leave a misleading impression of some of the key steps to our current understanding. We therefore offer the following clarifications. Most significantly, papers by Arthur Eddington and by Willem de Sitter in 1930, who successfully promoted Georges Lematres 1927 article for the Scientific Society of Brussels, effected a paradigm shift in interpretation of extragalactic redshifts in 1930. Before then, the astronomical community was generally unaware of the existence of nonstatic cosmological solutions and did not broadly appreciate that redshifts could be thought of locally as Doppler shifts in an expanding matter distribution. Certainly, in 1929 Edwin Hubble referred only to the de Sitter solution of 1917. At the time, the relation between distance and redshift predicted in that model was generally seen purely as a manifestation of static spacetime curvature.

Individual differences in motives, preferences, and pathology in video games: the gaming attitudes, motives, and experiences scales (GAMES)

PubMed Central

Hilgard, Joseph; Engelhardt, Christopher R.; Bartholow, Bruce D.

2013-01-01

A new measure of individual habits and preferences in video game use is developed in order to better study the risk factors of pathological game use (i.e., excessively frequent or prolonged use, sometimes called “game addiction”). This measure was distributed to internet message boards for game enthusiasts and to college undergraduates. An exploratory factor analysis identified 9 factors: Story, Violent Catharsis, Violent Reward, Social Interaction, Escapism, Loss-Sensitivity, Customization, Grinding, and Autonomy. These factors demonstrated excellent fit in a subsequent confirmatory factor analysis, and, importantly, were found to reliably discriminate between inter-individual game preferences (e.g., Super Mario Brothers as compared to Call of Duty). Moreover, three factors were significantly related to pathological game use: the use of games to escape daily life, the use of games as a social outlet, and positive attitudes toward the steady accumulation of in-game rewards. The current research identifies individual preferences and motives relevant to understanding video game players' evaluations of different games and risk factors for pathological video game use. PMID:24058355

The discontinuity in scientific psychology at the University of Rome, 1907-1947: From general psychology to psychotechnics.

PubMed

Morgese, Giorgia; Lombardo, Giovanni Pietro; Albani, Alessandra

2016-11-01

This article examines the areas of research conducted at the Laboratory of Experimental Psychology of the University of Rome from 1907 to 1947, directed first by Sante De Sanctis (1862-1935), and then, from 1931 on, by Mario Ponzo (1882-1960). The method used to distinguish the topics and areas of research that characterized the Roman School during this period is the textual analysis of the titles of the journal in which studies completed at the laboratory were published, namely, Contributi del Laboratorio di Psicologia sperimentale [Psychological Contributions of the Laboratory of Experimental Psychology]. This empirical analysis, which complements and supports the historiographical interpretation, demonstrates the disciplines that emerged under a system managed by the directors over 2 periods of time in the pursuit of scientific psychology in Rome and in Italy. This analysis highlights the process of adjustment from a traditional, general approach to a more theoretical-technical application. This article is a new contribution to the Italian debate on the periodization of the "crisis" in Italian psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

LiDAR in extreme environment: surveying in Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abate, D.; Pierattini, S.; Bianchi Fasani, G.

2013-10-01

This study was performed under the patronage of the Italian National Research Programme in Antarctica (PNRA) with the aim to realize a high resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the moraine named "Boulder Clay" which insists approximately 7 km far from the Italian Research Base "Mario Zucchelli Station" in the Terra Nova Bay area. The DEM will be included in the project for the construction of two runways to be used as support facilities for the scientific research campaigns which take place on regular basis each year. Although the research efforts to realize a detailed cartography of the area is on-going, for the specific aim and urgency of this project it was decided to perform a laser scanning survey in this extreme environment in order to obtain contour lines describing the terrain elevation each 50 cm and volume analysis. The final result will be super imposed on a photogrammetric DEM with contour lines each 2.5 m and satellite images. This paper focus both on the final scientific data and on all the challenges have to be faced in such extreme and particular environment during the laser scanning survey.

Individual differences in motives, preferences, and pathology in video games: the gaming attitudes, motives, and experiences scales (GAMES).

PubMed

Hilgard, Joseph; Engelhardt, Christopher R; Bartholow, Bruce D

2013-01-01

A new measure of individual habits and preferences in video game use is developed in order to better study the risk factors of pathological game use (i.e., excessively frequent or prolonged use, sometimes called "game addiction"). This measure was distributed to internet message boards for game enthusiasts and to college undergraduates. An exploratory factor analysis identified 9 factors: Story, Violent Catharsis, Violent Reward, Social Interaction, Escapism, Loss-Sensitivity, Customization, Grinding, and Autonomy. These factors demonstrated excellent fit in a subsequent confirmatory factor analysis, and, importantly, were found to reliably discriminate between inter-individual game preferences (e.g., Super Mario Brothers as compared to Call of Duty). Moreover, three factors were significantly related to pathological game use: the use of games to escape daily life, the use of games as a social outlet, and positive attitudes toward the steady accumulation of in-game rewards. The current research identifies individual preferences and motives relevant to understanding video game players' evaluations of different games and risk factors for pathological video game use.

Massive Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Livio, Mario; Villaver, Eva

2009-11-01

Participants; Preface Mario Livio and Eva Villaver; 1. High-mass star formation by gravitational collapse of massive cores M. R. Krumholz; 2. Observations of massive star formation N. A. Patel; 3. Massive star formation in the Galactic center D. F. Figer; 4. An X-ray tour of massive star-forming regions with Chandra L. K. Townsley; 5. Massive stars: feedback effects in the local universe M. S. Oey and C. J. Clarke; 6. The initial mass function in clusters B. G. Elmegreen; 7. Massive stars and star clusters in the Antennae galaxies B. C. Whitmore; 8. On the binarity of Eta Carinae T. R. Gull; 9. Parameters and winds of hot massive stars R. P. Kudritzki and M. A. Urbaneja; 10. Unraveling the Galaxy to find the first stars J. Tumlinson; 11. Optically observable zero-age main-sequence O stars N. R. Walborn; 12. Metallicity-dependent Wolf-Raynet winds P. A. Crowther; 13. Eruptive mass loss in very massive stars and Population III stars N. Smith; 14. From progenitor to afterlife R. A. Chevalier; 15. Pair-production supernovae: theory and observation E. Scannapieco; 16. Cosmic infrared background and Population III: an overview A. Kashlinsky.

Preliminary microphysical characterization of precipitation at ground over Antarctica coast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roberto, Nicoletta; Adirosi, Elisa; Montopoli, Mario; Baldini, Luca; Dietrich, Stefano; Porcù, Federico

2017-04-01

The primary mass input of the Antarctic ice sheet is snow precipitation which is one of the most direct climatic indicators. Climatic model simulations of precipitations over Antarctica is an important task to assess the variation of ice sheet over long temporal scale. The main source of precipitation information in Antarctica regions derive from satellite observations. However, satellite measurements and products need to be calibrated and validated with observations from ground sensors. In spite of their key role, precipitation measurements at ground are scarce and not appropriate to provide the specific characteristic of precipitation particles that influence the scattering and absorption properties of ice particles. Recently, different stations in Antarctica (Princess Elizabeth, McMurdo, Mario Zucchelli) are equipping observatories for cloud and precipitation observations. The setup of the observatory at the Italian Station, Mario Zucchelli (MZ) plans to integrate the current instrumentation for weather measurements with other instruments specific for precipitation observations, in particular, a 24-GHz vertical pointing radar and a laser disdrometer Parsivel. The synergetic use of the set of instruments allows for characterizing precipitation and studying properties of Antarctic precipitation such as dimension, shapes, fall behavior, density of particles, particles size distribution, particles terminal velocity, reflectivity factor and including some information on their vertical extent. Last November, the OTT Parsivel disdrometer was installed on the roof of a logistic container (at 6 m of height) of the MZ station (Latitude 74° 41' 42" S; Longitude 164° 07' 23E") in the Terranova Bay. The disdrometer measures size and fall velocity of particles, passing through a laser matrix from which the Particle Size Distribution (PSD) is obtained. In addition, some products such as reflectivity factor, snow rate and snow accumulation can be inferred by properly processing PSD spectra. Software provided by disdrometer manufacturer assumes spherical shape to compute the size and the fall velocity of the particle. In the case of solid precipitation, this assumption can be unrealistic. However, averaging over a long time the influence of irregular shape of the particles can be reduced. Despite this limit, the Parsivel disdrometer has been used in several study to measure falling snow. In this work, some preliminary measurements from OTT Parsivel at MSZ are presented. In particular, the PSD collected during summer season 2016-2017 are analyzed in order to infer microphysical characteristics of snows in Antarctica. A specific methodology to estimate the reflectivity factor and the snow rate from snow size spectra collected by Parsivel is investigated. Microphysical properties of Antarctica precipitating clouds, in particular PSD, are compared to measurements collected by disdrometer during snow events in other regions, such as the data collected during the GPM Cold-season Precipitation Experiment (GCPEx) in Ontario, Canada.

Observations of V420 Aur (HD 34921) needed to support spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waagen, Elizabeth O.

2016-10-01

Marcella Wijngaarden and Kelly Gourdji (graduate students at the University of Amsterdam/Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy) have requested AAVSO observers' assistance in providing optical photometry of V420 Aur in support of their high-resolution spectroscopy with the Mercator telescope + Hermes spectrograph in La Palma 2016 October 7 through 17. They write: "[V420 Aur (HD 34921) is] the optical Be star that is part of a peculiar High Mass X-ray Binary...[that exhibits highly] complex and variable spectra...it is difficult to construct a physical model of this HMXB system, though based on these observations, the system is thought to contain a B[e] star with a dense plasma region, an accretion disk around a neutron star, a shell and circumstellar regions of cold dust. It has been over a decade since the last spectra were taken, and, given the highly variable nature of this star, we expect new observations to yield new information that will contribute to a better understanding of this system." Observations in BVRI (preferred over other bands) are requested beginning immediately and continuing through October 24. In all cases, timeseries in a few bands (i.e. BVRI) are preferred over single/a few observations in the other bands as it is the variability on relatively short timescales that is most important. "The target is bright so exposures should be long enough to reach good signal to noise in order to see the small variability amplitude but without saturating the target/comparison stars. We will study the variability on several timescales, so observations starting from a few per night to high cadence timeseries are useful." Finder charts with sequence may be created using the AAVSO Variable Star Plotter (https://www.aavso.org/vsp). Observations should be submitted to the AAVSO International Database. See full Alert Notice for more details.

Genetic diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolaemia by targeted next-generation sequencing

PubMed Central

Maglio, C; Mancina, R M; Motta, B M; Stef, M; Pirazzi, C; Palacios, L; Askaryar, N; Borén, J; Wiklund, O; Romeo, S

2014-01-01

Maglio C., Mancina R. M., Motta B. M., Stef M., Pirazzi C., Palacios L., Askaryar N., Borén J., Wiklund O., Romeo S. (University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro, Italy; University of Milan, Italy; Progenika Biopharma SA, Derio, Spain). Genetic diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolaemia by targeted next-generation sequencing. Objectives The aim of this study was to combine clinical criteria and next-generation sequencing (pyrosequencing) to establish a diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH). Design, setting and subjects A total of 77 subjects with a Dutch Lipid Clinic Network score of ≥3 (possible, probable or definite FH clinical diagnosis) were recruited from the Lipid Clinic at Sahlgrenska Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden. Next-generation sequencing was performed in all subjects using SEQPRO LIPO RS, a kit that detects mutations in the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR), apolipoprotein B (APOB), proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) and LDLR adapter protein 1 (LDLRAP1) genes; copy-number variations in the LDLR gene were also examined. Results A total of 26 mutations were detected in 50 subjects (65% success rate). Amongst these, 23 mutations were in the LDLR gene, two in the APOB gene and one in the PCSK9 gene. Four mutations with unknown pathogenicity were detected in LDLR. Of these, three mutations (Gly505Asp, Ile585Thr and Gln660Arg) have been previously reported in subjects with FH, but their pathogenicity has not been proved. The fourth, a mutation in LDLR affecting a splicing site (exon 6–intron 6) has not previously been reported; it was found to segregate with high cholesterol levels in the family of the proband. Conclusions Using a combination of clinical criteria and targeted next-generation sequencing, we have achieved FH diagnosis with a high success rate. Furthermore, we identified a new splicing-site mutation in the LDLR gene. PMID:24785115

Learning an EMG Controlled Game: Task-Specific Adaptations and Transfer

PubMed Central

van Dijk, Ludger; van der Sluis, Corry K.; van Dijk, Hylke W.; Bongers, Raoul M.

2016-01-01

Video games that aim to improve myoelectric control (myogames) are gaining popularity and are often part of the rehabilitation process following an upper limb amputation. However, direct evidence for their effect on prosthetic skill is limited. This study aimed to determine whether and how myogaming improves EMG control and whether performance improvements transfer to a prosthesis-simulator task. Able-bodied right-handed participants (N = 28) were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups. The intervention group was trained to control a video game (Breakout-EMG) using the myosignals of wrist flexors and extensors. Controls played a regular Mario computer game. Both groups trained 20 minutes a day for 4 consecutive days. Before and after training, two tests were conducted: one level of the Breakout-EMG game, and grasping objects with a prosthesis-simulator. Results showed a larger increase of in-game accuracy for the Breakout-EMG group than for controls. The Breakout-EMG group moreover showed increased adaptation of the EMG signal to the game. No differences were found in using a prosthesis-simulator. This study demonstrated that myogames lead to task-specific myocontrol skills. Transfer to a prosthesis task is therefore far from easy. We discuss several implications for future myogame designs. PMID:27556154

Learning an EMG Controlled Game: Task-Specific Adaptations and Transfer.

PubMed

van Dijk, Ludger; van der Sluis, Corry K; van Dijk, Hylke W; Bongers, Raoul M

2016-01-01

Video games that aim to improve myoelectric control (myogames) are gaining popularity and are often part of the rehabilitation process following an upper limb amputation. However, direct evidence for their effect on prosthetic skill is limited. This study aimed to determine whether and how myogaming improves EMG control and whether performance improvements transfer to a prosthesis-simulator task. Able-bodied right-handed participants (N = 28) were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups. The intervention group was trained to control a video game (Breakout-EMG) using the myosignals of wrist flexors and extensors. Controls played a regular Mario computer game. Both groups trained 20 minutes a day for 4 consecutive days. Before and after training, two tests were conducted: one level of the Breakout-EMG game, and grasping objects with a prosthesis-simulator. Results showed a larger increase of in-game accuracy for the Breakout-EMG group than for controls. The Breakout-EMG group moreover showed increased adaptation of the EMG signal to the game. No differences were found in using a prosthesis-simulator. This study demonstrated that myogames lead to task-specific myocontrol skills. Transfer to a prosthesis task is therefore far from easy. We discuss several implications for future myogame designs.

Playing Super Mario induces structural brain plasticity: gray matter changes resulting from training with a commercial video game.

PubMed

Kühn, S; Gleich, T; Lorenz, R C; Lindenberger, U; Gallinat, J

2014-02-01

Video gaming is a highly pervasive activity, providing a multitude of complex cognitive and motor demands. Gaming can be seen as an intense training of several skills. Associated cerebral structural plasticity induced has not been investigated so far. Comparing a control with a video gaming training group that was trained for 2 months for at least 30 min per day with a platformer game, we found significant gray matter (GM) increase in right hippocampal formation (HC), right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and bilateral cerebellum in the training group. The HC increase correlated with changes from egocentric to allocentric navigation strategy. GM increases in HC and DLPFC correlated with participants' desire for video gaming, evidence suggesting a predictive role of desire in volume change. Video game training augments GM in brain areas crucial for spatial navigation, strategic planning, working memory and motor performance going along with evidence for behavioral changes of navigation strategy. The presented video game training could therefore be used to counteract known risk factors for mental disease such as smaller hippocampus and prefrontal cortex volume in, for example, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia and neurodegenerative disease.

Super Mario brothers and sisters: Associations between coplaying video games and sibling conflict and affection.

PubMed

Coyne, Sarah M; Jensen, Alexander C; Smith, Nathan J; Erickson, Daniel H

2016-02-01

Video games can be played in many different contexts. This study examined associations between coplaying video games between siblings and levels of affection and conflict in the relationship. Participants were 508 adolescents (M age = 16.31 years of age, SD = 1.08) who completed questionnaires on video game use and sibling relationships. Participants were recruited from a large Northwestern city and a moderate city in the Mountain West of the United States. Video games played between siblings were coded by an independent sample to assess levels of physical aggression and prosocial behavior in each game. Playing video games with a sibling was associated with higher levels of sibling affection for both boys and girls, but higher levels of conflict for boys only. Playing a violent video game with a brother was associated with lower levels of conflict in the sibling relationship, whereas playing a prosocial video game was not related to any sibling outcome. The value of video games in sibling relationships will be discussed, with a focus on the type of game and the sex of the adolescent. Copyright © 2015 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analytical Sociology: A Bungean Appreciation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wan, Poe Yu-ze

2012-10-01

Analytical sociology, an intellectual project that has garnered considerable attention across a variety of disciplines in recent years, aims to explain complex social processes by dissecting them, accentuating their most important constituent parts, and constructing appropriate models to understand the emergence of what is observed. To achieve this goal, analytical sociologists demonstrate an unequivocal focus on the mechanism-based explanation grounded in action theory. In this article I attempt a critical appreciation of analytical sociology from the perspective of Mario Bunge's philosophical system, which I characterize as emergentist systemism. I submit that while the principles of analytical sociology and those of Bunge's approach share a lot in common, the latter brings to the fore the ontological status and explanatory importance of supra-individual actors (as concrete systems endowed with emergent causal powers) and macro-social mechanisms (as processes unfolding in and among social systems), and therefore it does not stipulate that every causal explanation of social facts has to include explicit references to individual-level actors and mechanisms. In this sense, Bunge's approach provides a reasonable middle course between the Scylla of sociological reification and the Charybdis of ontological individualism, and thus serves as an antidote to the untenable "strong program of microfoundations" to which some analytical sociologists are committed.

Space and Earth Observations from Stratospheric Balloons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peterzen, Steven; Ubertini, Pietro; Masi, Silvia; Ibba, Roberto; Ivano, Musso; Cardillo, Andrea; Romeo, Giovanni; Dragøy, Petter; Spoto, Domenico

Stratospheric balloons are rapidly becoming the vehicle of choice for near space investigations and earth observations by a variety of science disciplines. With the ever increasing research into climatic change, instruments suspended from stratospheric balloons offer the science team a unique, stable and reusable platform that can circle the Earth in the polar region or equatorial zone for thirty days or more. The Italian Space Agency (ASI) in collaboration with Andoya Rocket Range (Andenes, Norway) has opened access in the far northern latitudes above 78o N from Longyearbyen, Svalbard. In 2006 the first Italian UltraLite Long Duration Balloon was launched from Baia Terra Nova, Mario Zuchelli station in Antarctica and now ASI is setting up for the their first equatorial stratospheric launch from their satellite receiving station and rocket launch site in Malindi, Kenya. For the equatorial missions we have analysed the statistical properties of trajectories considering the biennal oscillation and the seasonal effects of the stratospheric winds. Maintaining these launch sites offer the science community 3 point world coverage for heavy lift balloons as well as the rapidly deployed Ultralight payloads and TM system ASI developed to use for test platforms, micro experiments, as well as a comprehensive student pilot program

How Normal is Our Solar System?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohler, Susanna

2015-10-01

To date, weve discovered nearly 2000 confirmed exoplanets, as well as thousands of additional candidates. Amidst this vast sea of solar systems, how special is our own? A new study explores the answer to this question.Analyzing DistributionsKnowing whether our solar system is unique among exoplanetary systems can help us to better understand future observations of exoplanets. Furthermore, if our solar system is typical, this allows us to be optimistic about the possibility of life existing elsewhere in the universe.In a recent study, Rebecca Martin (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) and Mario Livio (Space Telescope Science Institute) examine how normal our solar system is, by comparing the properties of our planets to the averages obtained from known exoplanets.Comparing PropertiesSo how do we measure up?Densities of planets as a function of their mass. Exoplanets (N=287) are shown in blue, planets in our solar system are shown in red. [MartinLivio 2015]Planet masses and densitiesThose of the gas giants in our solar system are pretty typical. The terrestrial planets are on the low side for mass, but thats probably a selection effect: its very difficult to detect low-mass planets.Age of the solar systemRoughly half the stars in the disk of our galaxy are younger than the Sun, and half are older. Were definitely not special in age.Orbital locations of the planetsThis is actually a little strange: our solar system is lacking close-in planets. All of our planets, in fact, orbit at a distance that is larger than the mean distance observed in exoplanetary systems. Again, however, this might be a selection effect at work: its easier to detect large planets orbiting very close to their stars.Eccentricities of the planets orbitsOur planets are on very circular orbits and that actually makes us somewhat special too, compared to typical exoplanet systems. There is a possible explanation though: eccentricity of orbits tends to decrease with more planets in the system. Because weve got eight, it might be unsurprising that their eccentricities are so low.Super-EarthsWe dont have any planets in the range of 1-10 times the mass of Earth, which is pretty unusual super-Earths have a high occurrence rate among exoplanets.In summary, the authors find that for the most part, were a pretty typical solar system. Our most unusual features are the lack of a super-Earth, the lack of any close-in planets, and the low eccentricities of our planets. The fact that were fairly average means that, from a habitability standpoint, theres probably nothing special about our little corner of the galaxy. So perhaps life elsewhere is a possibility!CitationRebecca G. Martin and Mario Livio 2015 ApJ 810 105. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/810/2/105

Fusing visual and behavioral cues for modeling user experience in games.

PubMed

Shaker, Noor; Asteriadis, Stylianos; Yannakakis, Georgios N; Karpouzis, Kostas

2013-12-01

Estimating affective and cognitive states in conditions of rich human-computer interaction, such as in games, is a field of growing academic and commercial interest. Entertainment and serious games can benefit from recent advances in the field as, having access to predictors of the current state of the player (or learner) can provide useful information for feeding adaptation mechanisms that aim to maximize engagement or learning effects. In this paper, we introduce a large data corpus derived from 58 participants that play the popular Super Mario Bros platform game and attempt to create accurate models of player experience for this game genre. Within the view of the current research, features extracted both from player gameplay behavior and game levels, and player visual characteristics have been used as potential indicators of reported affect expressed as pairwise preferences between different game sessions. Using neuroevolutionary preference learning and automatic feature selection, highly accurate models of reported engagement, frustration, and challenge are constructed (model accuracies reach 91%, 92%, and 88% for engagement, frustration, and challenge, respectively). As a step further, the derived player experience models can be used to personalize the game level to desired levels of engagement, frustration, and challenge as game content is mapped to player experience through the behavioral and expressivity patterns of each player.

Quantum transport and nanoplasmonics with carbon nanorings - using HPC in computational nanoscience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jack, Mark A.

2011-10-01

Central theme of this talk is the theoretical study of toroidal carbon nanostructures as a new form of metamaterial. The interference of ring-generated electromagnetic radiation in a regular array of nanorings driven by an incoming polarized wave front may lead to fascinating new optoelectronics applications. The tight-binding method is used to model charge transport in a carbon nanotorus: All transport observables can be derived from the Green's function of the device region in a non-equilibrium Green's function algorithm. We have calculated density-of-states D(E) and transmissivities T(E) between two metallic leads under a small voltage bias. Electron-phonon coupling is included for low-energy phonon modes of armchair and zigzag nanorings with atomic displacements determined by a collaborator's finite-element based code. A numerically fast and stable algorithm has been developed via parallel linear algebra matrix routines (PETSc) with MPI parallelism to reach significant speed-up. Production runs are planned on the NSF XSEDE network. This project was supported in parts by a 2010 NSF TeraGrid Fellowship and the Sunshine State Education and Research Computing Alliance (SSERCA). Two summer students were supported as 2010 and 2011 NCSI/Shodor Petascale Computing undergraduate interns.[4pt] In collaboration with Leon W. Durivage, Adam Byrd, and Mario Encinosa.

Sugars in Antarctic aerosol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barbaro, Elena; Kirchgeorg, Torben; Zangrando, Roberta; Vecchiato, Marco; Piazza, Rossano; Barbante, Carlo; Gambaro, Andrea

2015-10-01

The processes and transformations occurring in the Antarctic aerosol during atmospheric transport were described using selected sugars as source tracers. Monosaccharides (arabinose, fructose, galactose, glucose, mannose, ribose, xylose), disaccharides (sucrose, lactose, maltose, lactulose), alcohol-sugars (erythritol, mannitol, ribitol, sorbitol, xylitol, maltitol, galactitol) and anhydrosugars (levoglucosan, mannosan and galactosan) were measured in the Antarctic aerosol collected during four different sampling campaigns. For quantification, a sensitive high-pressure anion exchange chromatography was coupled with a single quadrupole mass spectrometer. The method was validated, showing good accuracy and low method quantification limits. This study describes the first determination of sugars in the Antarctic aerosol. The total mean concentration of sugars in the aerosol collected at the ;Mario Zucchelli; coastal station was 140 pg m-3; as for the aerosol collected over the Antarctic plateau during two consecutive sampling campaigns, the concentration amounted to 440 and 438 pg m-3. The study of particle-size distribution allowed us to identify the natural emission from spores or from sea-spray as the main sources of sugars in the coastal area. The enrichment of sugars in the fine fraction of the aerosol collected on the Antarctic plateau is due to the degradation of particles during long-range atmospheric transport. The composition of sugars in the coarse fraction was also investigated in the aerosol collected during the oceanographic cruise.

Pharmaceutical Company Corruption and the Moral Crisis in Medicine.

PubMed

Batt, Sharon

2016-07-01

A much-debated series of articles in the New England Journal of Medicine in May 2015 labeled the pharmaceutical industry's critics "pharmascolds." Having followed the debate for two decades, I count myself among the scolds. The weight of the evidence overwhelmingly supports the claim that pharmaceutical policy no longer serves the public interest; the central questions now are how this happened and what to do about it. I approached three of the most recent books on the industry with these questions in mind. Deadly Medicine and Organized Crime (CRC Press, 2013), by Peter Gøtzsche, Bad Pharma (Faber & Faber, 2013), by Ben Goldacre, and Good Pharma (Palgrave MacMillan, 2015), by Donald Light and Antonio Maturo, all situate their critical assessments in high-income countries globally, depicting the problem of pharmaceuticals as too many drugs approved with too little evidence, causing too many needless deaths, and prices spiraling to heights unimaginable just a decade ago. Light and Maturo, while no less critical of the status quo than Gøtzsche and Goldacre, take a different tack: they detail the success of an alternative model for pharmaceutical research, the Mario Negri Institute in Italy, citing it as proof positive that we can indeed defy capitalism's profit imperative. © 2016 The Hastings Center.

RISE: a database of RNA interactome from sequencing experiments

PubMed Central

Gong, Jing; Shao, Di; Xu, Kui

2018-01-01

Abstract We present RISE (http://rise.zhanglab.net), a database of RNA Interactome from Sequencing Experiments. RNA-RNA interactions (RRIs) are essential for RNA regulation and function. RISE provides a comprehensive collection of RRIs that mainly come from recent transcriptome-wide sequencing-based experiments like PARIS, SPLASH, LIGR-seq, and MARIO, as well as targeted studies like RIA-seq, RAP-RNA and CLASH. It also includes interactions aggregated from other primary databases and publications. The RISE database currently contains 328,811 RNA-RNA interactions mainly in human, mouse and yeast. While most existing RNA databases mainly contain interactions of miRNA targeting, notably, more than half of the RRIs in RISE are among mRNA and long non-coding RNAs. We compared different RRI datasets in RISE and found limited overlaps in interactions resolved by different techniques and in different cell lines. It may suggest technology preference and also dynamic natures of RRIs. We also analyzed the basic features of the human and mouse RRI networks and found that they tend to be scale-free, small-world, hierarchical and modular. The analysis may nominate important RNAs or RRIs for further investigation. Finally, RISE provides a Circos plot and several table views for integrative visualization, with extensive molecular and functional annotations to facilitate exploration of biological functions for any RRI of interest. PMID:29040625

Do the Modern Neurosciences Call for a New Model of Organizational Cognition?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seni, Dan Alexander

2012-10-01

Our purpose in this paper is to try to make a significant contribution to the analysis of cognitive capabilities of the organization of active social systems such as the business enterprise by re-examining the concepts of organizational intelligence, organizational memory and organizational learning in light of the findings of modern neuroscience. In fact, in this paper we propose that neuroscience shows that sociocognitivity is for real. In other words, cognition, in the broad sense, is not exclusive to living organisms: Certain kinds of social organizations (e.g. the enterprise) possess elementary cognitive capabilities by virtue of their structure and their functions. The classical theory of organizational cognition is the theory of Artificial Intelligence. We submit that this approach has proven to be false and barren, and that a materialist emergentist neuroscientific approach, in the tradition of Mario Bunge (2003, 2006), leads to a far more fruitful viewpoint, both for theory development and for eventual factual verification. Our proposals for sociocognitivity are based on findings in three areas of modern neuroscience and biopsychology: (1) The theory of intelligence and of intelligent systems; (2) The neurological theory of memory as distributed, hierarchical neuronal systems; (3) The theory of cognitive action in general and of learning in particular. We submit that findings in every one of these areas are applicable to the social organization.

Long Duration Balloon flights development. (Italian Space Agency)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peterzen, S.; Masi, S.; Dragoy, P.; Ibba, R.; Spoto, D.

Stratospheric balloons are rapidly becoming the vehicle of choice for near space investigations and earth observations by a variety of science disciplines. With the ever increasing research into climatic change, earth observations, near space research and commercial component testing, instruments suspended from stratospheric balloons offer the science team a unique, stable and reusable platform that can circle the Earth in the polar region or equatorial zone for thirty days or more. The Italian Space Agency (ASI) in collaboration with Andoya Rocket Range (Andenes, Norway) has opened access in the far northern latitudes above 78º N from Longyearbyen, Svalbard. In 2006 the first Italian UltraLite Long Duration Balloon was launched from Baia Terra Nova, Mario Zuchelli station in Antarctica and now ASI is setting up for the their first equatorial stratospheric launch from their satellite receiving station and rocket launch site in Malindi, Kenya. For the equatorial missions we have analysed the statistical properties of trajectories considering the biennial oscillation and the seasonal effects of the stratospheric winds. Maintaining these launch sites offer the science community 3 point world coverage for heavy lift balloons as well as the rapidly deployed Ultra-light payloads and TM systems ASI developed to use for test platforms, micro experiments, as well as a comprehensive student pilot program. This paper discusses the development of the launch facilities and international LDB development.

Malingering and retrograde amnesia: the historic case of the Collegno amnesic.

PubMed

Zago, Stefano; Sartori, Giuseppe; Scarlato, Guglielmo

2004-06-01

Assessment of feigned cognitive disorders is an important field of neuropsychology because of its applications to forensic settings. Strategies for detecting malingering in amnesia are available for anterograde amnesia. Less attention has been given to malingering in retrograde amnesia. The case of the 'Smemorato di Collegno' (The Collegno Amnesic) is probably the most famous case of malingered retrograde amnesia ever known in Italy. In 1926, a man who appeared to have lost all his autobiographical memories and identity spent nearly a year in the Collegno asylum of Turin without a name. He was later initially identified as Giulio Canella, Director of the 'Scuola Normale di Verona' who had disappeared during the war in 1916. He was suspected of later identified as being Mario Bruneri, a petty crook from Turin who played the part of an amnesic whose retrograde memory gradually returned. A lengthy investigation was required before this conclusion was reached. Several clinicians and renowned academics evaluated the case, but only Alfredo Coppola, diagnosed "malingered retrograde amnesia" using a method that was extremely innovative for the times. The aim of the present paper is to review the original cognitive evaluation and the strategies used for malingering detection in the "Collegno case". The outcome of the case is then discussed in the light of present-day forensic neuropsychology and the level of advancement of mental examination achieved in the 1920s in Europe is highlighted.

Knowledge and authority: the godfather fantasy.

PubMed

Person, E S

2001-01-01

Three strategies are tentatively proposed by which human beings try to assuage the need for transcendence: (1) seizing the godhead; (2) submission to God; and (3) the godfather fantasy, whereby an attempt is made to clothe a mere mortal in the cloak of godly power. These strategies are connected to our innate, often conflicted, tendencies to obedience and rebellion, later elaborated into submission to authority or resistance to or cooptation of authority. These psychic tendencies are illustrated in Dostoevsky's "The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor" and in Mario Puzo's The Godfather, both brilliant demonstrations of social hierarchical control. The almost universal pull to obedience is demonstrated in the research of Stanley Milgram on obedience in hierarchical situations and theorized by Freud in his formulation of "the thirst for obedience" as a product of infantile life. It is proposed that the function of the group mind, in the form of ideology, is to counter anxieties generated throughout life, not only the remnants of childhood anxiety but also fears of death and oblivion. That a person's will to power can get out of hand and lead to disaster hardly needs saying; yet the will to submission, when connected to a shared ideology, can lead to results no less devastating. More people are killed in the name of an ideological cause run amok than are destroyed by virtue of thwarted passion, personal vendettas, criminality, or greed.

Alcohol consumption in early adolescence and medical care.

PubMed

Borrás Santiesteban, Tania

2016-10-01

Alcohol consumptionin adolescents is a risky behavior that can be prevented. Objective. To determine health care and alcohol consumption pattern in early adolescence and its relation to determinants of health (biological, environmental, social and health system factors). A qualitative-quantitative, crosssectional study was carried out in the four schools belonging to Popular Council 8 of Mario Gutiérrez Ardaya health sector in May, 2013. The study universe was made up of adolescents aged 10-14. The sample was determined through a simple randomized sampling. Surveys were administered to adolescents, parents, educators and senior health staff members to determine alcohol consumption, medical care quality and level of knowledge on the problem. A nominal group with health professionals was created. Two hundred and eighty eight adolescents were included. 54.5% were alcohol users, of which 30.2% were 10-11 years old. Those classified as low risk were prevailing (55.6%). 100% of the senior health staff expressed the need for a methodology of care. 90.4% of education staff considered adolescence as a vulnerable stage. Relatives reported that there should be adolescent-specific medical appointments (61.8%). The nominal group's most important opinions were based on the main features that a consultation for adolescents should have and on the problems hindering proper care. Alcohol consumption was considered high and early start prevailed. Insufficient care to early adolescents who use alcohol was made evident. Sociedad Argentina de Pediatría.

The Impact of a Computer-Based Activity Program on the Social Functioning of Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

PubMed

Dickinson, Kathleen; Place, Maurice

2016-06-01

Problems with social functioning are a major area of difficulty for children with autism. Such problems have the potential to exert a negative influence on several aspects of the children's functioning, including their ability to access education. This study looked to examine if a computer-based activity program could improve the social functioning of these children. Using a pooled subject design, 100 children with autistic spectrum disorder were randomly allocated, controlling where possible for age and gender, to either an intervention or a control group. The children in the intervention group were encouraged to use the Nintendo (Kyoto, Japan) Wii™ and the software package "Mario & Sonic at the Olympics" in addition to their routine school physical education classes over a 9-month period. The control group attended only the routine physical education classes. After 1 year, analysis of the changes in the scores of teacher-completed measures of social functioning showed that boys in the intervention group had made statistically significant improvement in their functioning when compared with controls. The number of girls in the study was too small for any change to reach statistical significance. This type of intervention appears to have potential as a mechanism to produce improvement in the social functioning, at least of boys, as part of a physical education program.

ICE-VOLC Project: unravelling the dynamics of Antarctica volcanoes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cannata, Andrea; Del Carlo, Paola; Giudice, Gaetano; Giuffrida, Giovanni; Larocca, Graziano; Liuzzo, Marco

2017-04-01

Melbourne and Rittmann volcanoes are located in the Victoria Land. Whilst Rittmann's last eruption dates probably to Pleistocene, Melbourne's most recent eruption between 1862 and 1922, testifying it is still active. At present, both volcanoes display fumarolic activity. Melbourne was discovered in 1841 by James Clark Ross, Rittmann during the 4th Italian Expedition (1988/1989). Our knowledge on both volcanoes is really little. The position of these volcanoes in the Antarctic region (characterised by absence of anthropic noise) and its proximity with the Italian Mario Zucchelli Station makes them ideal sites for studying volcano seismic sources, geothermal emissions, seismo-acoustic signals caused by cryosphere-hydrosphere-atmosphere dynamics, and volcanic gas impact on environment. Hence, the main aim of the ICE-VOLC ("multiparametrIC Experiment at antarctica VOLCanoes: data from volcano and cryosphere-ocean-atmosphere dynamics") project is the study of Melbourne and Rittmann, by acquisition, analysis and integration of multiparametric geophysical, geochemical and thermal data. Complementary objectives include investigation of the relationship between seismo-acoustic activity recorded in Antarctica and cryosphere-hydrosphere-atmosphere dynamics, evaluation of the impact of volcanic gas in atmosphere. This project involves 26 researchers, technologists and technicians from University of Perugia and from Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia of Catania, Palermo, Pisa and Rome. In this work, we show the preliminary results obtained after the first expedition in Antarctica, aiming to perform geochemical-thermal surveys in the volcano ice caves, as well as to collect ash samples and to install temporary seismic stations.

First Observations of GNSS Ionospheric Scintillations From DemoGRAPE Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alfonsi, L.; Cilliers, P. J.; Romano, V.; Hunstad, I.; Correia, E.; Linty, N.; Dovis, F.; Terzo, O.; Ruiu, P.; Ward, J.; Riley, P.

2016-10-01

The Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia leads an international project funded by the Italian National Program for Antarctic Research, called Demonstrator of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Research and Application for Polar Environment (DemoGRAPE), in partnership with Politecnico di Torino, Istituto Superiore Mario Boella, and with South African National Space Agency and the Brazilian National Institute of Space Physics, as key collaborators. DemoGRAPE is a new prototype of support for the satellite navigation in Antarctica. Besides the scientific interest, the accuracy of satellite navigation in Antarctica is of paramount importance since there is always the danger that people and vehicles can fall into a crevasse during a snowstorm, when visibility is limited and travel is restricted to following specified routes using satellite navigation systems. The variability of ionospheric delay and ionospheric scintillation are two of the primary factors which affect the accuracy of satellite navigation. The project will provide a demonstrator of cutting edge technology for the empirical assessment of the ionospheric delay and ionospheric scintillations in the polar regions. The scope of the project includes new equipment for the recording and dissemination of GNSS data and products installed at the South African and Brazilian bases in Antarctica. The new equipment will facilitate the exchange of software and derived products via the Cloud computing technology infrastructure. The project portal is accessible at www.demogrape.net. We report the first Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal scintillations observed in Antarctica.

Aerosol and snow transfer processes: An investigation on the behavior of water-soluble organic compounds and ionic species.

PubMed

Barbaro, Elena; Zangrando, Roberta; Padoan, Sara; Karroca, Ornela; Toscano, Giuseppa; Cairns, Warren R L; Barbante, Carlo; Gambaro, Andrea

2017-09-01

The concentrations of water-soluble compounds (ions, carboxylic acids, amino acids, sugars, phenolic compounds) in aerosol and snow have been determined at the coastal Italian base "Mario Zucchelli" (Antarctica) during the 2014-2015 austral summer. The main aim of this research was to investigate the air-snow transfer processes of a number of classes of chemical compounds and investigate their potential as tracers for specific sources. The composition and particle size distribution of Antarctic aerosol was measured, and water-soluble compounds accounted for 66% of the PM 10 total mass concentration. The major ions Na + , Mg 2+ , Cl - and SO 4 2- made up 99% of the total water soluble compound concentration indicating that sea spray input was the main source of aerosol. These ionic species were found mainly in the coarse fraction of the aerosol resulting in enhanced deposition, as reflected by the snow composition. Biogenic sources were identified using chemical markers such as carboxylic acids, amino acids, sugars and phenolic compounds. This study describes the first characterization of amino acids and sugar concentrations in surface snow. High concentrations of amino acids were found after a snowfall event, their presence is probably due to the degradation of biological material scavenged during the snow event. Alcohol sugars increased in concentration after the snow event, suggesting a deposition of primary biological particles, such as airborne fungal spores. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sexist games=sexist gamers? A longitudinal study on the relationship between video game use and sexist attitudes.

PubMed

Breuer, Johannes; Kowert, Rachel; Festl, Ruth; Quandt, Thorsten

2015-04-01

From the oversexualized characters in fighting games, such as Dead or Alive or Ninja Gaiden, to the overuse of the damsel in distress trope in popular titles, such as the Super Mario series, the under- and misrepresentation of females in video games has been well documented in several content analyses. Cultivation theory suggests that long-term exposure to media content can affect perceptions of social realities in a way that they become more similar to the representations in the media and, in turn, impact one's beliefs and attitudes. Previous studies on video games and cultivation have often been cross-sectional or experimental, and the limited longitudinal work in this area has only considered time intervals of up to 1 month. Additionally, previous work in this area has focused on the effects of violent content and relied on self-selected or convenience samples composed mostly of adolescents or college students. Enlisting a 3 year longitudinal design, the present study assessed the relationship between video game use and sexist attitudes, using data from a representative sample of German players aged 14 and older (N=824). Controlling for age and education, it was found that sexist attitudes--measured with a brief scale assessing beliefs about gender roles in society--were not related to the amount of daily video game use or preference for specific genres for both female and male players. Implications for research on sexism in video games and cultivation effects of video games in general are discussed.

Functional changes in the reward circuit in response to gaming-related cues after training with a commercial video game.

PubMed

Gleich, Tobias; Lorenz, Robert C; Gallinat, Jürgen; Kühn, Simone

2017-05-15

In the present longitudinal study, we aimed to investigate video game training associated neuronal changes in reward processing using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We recruited 48 healthy young participants which were assigned to one of 2 groups: A group in which participants were instructed to play a commercial video game ("Super Mario 64 DS") on a portable Nintendo DS handheld console at least 30minutes a day over a period of two months (video gaming group; VG) or to a matched passive control group (CG). Before and after the training phase, in both groups, fMRI imaging was conducted during passively viewing reward and punishment-related videos sequences recorded from the trained video game. The results show that video game training may lead to reward related decrease in neuronal activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and increase in the hippocampus. Additionally, the decrease in DLPFC activation was associated with gaming related parameters experienced during playing. Specifically, we found that in the VG, gaming related parameters like performance, experienced fun and frustration (assessed during the training period) were correlated to decrease in reward related DLPFC activity. Thus, neuronal changes in terms of video game training seem to be highly related to the appetitive character and reinforcement schedule of the game. Those neuronal changes may also be related to the often reported video game associated improvements in cognitive functions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Pegaso: Long durations balloons from polar regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romeo, G. R.; di Stefano, G. D. S.; di Felice, F. D. F.; Masi, S. M.; Cardillo, A. C.; Musso, I. M.; Ibba, R. I.; Palangio, P. P.; Caprara, F. C.; Peterzen, S. P.; Pegaso Group

Launched from the Mario Zuccelli Station Baia Terra Nova in Antarctica during the 2005 06 austral summer the PEGASO-D payload lifted into the stratospheric anticyclone over the southern polar region This effort marks the first Long Duration Scientific payload to be launched from this location and is the fourth such payload launched in the polar regions Performing in the framework of the NOBILE AMUNDSEN collaborative LDB development between ASI-ARR The Italian Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology INGV with the sponsorship of the Italian Antarctic Program PNRA and the Italian Space Agency ASI designed and built the Ultra-Light system together with three Universities in Italy The Pegaso program has been created to investigate the Earth magnetic field and provide a precursor series of small payload launches for the bigger LDB program such as OLIMPO BOOMERanG and BArSPOrt through this collaboration between ASI and ARR The Italian scientific community aware of the big advantages that LDB balloons can offer to their experiments proposed to extend the LDB program to Southern polar regions besides performing launches from the newly initiated Nobile Amundsen Stratospheric Balloon Center in Svalbard Norway Three PEGASO Polar Explorer for Geomagnetics And other Scientific Observations payloads have been launched from the Svalbard No in collaboration with Andoya Rocket Range ASI and ISTAR Operations and logistics during the past two northern summers These stratospheric altitude m 35000 small 10kmc balloons have floated in the stratosphere between 14 to

What Roles Can Scientists Play in Public Discourse?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oppenheimer, Michael

2011-04-01

What is a useful and proper role for scientists in the public arena? How can we best discriminate where the boundary lies between expert knowledge and values or political opinion, and how can we properly honor that line? What can we expect in the way of reception for our interventions, and how can we increase their efficacy? Involvement in public policy debates is a common and accepted role for scientists in many disciplines. In the sciences related to public health, it is taken for granted that experts will talk about the implications of their research for public policy, whether in regard to smoking, diet, or disease spread. There is also a remarkable track record of geoscientists taking a lead role in the public arena and actually affecting public policy—F. Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina collaborated on ozone depletion research at the Department of Chemistry at University of California, Irvine and then went on to make outstanding public contributions, as have James Hansen (at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies); Robert Watson (first at NASA, then at the University of East Anglia); and, of course, the late Stephen Schneider (first at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research, then Stanford) on climate. Some “public” geoscientists have restricted their activities to interpreting science for the wider public, while others have endorsed specific policy initiatives (see Figure 1). I firmly believe that the quality of public discourse and the information reaching policy makers were better for their interventions.

List of Participants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2014-07-01

Alba Paolo (Università di Torino) Becattini Francesco (Università di Firenze) Bombaci Ignazio (Università di Pisa) Bonaccorso Angela (INFN Pisa) Colonna Maria (INFN-LNS Catania) Coraggio Luigi (INFN Napoli) Covello Aldo (Università di Napoli) Di Toro Massimo (Università di Catania) De Angelis Giacomo (INFN-LNL Legnaro) Gargano Angela (INFN Napoli) Gattobigio Mario (INLN, Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, CNRS, France) Gensini Paolo (INFN Lecce) Giannini Mauro (Università di Genova) Girlanda Luca (Università del Salento) Giusti Carlotta (Università di Pavia) Greco Vincenzo (Università di Catania) Grossi Eduardo (Università di Firenze) Itaco Nunzio (Università di Napoli) Kievsky Alejandro (INFN Pisa) Lanza Edoardo (INFN Catania) Lavagno Andrea (Politecnico di Torino) Logoteta Domenico (Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal) Lo Iudice Nicola (Università di Napoli) Lombardo Maria Paola (INFN-LNF Frascati) Lo Meo Sergio (ENEA Bologna) Mannarelli Massimo (INFN-LNGS Assergi) Marcucci Laura Elisa (Università di Pisa) Matera Francesco (Università di Firenze) Orlandini Giuseppina (Università di Trento) Pacati Franco (Università di Pavia) Pederiva Francesco (Università di Trento) Pirrone Sara (INFN Catania) Puglisi Armando (Università di Catania) Radici Marco (INFN Pavia) Rinaldi Matteo (Università di Perugia) Roggero Alessandro (Università di Trento) Rolando Valentina (Università di Ferrara) Rosati Sergio (Università di Pisa) Ruggieri Marco (Università di Catania) Salmè Gianni (INFN Roma) Santopinto Elena (INFN Genova) Scopetta Sergio (Università di Perugia) Taiuti Mauro (Università di Genova) Vigezzi Enrico (INFN Milano) Viviani Michele (INFN Pisa) Vorabbi Matteo (Università di Pavia)

UV-B Measurements in Mexico City: Comparison with Modeled UVB and Black Carbon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marley, N. A.; Gaffney, J. S.; Frederick, J. E.

2004-12-01

Ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B) represents a chemically important region of the sun's spectrum. At the earth's surface, UV-B can initiate a number of important photochemical reactions (e.g., ozone photolysis) that lead to the formation of OH radicals. Where levels of nitrogen oxides are high and reactive hydrocarbons are found, as in Mexico City and other megacities, UV-B can initiate photochemical smog formation. We used a broadband instrument to obtain UV-B measurements in Mexico City during the Mexico City Metropolitan Area 2003/Mexico City Megacity 2003 field study. We then used a simple radiation model for the Mexico City latitude, altitude, and time of year to construct UV-B contours for comparison with our results. Early morning discrepancies involve reductions in UV-B that are consistent with the presence of significant levels of BC in the Mexico City environment. During most afternoons, UV-B reductions were dominated by clouds. The results are discussed in terms of the potential impacts of BC on UV-B and downwind photochemical processes. The authors wish to thank the researchers at Centro Nacional de Investigación en Calidad Ambiental (CENICA), Mexico City. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Atmospheric Science Program (Marley and Gaffney), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Frederick). We also wish to acknowledge Drs. Mario and Luisa Molina for their help in organizing and directing the Mexico City Metropolitan Area 2003 field study, during which these data were collected.

The opportunity of the 2016 transit of Mercury for measuring the solar diameter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sigismondi, Costantino; Castiglioni, Francesco; Cicogna, Domenico; Cardoso, Felipe

2016-05-01

The transit of Mercury occurred two times in this century: 2003, May 7 and 2006, November 8. In 2016 there is another opportunity to observe this phenomenon and measure the solar diameter with the method of comparing the ephemerides with the observations. This method has been presented by I. I. Shapiro in 1980, the data of the observed transits (since 1631) have been re-analyzed by Sveshnikov (2002) and an improvement on the observed data, to avoid the confusion given by the black-drop effect, has been presented by C. Sigismondi and collaborators since 2005 by exploiting the idea of measuring the chord drawn by the solar limb with the disk of the transiting planet presented by G. Di Giovanni (2005) on the transit of Venus: the improvement is obtained by extrapolating to zero the analytic chord fitting the observations without the black drop, but in the ingress/egress phases. For the transit of 2006 K. Reardon with IBIS (California) and J. Pasachoff with Mauna Kea (Hawaij) telescopes were ready to get useful data but the weather's conditions were not good, and only the SOHO data (M. Emilio, 2012) contributed to the solar diameter monitoring. A network of European observers (IOTA/ES) and observatories (coronograph of Bialkow, PL 56 cm; IRSOL, Locarno CH - 45 cm Gregorian telescope; carte du ciel, Paris, FR 30 cm, Torre Solare di Monte Mario, Rome 26 cm) are active for the 2016 transit.

Fostering a strategic alliance between patients' associations and health care professionals.

PubMed

Mosconi, Paola; Colombo, Cinzia

2010-01-01

The Laboratory for Medical Research and Consumer Involvement was established in 2005 at Mario Negri Institute, a nonprofit institute for pharmacological research, as a consequence of the increasing interest in boosting citizens' and patients' involvement in the health care debate. It has developed several projects with patients' associations, researchers, and clinicians. Its objectives are to foster a strategic alliance among health care professionals, patients, and their organizations, developing activities with different levels of involvement. Among the laboratory' s activities, the PartecipaSalute project has organized training courses for consumers, published a Web site disseminating evidence-based information and critical appraisal tools, and collected research priorities set by patients. Two consensus conferences have been organized, one dealing with brain injury patients' assistance and the other with hormone therapy and menopause. The quality of health information covered by different sources (press articles, Web sites, and brochures) has also been assessed. Seventy consumers attended the training courses from 2006 to 2008, and between January 2008 and June 2009 the PartecipaSalute Web site registered a mean of 30 500 single visits monthly. At the consensus conference Informing women on hormone replacement therapy, 7 members of the 14-member panel defining the final recommendations were lay people. Other data from the laboratory's main activities are given in this article. The criteria for selecting patients and their organizations, the methods of involvement, and evaluation of the impact of the activities are still open questions. We are now developing ways of evaluating our activities, and trying to boost citizens' and patients' participation in decisional settings, concerning health care assistance and research studies.

Evaluating Coral Health in La Parguera, Puerto Rico, and Southeastern Florida: Comparison of Satellite-Based Sea Surface Temperature to In Situ Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gomez, A. M.; McDonald, K. C.; Shein, K. A.; Devries, S. L.; Armstrong, R.; Carlo, M.

2017-12-01

The third global coral bleaching event, which began in mid-2014, is a major environmental stressor that has been causing significant documented damage to coral reefs in all tropical ocean basins. This worldwide phenomenon is the longest and largest coral bleaching event on record and now finally appears to be ending. During this event, some coral colonies proved to be more resilient to increased ocean temperatures while others bleached severely. This research investigates the spatial and temporal variability of bleaching stress on coral reefs in La Parguera, Puerto Rico, and Southeastern Florida to help further understand the role of temperature and light in coral bleaching. We examine the microclimate within two coral reef systems, using in situ collections of temperature and light data from data loggers deployed throughout Cayo Enrique and Cayo Mario in La Parguera, and Lauderdale-By-The-Sea in FLorida. The in situ measurements are compared to NOAA Coral Reef Watch's 5-km sea surface temperature data as well as to the associated Light Stress Damage Product. Research outcomes include statistical analyses of in situ measurements with satellite datasets supporting enhanced interpretation of satellite-based SST and light products, and ecological niche modeling to assess where corals could potentially survive under future climate conditions. Additional understanding of the microclimate encompassing coral reefs and improved satellite SST and light data will ultimately help coral reef ecosystem managers and policy makers in prioritizing resources toward the monitoring and protection of coral reef ecosystems.

Construction and completion of flux balance models from pathway databases.

PubMed

Latendresse, Mario; Krummenacker, Markus; Trupp, Miles; Karp, Peter D

2012-02-01

Flux balance analysis (FBA) is a well-known technique for genome-scale modeling of metabolic flux. Typically, an FBA formulation requires the accurate specification of four sets: biochemical reactions, biomass metabolites, nutrients and secreted metabolites. The development of FBA models can be time consuming and tedious because of the difficulty in assembling completely accurate descriptions of these sets, and in identifying errors in the composition of these sets. For example, the presence of a single non-producible metabolite in the biomass will make the entire model infeasible. Other difficulties in FBA modeling are that model distributions, and predicted fluxes, can be cryptic and difficult to understand. We present a multiple gap-filling method to accelerate the development of FBA models using a new tool, called MetaFlux, based on mixed integer linear programming (MILP). The method suggests corrections to the sets of reactions, biomass metabolites, nutrients and secretions. The method generates FBA models directly from Pathway/Genome Databases. Thus, FBA models developed in this framework are easily queried and visualized using the Pathway Tools software. Predicted fluxes are more easily comprehended by visualizing them on diagrams of individual metabolic pathways or of metabolic maps. MetaFlux can also remove redundant high-flux loops, solve FBA models once they are generated and model the effects of gene knockouts. MetaFlux has been validated through construction of FBA models for Escherichia coli and Homo sapiens. Pathway Tools with MetaFlux is freely available to academic users, and for a fee to commercial users. Download from: biocyc.org/download.shtml. mario.latendresse@sri.com Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

5-year analysis of background surface ozone and carbon dioxide variations during summer seasons at Terra Nova Bay (Antarctica)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cristofanelli, Paolo; Bonasoni, Paolo; Bonafe', Ubaldo; Calzolari, Frencescopiero; Duchi, Rocco; Lanconelli, Christian; Lupi, Angelo; Vitale, Vito; Colombo, Tiziano

2010-05-01

Carbon dioxide (CO2) and tropospheric ozone (O3) play important roles in determining the radiative budget of the atmosphere. While CO2 is considered the most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas, O3 is evaluated as the third most powerful greenhouse gas since pre-industrial ages and, by influencing the lifetime of others greenhouse gases, it provides also an indirect impact on climate. Within the framework of the Italian National Programme of Antarctic Researches (PNRA), continuous measurements of CO2, O3 as well as meteorological parameters have been conducted at the clean-air facility of Icaro Camp at the "Mario Zucchelli" Station (74.7 S, 164.1 E, 41 m a.s.l., hereinafter MZS-IC) during five experimental summer campaigns from November 2001 to February 2006. At MZS-IC, average O3 background concentrations ranged from 18.5 +/- 4.6 ppbv (summer 2005 - 2006) to 22.0 +/- 4.3 ppbv (summer 2003 - 2004). For CO2, in good agreement with the global trend observed for the period 2001-2006, background concentrations showed an average growth rate of 2.12 ppmv/year ranging from 369.28 +/- 0.18 ppmv during the summer 2001 - 2002 to 377.76 +/- 0.26 ppmv during the summer 2005 - 2006. On average, over the five summer campaigns, the O3 behaviour showed a decreasing trend with highest values in November and a minimum in January, while a broad December-January minimum characterised CO2, well tracing the typical O3 and CO2 high-latitude seasonal cycles in the Southern Hemisphere.

Task-Oriented Gaming for Transfer to Prosthesis Use.

PubMed

van Dijk, Ludger; van der Sluis, Corry K; van Dijk, Hylke W; Bongers, Raoul M

2016-12-01

The aim of this study is to establish the effect of task-oriented video gaming on using a myoelectric prosthesis in a basic activity of daily life (ADL). Forty-one able-bodied right-handed participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups. In three of these groups the participants trained to control a video game using the myosignals of the flexors and extensors of the wrist: in the Adaptive Catching group participants needed to catch falling objects by opening and closing a grabber and received ADL-relevant feedback during performance. The Free Catching group used the same game, but without augmented feedback. The Interceptive Catching group trained a game where the goal was to intercept a falling object by moving a grabber to the left and right. They received no additional feedback. The control group played a regular Mario computer game. All groups trained 20 minutes a day for four consecutive days. Two tests were conducted before and after training: one level of the training game was performed, and participants grasped objects with a prosthesis simulator. Results showed all groups improved their game performance over controls. In the prosthesis-simulator task, after training the Adaptive Catching group outperformed the other groups in their ability to adjust the hand aperture to the size of the objects and the degree of compression of compressible objects. This study is the first to demonstrate transfer effects from a serious game to a myoelectric prosthesis task. The specificity of the learning effects suggests that research into serious gaming will benefit from placing ADL-specific constraints on game development.

List of Participants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2011-08-01

Abigail Alvarez OlarteCINVESTAV Alba Leticia Carrillo MonteverdeDCI-UG Alberto CarramiñanaINAOE Aldo MorselliFERMI Alejandro CastillaDCI-UG Alejandro IbarraTechnical University of Munich Alma D Rojas PachecoFCFM-BUAP Alma Xochitl Gonzalez MoralesInstituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM Andrew Walcott BeckwithAmerican Institute of Beam Energy Physics Ariadna Montiel ArenasDepartamento de Física, CINVESTAV Arnulfo ZepedaCinvestav Arturo Alvarez CruzInstituto de Fisica, UNAM Axel de la MacorraUNAM, IAC Azar MustafayevUniversity of Minnesota Benjamin JaramilloDCI-UG Vincent BertinCPPM-Marseille Carlos Alberto Vaquera-AraujoDCI-UG Carlos MuñozMadrid Autonoma U. & Madrid, IFT Carmine PagliaroneINFN, FNAL Carolina Lujan PeschardDCI-UG Christiane Frigerio MartinsUniversidade Federal do ABC-São Paulo Csaba BalazsMonash University David DelepineDCI-UG David G CerdenoUniversidad Autonoma de Madrid & Instituto de Fisica Teorica Debasish MajumdarSaha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata, India Dibyendu PanigrahiKandi Raj College, Kandi, Murshidabad, INDIA-742137 Dupret Alberto Santana BejaranoUniversidad de Sonora Departamento de Investigacion en Fisica Ernest MaRiverside U.C. Esteban Alejandro Reyes Pírez MontañezInstituto de Física, UNAM Federico Ortiz TrejoINSTITUTO DE ASTRONOMÍA - UNAM Francisco José de Anda NavarroUniversidad de Guadalajara González Alvarez Francisco JavierCINVESTAV-Depto. Física Gustavo Medina TancoICN-UNAM Hernando Efrain Caicedo OrtizInstituto Politecnico Nacional - IPN J D VergadosCERN & Ioannina U. James R BoyceJefferson Lab Jason SteffenFERMILAB Javier Montaño DomínguezDCI-UG Jeevan SolankiMandsaur Institue of Technology MP India Joe SatoSaitama University Jorge Luis Navarro EstradaUNAM-ICN and Universidad del Atlantico (B/quilla-Col.) Jose A R CembranosUniversity of Minnesota José DíazIFIC Jose Didino Garcia AguilarDepto. de Fisica. Cinvestav Keith OliveUniversity of Minnesota Konstantia BalasiUniversity of Ioannina, Greece Lilian Prado GonzalezBUAP, FCFM Lorenzo Díaz CruzBUAP Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas Luis Rey Díaz BarrónDivisión de Ciencias e Ingenierías Luis UrenaUniversidad de Guanajuato Magda LolaDept. of Physics, University of Patras, Greece Mahmoud WahbaEgyptian Center for Theoretical Physics, MTI Marcus S CohenNew Mexico State University Mario A Acero OrtegaICN - UNAM Mario E GomezUniversidad de Huelva Mark PipeUniversity of Sheffield Mauro NapsucialeDCI-UG Mirco CannoniUniversidad de Huelva Mónica Felipa Ramírez PalaciosUniversidad de Guadalajara Murli Manohar VermaLucknow university, India Nassim BozorgniaUCLA Octavio Obregón Octavio ValenzuelaIA-UNAM Oleg KamaevUniversity of Minnesota Osamu SetoHokkai-Gakuen University Pedro F González DíazIFF, CSIC, Serrano 121, 28006 Madrid, Spain Qaisar ShafiBartol Research Inst. and Delaware U. Raul Hennings-YeomansLos Alamos National Laboratory René Ángeles MartínezDepartamento de Fisica, del DCI de la Universidad de Guanajuato Reyna XoxocotziBUAP, FCFM Rishi Kumar TiwariGovt. Model Science College, Rewa (MP) INDIA Roberto A SussmanICN-UNAM Selim Gómez ÁvilaDCI-UG Sugai KenichiSaitama University Susana Valdez AlvaradoDCI-UG TVladimir - 2K CollaborationColorado State University Tonatiuh MatosCINVESTAV Valeriy DvoeglazovUniversidad de Zacatecas Vannia Gonzalez MaciasDCI-UG Vladimir Avila-ReeseInstituto de Astronomia, UNAM Wolfgang BietenholzINC, UNAM (Mexico) Yamanaka MasatoKyoto Sangyo University Yann MambriniLPT Orsay Yu-Feng ZhouInstitute of Theotretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PR China Aaron HigueraDCI-UG Azarael Yebra PérezDCI-UG César Hernández AguayoDCI-UG Jaime Chagoya AlvarezDCI-UG Jonathan Rashid Rosique CampuzanoDCI-UG José Alfredo Soto ÁlvarezDCI-UG Juan Carlos De Haro SantosDCI-UG Luis Eduardo Medina MedranoDCI-UG Maria Fatima Rubio EspinozaDCI-UG Paulo Alberto Rodriguez HerreraDCI-UG Roberto Oziel Gutierrez CotaDCI-UG Rocha Moran Maria PaulinaDCI-UG Xareni Sanchez MonroyDCI-UG

HUBBLE'S PLANETARY NEBULA GALLERY

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

[Top left] - IC 3568 lies in the constellation Camelopardalis at a distance of about 9,000 light-years, and has a diameter of about 0.4 light-years (or about 800 times the diameter of our solar system). It is an example of a round planetary nebula. Note the bright inner shell and fainter, smooth, circular outer envelope. Credits: Howard Bond (Space Telescope Science Institute), Robin Ciardullo (Pennsylvania State University) and NASA [Top center] - NGC 6826's eye-like appearance is marred by two sets of blood-red 'fliers' that lie horizontally across the image. The surrounding faint green 'white' of the eye is believed to be gas that made up almost half of the star's mass for most of its life. The hot remnant star (in the center of the green oval) drives a fast wind into older material, forming a hot interior bubble which pushes the older gas ahead of it to form a bright rim. (The star is one of the brightest stars in any planetary.) NGC 6826 is 2,200 light- years away in the constellation Cygnus. The Hubble telescope observation was taken Jan. 27, 1996 with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. Credits: Bruce Balick (University of Washington), Jason Alexander (University of Washington), Arsen Hajian (U.S. Naval Observatory), Yervant Terzian (Cornell University), Mario Perinotto (University of Florence, Italy), Patrizio Patriarchi (Arcetri Observatory, Italy) and NASA [Top right ] - NGC 3918 is in the constellation Centaurus and is about 3,000 light-years from us. Its diameter is about 0.3 light-year. It shows a roughly spherical outer envelope but an elongated inner balloon inflated by a fast wind from the hot central star, which is starting to break out of the spherical envelope at the top and bottom of the image. Credits: Howard Bond (Space Telescope Science Institute), Robin Ciardullo (Pennsylvania State University) and NASA [Bottom left] - Hubble 5 is a striking example of a 'butterfly' or bipolar (two-lobed) nebula. The heat generated by fast winds causes each of the lobes to expand, much like a pair of balloons with internal heaters. This observation was taken Sept. 9, 1997 by the Hubble telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. Hubble 5 is 2,200 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Credits: Bruce Balick (University of Washington), Vincent Icke (Leiden University, The Netherlands), Garrelt Mellema (Stockholm University), and NASA [Bottom center ] - Like NGC 6826, NGC 7009 has a bright central star at the center of a dark cavity bounded by a football-shaped rim of dense, blue and red gas. The cavity and its rim are trapped inside smoothly-distributed greenish material in the shape of a barrel and comprised of the star's former outer layers. At larger distances, and lying along the long axis of the nebula, a pair of red 'ansae', or 'handles' appears. Each ansa is joined to the tips of the cavity by a long greenish jet of material. The handles are clouds of low-density gas. NGC 7009 is 1,400 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius. The Hubble telescope observation was taken April 28, 1996 by the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. Credits: Bruce Balick (University of Washington), Jason Alexander (University of Washington), Arsen Hajian (U.S. Naval Observatory), Yervant Terzian (Cornell University), Mario Perinotto (University of Florence, Italy), Patrizio Patriarchi (Arcetri Observatory, Italy), NASA [Bottom right ] - NGC 5307 also lies in Centaurus but is about 10,000 light-years away and has a diameter of approximately 0.6 light-year. It is an example of a planetary nebula with a pinwheel or spiral structure; each blob of gas ejected from the central star has a counterpart on the opposite side of the star. Credits: Howard Bond (Space Telescope Science Institute), Robin Ciardullo (Pennsylvania State University) and NASA

Simultaneous gene finding in multiple genomes.

PubMed

König, Stefanie; Romoth, Lars W; Gerischer, Lizzy; Stanke, Mario

2016-11-15

As the tree of life is populated with sequenced genomes ever more densely, the new challenge is the accurate and consistent annotation of entire clades of genomes. We address this problem with a new approach to comparative gene finding that takes a multiple genome alignment of closely related species and simultaneously predicts the location and structure of protein-coding genes in all input genomes, thereby exploiting negative selection and sequence conservation. The model prefers potential gene structures in the different genomes that are in agreement with each other, or-if not-where the exon gains and losses are plausible given the species tree. We formulate the multi-species gene finding problem as a binary labeling problem on a graph. The resulting optimization problem is NP hard, but can be efficiently approximated using a subgradient-based dual decomposition approach. The proposed method was tested on whole-genome alignments of 12 vertebrate and 12 Drosophila species. The accuracy was evaluated for human, mouse and Drosophila melanogaster and compared to competing methods. Results suggest that our method is well-suited for annotation of (a large number of) genomes of closely related species within a clade, in particular, when RNA-Seq data are available for many of the genomes. The transfer of existing annotations from one genome to another via the genome alignment is more accurate than previous approaches that are based on protein-spliced alignments, when the genomes are at close to medium distances. The method is implemented in C ++ as part of Augustus and available open source at http://bioinf.uni-greifswald.de/augustus/ CONTACT: stefaniekoenig@ymail.com or mario.stanke@uni-greifswald.deSupplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Pāhoehoe, `a`ā, and block lava: an illustrated history of the nomenclature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harris, Andrew J. L.; Rowland, Scott K.; Villeneuve, Nicolas; Thordarson, Thor

2017-01-01

Lava flows occur worldwide, and throughout history, various cultures (and geologists) have described flows based on their surface textures. As a result, surface morphology-based nomenclature schemes have been proposed in most languages to aid in the classification and distinction of lava surface types. One of the first to be published was likely the nine-class, Italian-language description-based classification proposed by Mario Gemmellaro in 1858. By far, the most commonly used terms to describe lava surfaces today are not descriptive but, instead, are merely words, specifically the Hawaiian words `a`ā (rough brecciated basalt lava) and pāhoehoe (smooth glassy basalt lava), plus block lava (thick brecciated lavas that are typically more silicic than basalt). `A`ā and pāhoehoe were introduced into the Western geological vocabulary by American geologists working in Hawai`i during the 1800s. They and other nineteenth century geologists proposed formal lava-type classification schemes for scientific use, and most of them used the Hawaiian words. In 1933, Ruy Finch added the third lava type, block lava, to the classification scheme, with the tripartite system being formalized in 1953 by Gordon Macdonald. More recently, particularly since the 1980s and based largely on studies of lava flow interiors, a number of sub-types and transitional forms of all three major lava types have been defined. This paper reviews the early history of the development of the pāhoehoe, `a`ā, and block lava-naming system and presents a new descriptive classification so as to break out the three parental lava types into their many morphological sub-types.

Ulysses, the end of an extraordinary mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2008-06-01

Ulysses, a pioneering ESA/NASA mission, was launched in October 1990 to explore uncharted territories - the regions above and below the Sun’s poles - and study our star’s sphere of influence, or heliosphere, in the four dimensions of space and time. Originally designed for a lifetime of five years, the mission has surpassed all expectations. The reams of data Ulysses has returned have forever changed the way scientists view the Sun and its effect on the space surrounding it. Media representatives interested in attending the press conference are invited to register using the attached form. Those not able to attend will have the opportunity to follow the press conference using the following phone number: +33 1 56785733 (listening-mode only). The programme of the event is as follows: The Ulysses Legacy Press Conference 12 June 2008, 15:30, Room 137, ESA Headquarters, 8-10 rue Mario-Nikis, Paris Event programme 15:30 Welcome, by David Southwood, ESA Director of Science and Robotic Exploration (with a joint ESA/NASA statement) 15:40 Ulysses: a modern-day Odyssey, by Richard Marsden, ESA Ulysses Project Scientist and Mission Manager 15:50 The Ulysses scientific legacy: Inside the heliosphere, by Richard Marsden,ESA Ulysses Project Scientist and Mission Manager 16:00 The Ulysses scientific legacy: Outside the heliosphere, by Ed Smith, NASA Ulysses Project Scientist 16:10 Ulysses, the over-achiever: challenges and successes of a 17-year-old mission, by Nigel Angold, ESA Ulysses Mission Operations Manager 16:20 Questions and Answers, Panelists: David Southwood, Richard Marsden, Ed Smith, Nigel Angold and Ed Massey (NASA Ulysses Project Manager) 16:40 Interview opportunities 17:30 End of event

Fitness of the Cosmos for Life

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barrow, John D.; Conway Morris, Simon; Freeland, Stephen J.; Harper, Charles L., Jr.

2012-08-01

Foreword: The improbability of life George M. Whitesides; Part I. The Fitness of 'Fitness' - Henderson in Context: 1. Locating 'fitness' and Lawrence J. Henderson Everett Mendelsohn; 2. Revisiting The Fitness of the Environment Owen Gingerich; 3. Is fine-tuning remarkable? John F. Haught; 4. Complexity in context: the metaphysical implications of evolutionary theory Edward T. Oakes; 5. Tuning fine-tuning Ernan Mcmullin; Part II. The Fitness of the Cosmic Environment: 6. Fitness and the cosmic environment Paul C. W. Davies; 7. The interconnections between cosmology and life Mario Livio; 8. Chemistry and sensitivity John D. Barrow; 9. Fitness of the cosmos for the origin and evolution of life: from biochemical fine-tuning to the Anthropic Principle Julian Chela-Flores; Part III. The Fitness of the Terrestrial Environment: 10. How biofriendly is the universe? Christian de Duve; 11. Tuning into the frequencies of life: a roar of static or a precise signal? Simon Conway Morris; 12. Life on earth: the role of proteins Jayanth R. Banavar and Amos Maritan; 13. Protein-based life as an emergent property of matter: the nature and biological fitness of the protein folds Michael J. Denton; 14. Could an intelligent alien predict earth's biochemistry? Stephen J. Freeland; 15. Would Venus evolve on Mars? Bioenergetic constraints, allometric trends, and the evolution of life-history invariants Jeffrey P. Schloss; Part IV. The Fitness of the Chemical Environment: 16. Creating a perspective for comparing Albert Eschenmoser; 17. Fine-tuning and interstellar chemistry William Klemperer; 18. Framing the question of fine-tuning for intermediary metabolism Eric Smith and Harold J. Morowitz; 19. Coarse-tuning the origin of life? Guy Ourisson; 20. Plausible lipid-like peptides: prebiotic molecular self-assembly in water Shuguang Zhang; 21. Evolution revisited by inorganic chemists R. J. P. Williams and J. J. R. Fraústo da Silva; Index.

PREFACE: 7th International Workshop DICE2014 Spacetime - Matter - Quantum Mechanics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elze, H. T.; Diósi, L.; Fronzoni, L.; Halliwell, J. J.; Kiefer, C.; Prati, E.; Vitiello, G.

2015-07-01

Presented in this volume are the Invited Lectures and the Contributed Papers of the Seventh International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2014, held at Castello Pasquini, Castiglioncello (Tuscany), September 15-19, 2014. These proceedings are intended to reflect the lively exchange of ideas during the meeting for the interested public and the wider scientific community, as well as to provide a document of the scientific works presented. The number of participants has continued to grow, which may correspond to an increasing attraction, if not need, of such conference: Our very intention has always been to bring together leading researchers, advanced students, and renowned scholars from various areas, in order to stimulate new ideas and their exchange across the borders of specialization. In this way, the series of meetings successfully continued from the beginning with DICE 2002, followed by DICE 2004, DICE 2006, DICE 2008, DICE 2010, and DICE 2012. This time, DICE 2014 brought together more than 120 participants representing more than 30 countries. It has been a great honour and inspiration that we had with us Nobel Prize laureate Gerard 't Hooft (Utrecht - Keynote Lecture ''The Cellular Automaton Interpretation and Bell's Theorem''), Fields Medal winner Alain Connes (Paris - Keynote Lecture ''Quanta of geometry''), Professor Avshalom Elitzur (Rehovot - Keynote Lecture ''Voices of silence, novelties of noise: on some quantum hairsplitting methods with nontrivial consequences'', in this volume) and Professor Mario Rasetti (Torino - Keynote Lecture ''The topological field theory of data: a possible new venue for data mining'', in this volume). The opening Keynote Lecture ''History of electroweak symmetry breaking'' was presented by Sir Tom Kibble (London), co-discoverer of the Higgs mechanism, Sakurai Prize laureate and winner of, i.a., Dirac and Einstein Medals.

New Collaborative Aerogeophysical Survey Targets the Stability of the East Antarctic Ice sheet and its Geological Boundary Conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferraccioli, F.; Corr, H.; Jordan, T.; Bozzo, E.; Armadillo, E.; Caneva, G.; Frearson, N.; Robinson, C.; Smellie, J.

2006-12-01

At the eve of the IPY large aerogeophysical survey data gaps still remain over the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS). This is due to the logistic and environmental challenges involved in exploration over these areas. During the 2005/06 Antarctic field season the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) collaborated with the University of Genoa to accomplish an extensive airborne geophysical survey over the EAIS. We explored the enigmatic Wilkes Subglacial Basin (WSB) and the adjacent Transantarctic Mountains (TAM). Over 60,000-line km of new data were collected during 70 survey flights. 270 hours of dedicated science flying and 45 hours of positioning and calibration flying were performed. The Italian Antarctic Programme provided the logistic support and aviation fuel at Mario Zucchelli Station, Mid-Point, and at two remote field camps, Talos Dome and Sitry. Additional support and fuel was provided at Dome C, as part of a separate trilateral UK/Italian and French agreement to survey some of the subglacial lakes, which characterise this region. The airborne survey platform was a BAS Twin Otter, equipped with airborne radar, aeromagnetic and airborne gravity sensors. We present key new datasets on ice surface, ice thickness, bedrock configurations, airborne gravity and aeromagnetic anomalies. These new data will assist in addressing four major open questions: 1) Are there Cenozoic marine sediments in the WSB, linked to controversial deglaciation over this part of the EAIS?; 2) What is the tectonic origin and deep structure of the WSB and TAM?; 3) Is there major segmentation of the TAM?, 4) what forcings and feedbacks were involved for the EAIS and for climate evolution?.

Fitness of the Cosmos for Life

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barrow, John D.; Conway Morris, Simon; Freeland, Stephen J.; Harper, Charles L., Jr.

2007-12-01

Foreword: The improbability of life George M. Whitesides; Part I. The Fitness of 'Fitness' - Henderson in Context: 1. Locating 'fitness' and Lawrence J. Henderson Everett Mendelsohn; 2. Revisiting The Fitness of the Environment Owen Gingerich; 3. Is fine-tuning remarkable? John F. Haught; 4. Complexity in context: the metaphysical implications of evolutionary theory Edward T. Oakes; 5. Tuning fine-tuning Ernan Mcmullin; Part II. The Fitness of the Cosmic Environment: 6. Fitness and the cosmic environment Paul C. W. Davies; 7. The interconnections between cosmology and life Mario Livio; 8. Chemistry and sensitivity John D. Barrow; 9. Fitness of the cosmos for the origin and evolution of life: from biochemical fine-tuning to the Anthropic Principle Julian Chela-Flores; Part III. The Fitness of the Terrestrial Environment: 10. How biofriendly is the universe? Christian de Duve; 11. Tuning into the frequencies of life: a roar of static or a precise signal? Simon Conway Morris; 12. Life on earth: the role of proteins Jayanth R. Banavar and Amos Maritan; 13. Protein-based life as an emergent property of matter: the nature and biological fitness of the protein folds Michael J. Denton; 14. Could an intelligent alien predict earth's biochemistry? Stephen J. Freeland; 15. Would Venus evolve on Mars? Bioenergetic constraints, allometric trends, and the evolution of life-history invariants Jeffrey P. Schloss; Part IV. The Fitness of the Chemical Environment: 16. Creating a perspective for comparing Albert Eschenmoser; 17. Fine-tuning and interstellar chemistry William Klemperer; 18. Framing the question of fine-tuning for intermediary metabolism Eric Smith and Harold J. Morowitz; 19. Coarse-tuning the origin of life? Guy Ourisson; 20. Plausible lipid-like peptides: prebiotic molecular self-assembly in water Shuguang Zhang; 21. Evolution revisited by inorganic chemists R. J. P. Williams and J. J. R. Fraústo da Silva; Index.

The 7th International Workshop on Chiral Dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

The 7th International Workshop Chiral Dynamics: Theory and Experiment (CD12) took place at Jefferson Lab, Newport News, Virginia, USA, from August 6 to 10, 2012. Following in the tradition of this triennial series of Conferences, it attracted theorists and experimentalists, who were brought together to highlight the recent progress in the field of low energy QCD, and to discuss and explore the direction for future development. The conference consisted of plenary talks and three working groups. We would like to thank the working group organizers for their dedicated effort, namely: Goldstone Bosons: Mario Antonelli, Liping Gan, Jorge Portoles and Urs Wenger; Hadron Structure: Alessandro Bacchetta, Bastian Kubis, Kostas Orginos and Karl Slifer and Few Body Physics: Andreas Nogga, Assumpta Parreno, Michele Viviani and Henry Weller. We would like to express our special thanks to our co-organizers, Patricia Solvignon, Harald Griesshammer, Rocco Schiavilla, Dinko Pocanic, Robert Edwards, and Alexandre Deur for their hard work and advice. Last but not least, we thank the International Advisory Committee for their very useful inputs to the CD12 program. The organizers thank the excellent logistic and administrative support provided by the Jefferson Lab Conference Staff, Ruth Bizot, Cynthia Lockwood, Stephanie Vermeire, Marti Hightower and MeLaina Evans, and the Conference Secretary Mary Fox, which was instrumental for the success of the organization of CD12. We thank Joanna Griffin for the poster design. CD12 was primarily sponsored by Jefferson Lab, along with generous supports from Old Dominion University and the European Physics Journal. The CD12 homepage is located at http://www.jlab.org/conference/CD12 The upcoming Chiral Dynamics Workshop will take place in Pisa, Italy, in 2015. We thank Laura Marcucci and Michele Viviani for graciously taking the baton from us. Jose Goity and Jianping Chen

Measurements of global UV irradiance at Terranova Bay, Antactica, by a home made narrow band filter radiometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salvatore, Scaglione; di Sarcina, Ilaria; Flori, Daniele; Menchini, Francesca

2010-05-01

Filter radiometers measure the solar radiation in several channels (typically 4 to 7) with a bandwith from 2 to 10 nm. They require less maintenance than the spectroradiometer and they are able to work in hostile environment as for instance the polar regions. The spectral resolution depends on the width at half maximum (FWHM) of the filters and is generally lower than the spectroradiometer resolution (0.5 nm). Other than the robustness of this instruments, the main advantage of the filter radiometers is the high frequency with which all wavelengths can be measured, making this class of instrument well suited for investigating short term irradiance variation. In this work is presented the results of UV irradiance measurements performed by a very narrow band (FWHM less than 1 nm) filter radiometer at Antarctica Italia Base, Mario Zucchelli Station, Terranova Bay, lat. 74° 41.6084' south and lon. 164° 05.9224' est. All-dielectric Fabry-Perot filters were manufactured in the laboratories of the Optical Coating Group, ENEA, by the ion beam assistance physical vapor deposition technique. Nine filters select nine different wavelengths in the UV spectral range from 296.5 nm to 377 nm with about 1 minute of measurement period, i.e. each wavelength is measured about 1250 times per day. At the moment the radiometer are permanently located near MZS and the data are daily downloaded in ENEA, Rome, by a dedicated satellite channel. During the Antarctica winter the radiometer will be in standby mode, in this season MZS is closed, and it will be start to measure again in the Antarctica spring.

Comparison of PAN and Black Carbon Levels in Mexico City: 1997 and 2003

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaffney, J. S.; Marley, N. A.

2004-12-01

Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) is a secondary oxidant formed by the oxidation of hydrocarbons in the presence of nitrogen dioxide. PAN is a good indicator compound for hydrocarbon reactivity that leads to ozone formation. Black carbon (BC) is formed by incomplete combustion processes such as diesel soot formation and is a good indicator of primary carbonaceous aerosols in urban areas. We used a fast-response luminol method to measure PAN and BC during the Mexico City Metropolitan Area 2003/Mexico City Megacity 2003 field study in April 2003. We compare these results with our previous PAN measurements in Mexico City during February 1997, made with a gas chromatograph-electron capture detector system. The decreased PAN levels observed in 2003 are consistent with the application of emissions controls on spark ignition gasoline-fueled vehicles, leading to lower levels of the nitrogen oxides and reactive volatile hydrocarbons needed to form PAN. Black carbon data for Mexico City in 2003, taken with a seven-channel aethalometer, are compared with data from 1997, estimated from thermal analyses as elemental carbon (EC). The comparison indicates little change in the levels of BC/EC over the six-year period. This observation is consistent with the application of minimal controls to diesel engines, the likely major source of BC in the Mexico City megacity complex during this period. The authors wish to thank the researchers at Centro Nacional de Investigación en Calidad Ambiental (CENICA), Mexico City. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Atmospheric Science Program. We also wish to acknowledge Drs. Mario and Luisa Molina for their help in organizing and directing the Mexico City Metropolitan Area 2003 field study, during which these data were collected.

Development of stable isotope dilution assays for the quantitation of Amadori compounds in foods.

PubMed

Meitinger, Michael; Hartmann, Sandra; Schieberle, Peter

2014-06-04

During thermal processing of foods, reducing carbohydrates and amino acids may form 1-amino-1-desoxyketoses named Amadori rearrangement products after the Italian chemist Mario Amadori. Although these compounds are transient intermediates of the Maillard reaction, they are often used as suitable markers to measure the extent of a thermal food processing, such as for spray-dried milk or dried fruits. Several methods are already available in the literature for their quantitation, but measurements are often done with external calibration without addressing losses during the workup procedure. To cope with this challenge, stable isotope dilution assays in combination with LC-MS/MS were developed for the glucose-derived Amadori products of the seven amino acids valine, leucine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, methionine, and histidine using the respective synthesized [(13)C6]-labeled isotopologues as internal standards. The quantitation of the analytes added to a model matrix showed a very good sensitivity with the lowest limits of detection for the Amadori compound of phenylalanine of 0.1 μg/kg starch and 0.2 μg/kg oil, respectively. Also, the standard deviation measured in, for example, wheat beer was only ±2% for this analyte. Application of the method to several foods showed the highest concentrations of the Amadori product of valine in unroasted cocoa (342 mg/kg) as well as in dried bell pepper (3460 mg/kg). In agreement with literature data, drying of foods led to the formation of Amadori products, whereas they were degraded during roasting of, for example, coffee or cocoa. The study presents for the first time results on concentrations of the Amadori compounds of tyrosine and histidine in foods.

Soybean varieties discrimination using non-imaging hyperspectral sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

da Silva Junior, Carlos Antonio; Nanni, Marcos Rafael; Shakir, Muhammad; Teodoro, Paulo Eduardo; de Oliveira-Júnior, José Francisco; Cezar, Everson; de Gois, Givanildo; Lima, Mendelson; Wojciechowski, Julio Cesar; Shiratsuchi, Luciano Shozo

2018-03-01

Infrared region of electromagnetic spectrum has remarkable applications in crop studies. Infrared along with Red band has been used to develop certain vegetation indices. These indices like NDVI, EVI provide important information on any crop physiological stages. The main objective of this research was to discriminate 4 different soybean varieties (BMX Potência, NA5909, FT Campo Mourão and Don Mario) using non-imaging hyperspectral sensor. The study was conducted in four agricultural areas in the municipality of Deodápolis (MS), Brazil. For spectral analysis, 2400 field samples were taken from soybean leaves by means of FieldSpec 3 JR spectroradiometer in the range from 350 to 2500 nm. The data were evaluated through multivariate analysis with the whole set of spectral curves isolated by blue, green, red and near infrared wavelengths along with the addition of vegetation indices like (Enhanced Vegetation Index - EVI, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index - NDVI, Green Normalized Difference Vegetation Index - GNDVI, Soil-adjusted Vegetation Index - SAVI, Transformed Vegetation Index - TVI and Optimized Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index - OSAVI). A number of the analysis performed where, discriminant (60 and 80% of the data), simulated discriminant (40 and 20% of data), principal component (PC) and cluster analysis (CA). Discriminant and simulated discriminant analyze presented satisfactory results, with average global hit rates of 99.28 and 98.77%, respectively. The results obtained by PC and CA revealed considerable associations between the evaluated variables and the varieties, which indicated that each variety has a variable that discriminates it more effectively in relation to the others. There was great variation in the sample size (number of leaves) for estimating the mean of variables. However, it was possible to observe that 200 leaves allow to obtain a maximum error of 2% in relation to the mean.

GETTING TO THE HEART OF A GALAXY

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

This collage of images in visible and infrared light reveals how the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 is feeding material into its central region, igniting massive star birth and probably causing its bulge of stars to grow. The material also is fueling a black hole in the galaxy's core. A galaxy's bulge is a central, football-shaped structure composed of stars, gas, and dust. The black-and-white image in the center, taken by a ground-based telescope, displays the entire galaxy. But the telescope's resolution is not powerful enough to reveal the flurry of activity in the galaxy's hub. The blue box in the galaxy's central region outlines the area observed by the NASA Hubble Space Telescope's visible-light camera, the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2). The red box pinpoints a narrower view taken by the Hubble telescope's infrared camera, the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS). A barred spiral is characterized by a lane of stars, gas, and dust slashing across a galaxy's central region. It has a small bulge that is dominated by a disk of material. The spiral arms begin at both ends of the bar. The bar is funneling material into the hub, which triggers star formation and feeds the bulge. The visible-light picture at upper left is a close-up view of the galaxy's hub. The bright yellow orb is the nucleus. The dark material surrounding the orb is gas and dust that is being funneled into the central region by the bar. The blue regions pinpoint young star clusters. In the infrared image at lower right, the Hubble telescope penetrates the dust seen in the WFPC2 picture to reveal more clusters of young stars. The bright blue dots represent young star clusters; the brightest of the red dots are young star clusters enshrouded in dust and visible only in the infrared image. The fainter red dots are older star clusters. The WFPC2 image is a composite of three filters: near-ultraviolet (3327 Angstroms), visible (5552 Angstroms), and near-infrared (8269 Angstroms). The NICMOS image, taken at a wavelength of 16,000 Angstroms, was combined with the visible and near-infrared wavelengths taken by WFPC2. The WFPC2 image was taken in January 1996; the NICMOS data were taken in April 1998. Credits for the ground-based image: Allan Sandage (The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington) and John Bedke (Computer Sciences Corporation and the Space Telescope Science Institute) Credits for the WFPC2 image: NASA and John Trauger (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) Credits for the NICMOS image: NASA, ESA, and C. Marcella Carollo (Columbia University)

Updated WORF patch

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-08-16

This patch represents the essential elements associated with pressurized Earth science research aboard the International Space Station. At the top of the patch Klingon script spells out the acronym WORF making reference to the famed Star Trek character of the same name. In doing so it attests to the foresight, honor, integrity, and persistence of all those who made the WORF possible. To the right of the Klingon script is a single four pointed star in the form of a cross to honor the late Dr. Jack Estes and Dr. Dave Amsbury, the individuals most responsible for seeing to it that an optical quality, Earth science research window was added to the United States laboratory module, Destiny. The "flying eyeball" represents the ability of the ISS to allow scientists and astronauts to make and record continuous observations of natural and manmade processes on the surface of the Earth. The Destiny laboratory is depicted on the right of the patch above the Flag of the United States of America and highlights the position of the nadir looking, optical quality, science window in the module. The light emanating from the window from the lighted interior of the module appropriately illuminates the National Ensign for display during both day and night time. In the center of the patch, below the flying eyeball is a graphic representation of the WORF rack. A science instrument is mounted on the WORF payload shelf and is recording data of the Earth's surface through the nadir looking, science window over which the WORF rack is mounted. An astronaut represented by Mario Runco Jr., a designer, developer, and manager of the WORF and depicted as Star Trek's Mr. Spock, is to the left of the WORF rack and is shown in his flight suit with his STS-44 mission patch operating an imaging instrument, emphasizing the importance of astronaut participation to achieve the maximum scientific return from orbital research.

Stratospheric ozone, global warming, and the principle of unintended consequences--an ongoing science and policy success story.

PubMed

Andersen, Stephen O; Halberstadt, Marcel L; Borgford-Parnell, Nathan

2013-06-01

In 1974, Mario Molina and F. Sherwood Rowland warned that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) could destroy the stratospheric ozone layer that protects Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation. In the decade after scientists documented the buildup and long lifetime of CFCs in the atmosphere; found the proof that CFCs chemically decomposed in the stratosphere and catalyzed the depletion of ozone; quantified the adverse effects; and motivated the public and policymakers to take action. In 1987, 24 nations plus the European Community signed the Montreal Protocol. Today, 25 years after the Montreal Protocol was agreed, every United Nations state is a party (universal ratification of 196 governments); all parties are in compliance with the stringent controls; 98% of almost 100 ozone-depleting chemicals have been phased out worldwide; and the stratospheric ozone layer is on its way to recovery by 2065. A growing coalition of nations supports using the Montreal Protocol to phase down hydrofluorocarbons, which are ozone safe but potent greenhouse gases. Without rigorous science and international consensus, emissions of CFCs and related ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) could have destroyed up to two-thirds of the ozone layer by 2065, increasing the risk of causing millions of cancer cases and the potential loss of half of global agricultural production. Furthermore, because most, ODSs are also greenhouse gases, CFCs and related ODSs could have had the effect of the equivalent of 24-76 gigatons per year of carbon dioxide. This critical review describes the history of the science of stratospheric ozone depletion, summarizes the evolution of control measures and compliance under the Montreal Protocol and national legislation, presents a review of six separate transformations over the last 100 years in refrigeration and air conditioning (A/C) technology, and illustrates government-industry cooperation in continually improving the environmental performance of motor vehicle A/C.

Stratospheric ozone, global warming, and the principle of unintended consequences-An ongoing science and policy success story.

PubMed

Andersen, Stephen O; Halberstadt, Marcel L; Borgford-Parnell, Nathan

2013-06-01

In 1974, Mario Molina and F. Sherwood Rowland warned that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) could destroy the stratospheric ozone layer that protects Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation. In the decade after, scientists documented the buildup and long lifetime of CFCs in the atmosphere; found the proof that CFCs chemically decomposed in the stratosphere and catalyzed the depletion of ozone; quantified the adverse effects; and motivated the public and policymakers to take action. In 1987, 24 nations plus the European Community signed the Montreal Protocol. Today, 25 years after the Montreal Protocol was agreed, every United Nations state is a party (universal ratification of 196 governments); all parties are in compliance with the stringent controls; 98% of almost 100 ozone-depleting chemicals have been phased out worldwide; and the stratospheric ozone layer is on its way to recovery by 2065. A growing coalition of nations supports using the Montreal Protocol to phase down hydrofluorocarbons, which are ozone safe but potent greenhouse gases. Without rigorous science and international consensus, emissions of CFCs and related ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) could have destroyed up to two-thirds of the ozone layer by 2065, increasing the risk of causing millions of cancer cases and the potential loss of half of global agricultural production. Furthermore, because most ODSs are also greenhouse gases, CFCs and related ODSs could have had the effect of the equivalent of 24-76 gigatons per year of carbon dioxide. This critical review describes the history of the science of stratospheric ozone depletion, summarizes the evolution of control measures and compliance under the Montreal Protocol and national legislation, presents a review of six separate transformations over the last 100 years in refrigeration and air conditioning (A/C) technology, and illustrates government-industry cooperation in continually improving the environmental performance of motor vehicle A/C. [Box: see text].

Italian Polar Metadata System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Longo, S.; Nativi, S.; Leone, C.; Migliorini, S.; Mazari Villanova, L.

2012-04-01

Italian Polar Metadata System C.Leone, S.Longo, S.Migliorini, L.Mazari Villanova, S. Nativi The Italian Antarctic Research Programme (PNRA) is a government initiative funding and coordinating scientific research activities in polar regions. PNRA manages two scientific Stations in Antarctica - Concordia (Dome C), jointly operated with the French Polar Institute "Paul Emile Victor", and Mario Zucchelli (Terra Nova Bay, Southern Victoria Land). In addition National Research Council of Italy (CNR) manages one scientific Station in the Arctic Circle (Ny-Alesund-Svalbard Islands), named Dirigibile Italia. PNRA started in 1985 with the first Italian Expedition in Antarctica. Since then each research group has collected data regarding biology and medicine, geodetic observatory, geophysics, geology, glaciology, physics and atmospheric chemistry, earth-sun relationships and astrophysics, oceanography and marine environment, chemistry contamination, law and geographic science, technology, multi and inter disciplinary researches, autonomously with different formats. In 2010 the Italian Ministry of Research assigned the scientific coordination of the Programme to CNR, which is in charge of the management and sharing of the scientific results carried out in the framework of the PNRA. Therefore, CNR is establishing a new distributed cyber(e)-infrastructure to collect, manage, publish and share polar research results. This is a service-based infrastructure building on Web technologies to implement resources (i.e. data, services and documents) discovery, access and visualization; in addition, semantic-enabled functionalities will be provided. The architecture applies the "System of Systems" principles to build incrementally on the existing systems by supplementing but not supplanting their mandates and governance arrangements. This allows to keep the existing capacities as autonomous as possible. This cyber(e)-infrastructure implements multi-disciplinary interoperability following a Brokering approach and supporting the relevant international standards recognized by European and international standards, including: GEO/GEOSS, INSPIRE and SCAR. The Brokering approach is empowered by a technology developed by CNR, advanced by the FP7 EuroGEOSS project, and recently adopted by the GEOSS Common Infrastructure (GCI).

Medical Genetics and the First Studies of the Genetics of Populations in Mexico

PubMed Central

Barahona, Ana

2016-01-01

Following World War II (WWII), there was a new emphasis within genetics on studying the genetic composition of populations. This probably had a dual source in the growing strength of evolutionary biology and the new international interest in understanding the effects of radiation on human populations, following the atomic bombings in Japan. These global concerns were shared by Mexican physicians. Indeed, Mexico was one of the leading centers of this trend in human genetics. Three leading players in this story were Mario Salazar Mallén, Adolfo Karl, and Rubén Lisker. Their trajectories and the international networks in human genetics that were established after WWII, paved the way for the establishment of medical and population genetics in Mexico. Salazar Mallén’s studies on the distribution and characterization of ABO blood groups in indigenous populations were the starting point while Karl’s studies on the distribution of abnormal hemoglobin in Mexican indigenous populations showed the relationships observed in other laboratories at the time. It was Lisker’s studies, however, that were instrumental in the development of population genetics in the context of national public policies for extending health care services to the Mexican population. In particular, he conducted studies on Mexican indigenous groups contributing to the knowledge of the biological diversity of human populations according to international trends that focused on the variability of human populations in terms of genetic frequencies. From the start, however, Lisker was as committed to the reconstruction of shared languages and practices as he was to building networks of collaboration in order to guarantee the necessary groundwork for establishing the study of the genetics of human populations in Mexico. This study also allows us to place Mexican science within a global context in which connected narratives describe the interplay between global trends and national contexts. PMID:27601615

Medical Genetics and the First Studies of the Genetics of Populations in Mexico.

PubMed

Barahona, Ana

2016-09-01

Following World War II (WWII), there was a new emphasis within genetics on studying the genetic composition of populations. This probably had a dual source in the growing strength of evolutionary biology and the new international interest in understanding the effects of radiation on human populations, following the atomic bombings in Japan. These global concerns were shared by Mexican physicians. Indeed, Mexico was one of the leading centers of this trend in human genetics. Three leading players in this story were Mario Salazar Mallén, Adolfo Karl, and Rubén Lisker. Their trajectories and the international networks in human genetics that were established after WWII, paved the way for the establishment of medical and population genetics in Mexico. Salazar Mallén's studies on the distribution and characterization of ABO blood groups in indigenous populations were the starting point while Karl's studies on the distribution of abnormal hemoglobin in Mexican indigenous populations showed the relationships observed in other laboratories at the time. It was Lisker's studies, however, that were instrumental in the development of population genetics in the context of national public policies for extending health care services to the Mexican population. In particular, he conducted studies on Mexican indigenous groups contributing to the knowledge of the biological diversity of human populations according to international trends that focused on the variability of human populations in terms of genetic frequencies. From the start, however, Lisker was as committed to the reconstruction of shared languages and practices as he was to building networks of collaboration in order to guarantee the necessary groundwork for establishing the study of the genetics of human populations in Mexico. This study also allows us to place Mexican science within a global context in which connected narratives describe the interplay between global trends and national contexts. Copyright © 2016 by the Genetics Society of America.

Seismic response in archaeological areas: the case-histories of Rome

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donati, Stefano; Funiciello, Renato; Rovelli, Antonio

1999-03-01

Rome is affected by earthquakes associated to three different seismogenic districts: the Central Apennines area, the Colli Albani volcanic area and the Roman area. The major effects were exclusively due to Apennine seismicity and reached in some cases felt intensities up to VII-VIII degree (MCS scale). The predominant role in the damage distribution seems to be played by the local geological conditions. The historical centre of the city is characterized by the presence of two geomorphologic domains: the alluvial plain of Tiber river and the topographic relieves of Roman Hills, where tradition indicates the first site of the city foundation. In particular, the right river side is characterized by the outcropping of the regional bedrock along the Monte Mario-Gianicolo ridge, while the eastern relieves are the remnants of the Sabatini and Albani volcanic plateau, deeply eroded by the Tiber river and its tributaries during the last glacial low-stand (Würm). These domains are characterized by a large difference in seismic response, due to the high impedance contrast between Holocene coarse deposits filling the Tiber Valley and sedimentary and volcanic Plio-Pleistocene units. Seismic damage observed in 150 monuments of downtown Rome was indicating a significant concentration on alluvial recent deposits. This result was confirmed by the geographical distribution of conservation and retrofitting activities subsequent to main earthquakes, mostly related to local geological conditions. The cases of Marcus Aurelius' Column and Colosseum confirmed the influence of the Holocene alluvial network in local seismic response. During 2500 years of history, the monuments of Rome have `memorized' the seismic effects of historical earthquakes. In some cases, the integration of historical and geological research and macroseismic observations may provide original and useful indications to seismologists to define the seismic response of the city. Local site effects represent a serious threat for historical buildings in Rome and in other historical towns with similar cultural heritage and geological characteristics, as in the Mediterranean region, even in areas that are not affected by a local seismic activity.

PREFACE: 16th International Conference on Calorimetry in High Energy Physics (CALOR 2014)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Novotny, Rainer W.

2015-02-01

The XVIth International Conference on Calorimetry in High Energy Physics - CALOR 2014 - was held in Giessen, Germany from 6-11 April 2014 at the Science Campus of the University. It was hosted by the Justus-Liebig-University and the HIC for FAIR Helmholtz International Center. The series of conferences on calorimetry were started in 1990 at Fermilab and are focusing primarily on operating and future calorimeter systems within the Hadron and High-Energy Physics community without neglecting the impact on other fields such as Astrophysics or Medical Imaging. Confirmed by the impressive list of over 70 oral presentations, 5 posters and over 100 attendees, the field of calorimetry appears alive and attractive. The present volume contains the written contributions of almost all presentations which can be found at http://calor2014.de. Time slots of 15 or 30 minutes including discussion were allocated. The conference was accompanied by a small exhibition of several industrial companies related to the field. The day before the opening of the scientific program, Richard Wigmans gave an excellent and vivid tutorial on basic aspects on calorimetry meant as an introduction for students and conference attendees new in the field. The opening ceremony was used to give an impression of the present and future status and the scientific program of the new FAIR facility nearby at Darmstadt presented by Klaus Peters from GSI. The conference program of the first day was dedicated to the performance and required future upgrade of the LHC experiments, dominated by ATLAS, CMS and LHCb. The program of the next day contained specific aspects on electronics and readout as well as calorimetry in outer space. Several contributions discussed in detail new concepts for hadron calorimeters within the CALICE collaboration completed by a session on sampling calorimeters. The next sections were dedicated to operating and future calorimeters at various laboratories and covering a wide range of projectiles and beam energies, such as ELSA at Bonn, BELLE2, BESIII or future projects at JLab, FAIR or RHIC. The last group of contributions was focusing on new concepts including new detector materials or techniques taking into account the general demand on radiation hardness. Damage caused by a large fluence of hadrons appears to become the limiting factor for the detector performance in future collider experiments. The scientific program was completed by a single contribution on applications in medical imaging. Marcella Diemoz gave a personal conference summary underlining again the high quality of the presentations, lively discussions and the wide range of the physics program and the related detector systems. The significant support by the Justus-Liebig-University, HIC for FAIR and sponsoring industrial partners allowed to keep the overall costs low and to support the participation of students and young scientists. I personally would like to thank the session chairs, the local organizing committee, the secretaries, technicians and students of the institute for the smooth operation of the conference. Finally, I would like to express my appreciation to all participants who made the conference successful by their high level contributions and discussion distributing their ideas and experiences. Rainer W Novotny Chair of the Conference

Twenty years of biophysics of photosynthesis in Padova, Italy (1984-2005): a tale of two brothers.

PubMed

Giacometti, Giorgio M; Giacometti, Giovanni

2006-06-01

This paper tells the history of two brothers, almost a generation apart in age, who met again, after having followed different academic paths, to introduce biophysical research in photosynthesis at the University of Padova. The development of two research groups, one in the Chemistry Department, the other in the Biology Department led to a comprehensive interdisciplinary group across academic barriers. The group of Giovanni Giacometti developed in Physical Chemistry, during the years before his retirement, with some roots which can be traced to the famous Linus Pauling school of the mid 1950s, and made possible, by the work of many students (especially Donatella Carbonera and Marilena Di Valentin) and of an older associate (Giancarlo Agostini). The group participated quite actively with a number of European and American laboratories in the application of physical techniques, especially Electron Spin Resonance (EPR) associated with Optical Spectroscopy (Optically Detected Magnetic Resonance; ODMR), and contributed to the development of the understanding of the structure-function relationships in photosynthetic membrane complexes, stimulated by the determination of the X-ray structure of the purple photosynthetic reaction center in the mid 1980s ( J. Deisenhofer, H. Michel, R. Huber and others). The younger brother of Giovanni, Giorgio Mario Giacometti, came to Padova after obtaining biochemical knowledge from the Rossi-Fanelli school in Rome, where Jeffries Wyman, Eraldo Antonini and Maurizio Brunori were the world masters of hemoglobin research. In Padova, together with a group of young scientists (at first Roberto Bassi and Roberto Barbato, now leaders of their own groups in Verona and in Alessandria respectively, followed soon by brilliant coworkers such as Fernanda Rigoni, Elisabetta Bergantino and more recently Ildikò Szabò and Paola Costantini), Giorgio approached more biochemical themes of oxygenic photosynthesis, such as purification and characterization of antenna chlorophyll-protein complexes, Photosystem II (PS II) particles and subunits, having always in mind structural and molecular problems at the level of the largest integrated particles, which are more difficult to investigate in detail by the spectroscopic techniques.

Determination of the Porosity Surfaces of the Disposal Room Containing Various Waste Inventories for WIPP PA

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Park, Byoung Yoon; Hansen, Francis D.

2005-07-01

This report develops a series of porosity surfaces for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The concept of a porosity surface was developed for performance assessment and comprises calculation of room closure as salt creep processes are mitigated by gas generation and back stress created by the waste packages within the rooms. The physical and mechanical characteristics of the waste packaging that has already been disposed--such as the pipe overpack--and new waste packaging--such as the advanced mixed waste compaction--are appreciably different than the waste form upon which the original compliance was based and approved. This report provides structural analyses of roommore » closure with various waste inventories. All of the underlying assumptions pertaining to the original compliance certification including the same finite element code are implemented; only the material parameters describing the more robust waste packages are changed from the certified baseline. As modeled, the more rigid waste tends to hold open the rooms and create relatively more void space in the underground than identical calculations run on the standard waste packages, which underpin the compliance certification. The several porosity surfaces quantified within this report provide possible ranges of pressure and porosity for performance assessment analyses.3 Intentionally blank4 AcknowledgementsThis research is funded by WIPP programs administered by the U.S. Department of Energy. The authors would like to acknowledge the valuable contributions to this work provided by others. Dr. Joshua S. Stein helped explain the hand off between these finite element porosity surfaces and implementation in the performance calculations. Dr. Leo L. Van Sambeek of RESPEC Inc. helped us understand the concepts of room closure under the circumstances created by a rigid waste inventory. Dr. T. William Thompson and Tom W. Pfeifle provided technical review and Mario J. Chavez provided a Quality Assurance review. The paper has been improved by these individuals.Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC04-94Al850005 Intentionally Blank6« less

Six decades of the chair of Internal Medicine at the Medical Faculty in Skopje.

PubMed

Chakalaroski, K

2013-01-01

The chair of internal medicine in Republic of Macedonia was created in 1947. The Department of Internal Medicine (CIM) is the most numerous at Skopje's medical faculty (currently 56 members). According to the archive material from the first session of the Scientific Teaching Council of the Faculty of Medicine (17.03.1947), Mr Mario Krmpotic (Professor of Internal Medicine) was proposed as the first Director of the Internal Clinic (1947). For reasons unknown, Mr Krmpotic never came to Skopje to accept the post. As a consequence of this fact, the real founder of the CIM was the Russian Professor Alexandar Ignjatovski (1875-1955). Mr Ignjatovski was elected as the first Director of the Clinic for Internal Medicine in 1948 for a period of 4 years (1948-1952). At the same time, he was the first Chief of the CIM in Skopje (Macedonia). Dr D. Arsov was elected as the first Assistant Professor of Medicine in 1947, and second (and last) Director of the Clinic for Internal Medicine (1952-1974). For the same period (22 years) he was Head of the CIM. Dr D. Arsov sequentially and successively became first associated and then ordinary professor of medicine in the years 1951 and 1958. The regular activities of the CIM are as follows: 1) Undergraduate education for students (Clinical Investigation, Internal Medicine, Clinical Pharmacy) in general medicine, dentistry, geriatrics, urgent and family medicine (ECKTS); Undergraduate educationfor nurses, speech therapists, physiotherapists, radiologists (high /three year/ nurses School, ECKTS); 2) Postgraduate education (candidates for specialisation in internal medicine, infectology, anaesthesiology, neurology and surgery; 3) Continual medical education (a traditional morning scientific meeting on Thursdays, 08 h; weekly meetings of all internal medicine subspecialists); Scientific meetings, symposiums, congresses of former internal medicine associations (cardiology, pulmoallergology, gastroenterology, nephrology, haematology, rheumathology, endocriniology and toxicology); 4) Publishing activities in the national journals (Macedonian Medical Review, Journal of Macedonian Medical Science, Acta Physiologica, Medicus); 5) Decision-making: the Head of CIM regularly collaborates with the subspecialities of internal medicine by means of a coordinated body for all questions related to educational purposes in clinical investigation and internal medicine.

a Case Study in Documentation Production as Learning Tools Benefitting Multiple Stakeholders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Truesdale, T. J.; Hierlihy, B.; Jouan, P.

2017-08-01

The Fondation Strutt Foundation has taken on the conservation planning of the Strutt House as part of a P3 collaborative effort with the National Capital Commission (NCC). This paper will address three of the primary documents/data sets (documentary methodologies) being used on/for the Strutt House project. The Strutt House is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building and a significant example of Canadian modernist architecture. Stakeholder is a term often used in Architectural Projects reflecting an economic interest in success of the project. In conservation projects the stakeholder generally reflects social, cultural and/or economic interests in a given project. The Strutt House project has benefitted from stakeholders that have all been interested in the above, as well as the education of our future conservationists. The Strutt house was purchased from the architect's daughter in 2010, and as part of the acquisition, a Heritage Structure Report was commissioned and produced by PTAH Consultants Inc., Architects. The report forms the first of the primary referenced documents of this paper, including: a comprehensive photographic record of existing conditions; and, a building simulation model of the house `as designed/built'. This HSR and the accompanying data/documents have been adopted as the basis of an evolving document in the development of the Conservation Plan including: additional heritage surveys and technologies; traditional drawings, photographic and video records; and, a series of workshops on the structural stabilization efforts, thermography scans, and smoke/blow-door (air pressure) testing. In 2016, Pierre Jouan, a Master's thesis student from KU Leuvan, working with the Carleton University CIMS lab under the direction of Professor Mario Santana, and the FSF completed a 3-D scanning and photogrammetry workshop on the Strutt House and created a building information model (BIM model) from the collected data. The three primary documentation processes being addressed in this paper are really a series of directed research or focussed investigations resulting in a collection of data sets resolved -or combined- into a document. They will assist in the development of the long-term Programming and Conservation Management Plan of the Strutt House.

Storage Rings in the Sky: Gamma Ray Bursts and Galactic Gravitational Collapse Stored Energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greyber, H. D.

2004-05-01

The recent discovery of almost 100% polarization of the prompt gamma ray emission from GRB021206, (1), confirms my 44 year old ``Strong" Magnetic Field" model (SMF) for galactic dynamics. In SMF, Storage Ring particles were accelerated long ago during the original gravitational collapse of the pregalactic/prequasar plasma cloud that is permeated by an almost uniform primordial magnetic field (2,3) The enormous, intense, slender, relativistic, stable, completely coherent Storage Ring stores a very small fraction of the huge galactic gravitational collapse energy in an almost radiationless state, unless disturbed. The concept of an Astrophysical Storage Ring was introduced by me in l961. At first it was to explain galactic structure, but soon it proved useful to explain active galactic nuclei (AGN) and the dynamics of quasar/AGN jets. AGN and galactic morphology, energetics and dynamics vary as the ratio of magnetic energy to rotational energy in the particular object. Gamma ray bursts (GRB) are due simply to a ``rock". i.e. a white dwarf, ordinary star, neutron sstar, asteroid, planet, etc. falling rapidly through the Storage Ring and being almost instantly vaporized into a hot plasma fireball, causing an electromagnetic shower (2) Then the fireball speeds into the huge organized magnetic field surrounding the current ring, thus generating very highly polarized prompt gamma ray emission (as seen in GRB021206) from the synchrotron radiation process. The timing fits the GRB observations nicely. For instance, a ``rock" racing at 1000 kilometers per second across a 20,000 km. path in the beam would produce a twenty second burst. Other times, a target might track across a short chord for a short burst. Space missions have shown that often typical currents in space plasmas are made up of slender filaments. Thus the puzzling less than one millisecond spikes observed in some GRB are simply describing the structure of that particular ring current at that particular time. 1. W. Coburn and S.E. Boggs, Nature, 423, 415, (2003) 2. H. D. Greyber in a book, After the Dark Ages: When Galaxies Were Young, eds. S.S. Holt and E. P. Smith, AIP Conference Proceedings 470, 388-396. (1998) 3. H. D. Greyber in a Space Telescope Science Institute Report: Poster Papers from their 2001 Spring Symposium, ``The Dark Universe: Matter, Energy and Gravity," ed. Mario Livio, published March 2003, (34-39)

Examining Influences of Parenting Styles and Practices on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviors in Latino Children in the United States: Integrative Review.

PubMed

Lindsay, Ana Cristina; Wasserman, Minerva; Muñoz, Mario A; Wallington, Sherrie F; Greaney, Mary L

2018-01-30

Research indicates that parents influence their children's physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviors (SB) through their parenting styles and practices. The objectives of this paper were to evaluate existing research examining the associations between parenting styles, parenting practices, and PA and SB among Latino children aged between 2 and 12 years, highlight limitations of the existing research, and generate suggestions for future research. The method of this integrative review was informed by methods developed by Whittemore and Knafl, which allow for the inclusion of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods studies. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews Meta-Analyses guidelines, five electronic academic databases (PubMed, SPORTDiscus, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, and CINAHL) were searched for peer-reviewed, full-text papers published in English. Of the 641 unique citations identified, 67 full-text papers were retrieved, and 16 were selected for review. The majority of the 16 reviewed studies were conducted with predominantly Mexican American or Mexican immigrant samples, and only 1 study examined the association between parenting styles and Latino children's PA and SB. Most (n=15) reviewed studies assessed the influence of parenting practices on children's PA and SB, and they provide good evidence that parenting practices such as offering verbal encouragement, prompting the child to be physically active, providing logistic support, engaging and being involved in PA, monitoring, and offering reinforcement and rewards encourage, facilitate, or increase children's PA. The examined studies also provide evidence that parenting practices, such as setting rules and implementing PA restrictions due to safety concerns, weather, and using psychological control discourage, hinder, or decrease children's PA. Because this review found a very small number of studies examining the relationship between parenting styles and Latino children's PA and SB, additional research is needed. Given that the majority of reviewed studies were conducted with predominantly Mexican American or Mexican immigrant samples, additional research examining parenting styles, parenting practices, and PA and SB among multiethnic Latino groups is needed to design interventions tailored to the needs of this ethnically diverse population group. ©Ana Cristina Lindsay, Minerva Wasserman, Mario A Muñoz, Sherrie F Wallington, Mary L Greaney. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 30.01.2018.

From vagueness in medical thought to the foundations of fuzzy reasoning in medical diagnosis.

PubMed

Seising, Rudolf

2006-11-01

This article delineates a relatively unknown path in the history of medical philosophy and medical diagnosis. It is concerned with the phenomenon of vagueness in the physician's "style of thinking" and with the use of fuzzy sets, systems, and relations with a view to create a model of such reasoning when physicians make a diagnosis. It represents specific features of medical ways of thinking that were mentioned by the Polish physician and philosopher Ludwik Fleck in 1926. The paper links Lotfi Zadeh's work on system theory before the age of fuzzy sets with system-theory concepts in medical philosophy that were introduced by the philosopher Mario Bunge, and with the fuzzy-theoretical analysis of the notions of health, illness, and disease by the Iranian-German physician and philosopher Kazem Sadegh-Zadeh. Some proposals to apply fuzzy sets in medicine were based on a suggestion made by Zadeh: symptoms and diseases are fuzzy in nature and fuzzy sets are feasible to represent these entity classes of medical knowledge. Yet other attempts to use fuzzy sets in medicine were self-contained. The use of this approach contributed to medical decision-making and the development of computer-assisted diagnosis in medicine. With regard to medical philosophy, decision-making, and diagnosis; the framework of fuzzy sets, systems, and relations is very useful to deal with the absence of sharp boundaries of the sets of symptoms, diagnoses, and phenomena of diseases. The foundations of reasoning and computer assistance in medicine were the result of a rapid accumulation of data from medical research. This explosion of knowledge in medicine gave rise to the speculation that computers could be used for the medical diagnosis. Medicine became, to a certain extent, a quantitative science. In the second half of the 20th century medical knowledge started to be stored in computer systems. To assist physicians in medical decision-making and patient care, medical expert systems using the theory of fuzzy sets and relations (such as the Viennese "fuzzy version" of the Computer-Assisted Diagnostic System, CADIAG, which was developed at the end of the 1970s) were constructed. The development of fuzzy relations in medicine and their application in computer-assisted diagnosis show that this fuzzy approach is a framework to deal with the "fuzzy mode of thinking" in medicine.

ESA to present the latest Venus Express results to the media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2007-11-01

The launch of Venus Express back in November 2005 represented a major milestone in the exploration of Venus — a planet unvisited by any dedicated spacecraft since the early 1990s. One of the fundamental questions being addressed by the Venus Express mission is why a world so similar to Earth in mass and size has evolved so differently, to become the noxious and inhospitable planet it is today. Since it started its scientific observations in July 2006, Venus Express has been making the most detailed study of the planet’s thick and complex atmosphere to date. The latest findings not only highlight the features that make Venus unique in the solar system but also provide fresh clues as to how the planet is — despite everything — a more Earth-like planetary neighbour than one could have imagined. The results will appear in a special section of the 29 November issue of the journal Nature containing nine individual papers devoted to Venus Express science activities. Media organisations interested in attending the press conference are invited to register via the form attached below. Media that cannot attend will have the opportunity to follow the press conference via the following phone line: +33 1 58 99 57 42 (listening-mode only).The results presented at the press conference are embargoed until 28 November 19:00 CET. For more information ESA Media Relations Office Tel: +33 1 5369 7299 Fax: +33 1 5369 7690 Media event programme ‘Venus: a more Earth-like planetary neighbour’ Latest results from Venus Express 28 November 2007, 15:00, room 137 ESA Headquarters, 8-10 rue Mario-Nikis, Paris 15:00 Introduction, by Håkan Svedhem, ESA Venus Express Project Scientist 15:07 Venus: What we knew before, by Fred Taylor, Venus Express Interdisciplinary Scientist 15:15 Temperatures in the atmosphere of Venus, by Jean-Loup Bertaux, SPICAV Principal Investigator 15:25 The dynamic atmosphere of Venus, by Giuseppe Piccioni, VIRTIS Principal Investigator 15:40 Venus’s atmosphere and the solar wind, by Stas Barabash, ASPERA Principal Investigator 15:50 Climate and evolution, by David Grinspoon, Venus Express Interdisciplinary Scientist 16:00 Conclusion, by Dmitri Titov, Venus Express Science Coordinator and VMC scientist 16:05 Questions and Answers 16:25 Individual interviews 17:30 End of event

Youth Codesign of a Mobile Phone App to Facilitate Self-Monitoring and Management of Mood Symptoms in Young People With Major Depression, Suicidal Ideation, and Self-Harm.

PubMed

Hetrick, Sarah Elisabeth; Robinson, Jo; Burge, Eloise; Blandon, Ryan; Mobilio, Bianca; Rice, Simon M; Simmons, Magenta B; Alvarez-Jimenez, Mario; Goodrich, Simon; Davey, Christopher G

2018-01-23

Effective treatment of depression in young people is critical, given its prevalence, impacts, and link to suicide. Clinical practice guidelines point to the need for regular monitoring of depression symptom severity and the emergence of suicidal ideation to track treatment progress and guide intervention delivery. Yet, this is seldom integrated in clinical practice. The objective of this study was to address the gap between guidelines about monitoring and real-world practice by codesigning an app with young people that allows for self-monitoring of mood and communication of this monitoring with a clinician. We engaged young people aged 18 to 25 years who had experienced depression, suicidal ideation including those who self-harm, as well as clinicians in a codesign process. We used a human-centered codesign design studio methodology where young people designed the features of the app first individually and then as a group. This resulted in a minimal viable product design, represented through low-fidelity hand-drawn wireframes. Clinicians were engaged throughout the process via focus groups. The app incorporated a mood monitoring feature with innovative design aspects that allowed customization, and was named a "well-being tracker" in response to the need for a positive approach to this function. Brief personalized interventions designed to support young people in the intervals between face-to-face appointments were embedded in the app and were immediately available via pop-ups generated by a back-end algorithm within the well-being tracker. Issues regarding the safe incorporation of alerts generated by the app into face-to-face clinical services were raised by clinicians (ie, responding in a timely manner) and will need to be addressed during the full implementation of the app into clinical services. The potential to improve outcomes for young people via technology-based enhancement to interventions is enormous. Enhancing communication between young people and their clinicians about symptoms and treatment progress and increasing access to timely and evidence-based interventions are desirable outcomes. To achieve positive outcomes for young people using technology- (app) based interventions, it is critical to understand and incorporate, in a meaningful way, the expectations and motivations of both young people and clinicians. ©Sarah Elisabeth Hetrick, Jo Robinson, Eloise Burge, Ryan Blandon, Bianca Mobilio, Simon M Rice, Magenta B Simmons, Mario Alvarez-Jimenez, Simon Goodrich, Christopher G Davey. Originally published in JMIR Mental Health (http://mental.jmir.org), 23.01.2018.

HUBBLE UNCOVERS MYSTERY OBJECTS IN THE DENSE CORE OF A NEARBY STAR CLUSTER

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

Piercing the heart of a glittering swarm of stars, NASA's sharp-eyed Hubble Space Telescope unveils the central region of the globular cluster M22, a 12- to 14-billion-year-old grouping of stars in the constellation Sagittarius. The telescope's view of the cluster's core measures 3.3 light-years across. The stars near the cluster's core are 100,000 times more numerous than those in the Sun's neighborhood. Buried in the glow of starlight are about six 'mystery objects,' which astronomers estimate are no larger than one quarter the mass of the giant planet Jupiter, the solar system's heftiest planet. The mystery objects are too far and dim for Hubble to see directly. Instead, the orbiting observatory detected these unseen celestial bodies by looking for their gravitational effects on the light from far distant stars. In this case, the stars are far beyond the cluster in the galactic bulge, about 30,000 light-years from Earth at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. M22 is 8,500 light-years away. The invisible objects betrayed their presence by bending the starlight gravitationally and amplifying it, a phenomenon known as microlensing. From February 22 to June 15, 1999, Hubble's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 looked through this central region and monitored 83,000 stars. During that time the orbiting observatory recorded six unexpectedly brief microlensing events. In each case a background star jumped in brightness for less than 20 hours before dropping back to normal. These transitory spikes in brightness mean that the object passing in front of the star must have been much smaller than a normal star. Hubble also detected one clear microlensing event. In that observation a star appeared about 10 times brighter over an 18-day span before returning to normal. Astronomers traced the leap in brightness to a dwarf star in the cluster floating in front of the background star. The inset photo shows the entire globular cluster of about 10 million stars. M22 is about 60 light-years wide. The image was taken in June 1995 by the Burrell Schmidt telescope at the Case Western Reserve University's Warner and Swasey Observatory on Kitt Peak in Arizona. This release is issued jointly by NASA and ESA. Credits for Hubble image: NASA, Kailash Sahu, Stefano Casertano, Mario Livio, Ron Gilliland (Space Telescope Science Institute), Nino Panagia (European Space Agency/Space Telescope Science Institute), Michael Albrow and Mike Potter (Space Telescope Science Institute) Credits for ground-based image: Nigel A.Sharp, REU program/AURA/NOAO/NSF

Cultural and Contextual Adaptation of an eHealth Intervention for Youth Receiving Services for First-Episode Psychosis: Adaptation Framework and Protocol for Horyzons-Canada Phase 1.

PubMed

Lal, Shalini; Gleeson, John; Malla, Ashok; Rivard, Lysanne; Joober, Ridha; Chandrasena, Ranjith; Alvarez-Jimenez, Mario

2018-04-23

eHealth interventions have the potential to address challenges related to access, service engagement, and continuity of care in the delivery of mental health services. However, the initial development and evaluation of such interventions can require substantive amounts of financial and human resource investments to bring them to scale. Therefore, it may be warranted to pay greater attention to policy, services, and research with respect to eHealth platforms that have the potential to be adapted for use across settings. Yet, limited attention has been placed on the methods and processes for adapting eHealth interventions to improve their applicability across cultural, geographical, and contextual boundaries. In this paper, we describe an adaptation framework and protocol to adapt an eHealth intervention designed to promote recovery and prevent relapses in youth receiving specialized services for first-episode psychosis. The Web-based platform, called Horyzons, was initially developed and tested in Australia and is now being prepared for evaluation in Canada. Service users and service providers from 2 specialized early intervention programs for first-episode psychosis located in different provinces will explore a beta-version of the eHealth intervention through focus group discussions and extended personal explorations to identify the need for, and content of contextual and cultural adaptations. An iterative consultation process will then take place with service providers and users to develop and assess platform adaptations in preparation for a pilot study with a live version of the platform. Data collection was completed in August 2017, and analysis and adaptation are in process. The first results of the study will be submitted for publication in 2018 and will provide preliminary insights into the acceptability of the Web-based platform (eg, perceived use and perceived usefulness) from service provider and service user perspectives. The project will also provide knowledge about the adaptations and process needed to prepare the platform for evaluation in Canada. This study contributes to an important gap in the literature pertaining to the specific principles, methods, and steps involved in adapting eHealth interventions for implementation and evaluation across a diverse range of cultural, geographical, and health care settings. ©Shalini Lal, John Gleeson, Ashok Malla, Lysanne Rivard, Ridha Joober, Ranjith Chandrasena, Mario Alvarez-Jimenez. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 23.04.2018.

Investigation of EM Emissions by the Electrodynamic Tether, Inclusive of an Observational Program (EMET)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Estes, Robert D.

1998-01-01

Our TSS-1/R investigation, which we shall refer to as EMET in this report, was an integral part of the effort by the TSS-1/R Investigators' Working Group (IWG) to come to an understanding of the complex interaction between the tethered satellite system and the ionosphere. All of the space-borne experiments were designed to collect data relevant to the local interaction. Only the ground- based experiments, EMET and its Italian counterpart Observations on the Earth's Surface of Electromagnetic Emissions (OESEE), held out any hope of characterizing the long range effects of the interaction. This was to be done by detecting electromagnetic waves generated by the system in the ionosphere, assuming the signal reached the Earth's surface with sufficient amplitude. As the type of plasma waves excited to carry charge away from the charge-exchange regions of the system at each end of the tether is one of the theoretical points about which there is greatest disagreement, a definitive identification of tether-generated waves could mark significant progress in the so-called current closure problem of electrodynamic tethers. Dr. Mario Grossi of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) initiated the investigation, and his experience in the field of ULF-ELF waves and their detection was invaluable throughout its course. Rice University had the responsibility of setting up the EMET ULF-VLF ground stations under a subcontract from SAO. Principal Investigator (PI) for the Rice effort was Prof. William E. Gordon, who was primary observer at the Arecibo Observatory during TSS-LR. Dr. Steve Noble handled major day-to-day operations, training, and planning for the ground-based measurements. Dr. James McCoy of NASA JSC, a member of the Mona/Arecibo team, was pilot for the numerous flights ferrying personnel and equipment between Puerto Rico and Mona Island. Final responsibility for the measurements rested with SAO, and the activities of field personnel and SAO investigators were closely co-ordinated during the mission. Dr. Enrico Lorenzini of SAO served as the eyes, ears, and brain of EMET in the Science Operations Area and PI table during the mission, whenever the PI was absent during the round-the-clock mission operations. The Rice University final report to SAO, which is included as an Appendix, contains details of the remote sites, means of communication, sensors, etc., as well as the affiliations of personnel involved in the data-gathering effort.

Crew of Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission visits Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1994-01-01

The Hubble Space telescope servicing mission in December (STS-61) was a great success and the fully refurbished orbiting telescope produced absolutely remarkable first results just two weeks ago. The 7-member crew who carried out the mission will soon be in Europe to share their experience with the Press, ESA space specialists and the European space community. Public conferences will also be held in Switzerland, the home country of ESA astronaut Claude Nicollier. The visit of the STS-61 crew is scheduled as follows: Friday 11 February, 1994 - ESA Paris, France Presentation and Press Conference Location: ESA, 8/10 Rue Mario Nikis, 75015 Paris time: 16:00 hrs - 17:30 hrs contact: ESA, Public Relations Office Tel. (+33) 1 42 73 71 55 Fax. (+33) 1 42 73 76 90 Monday 14 February, 1994 - British Aerospace, Bristol, United Kingdom Presentation and Press Conference Location: British Aerospace, FPC 333, Filton, Bristol BS12 7QW time: 10:00 hrs - 12:00 hrs contact: BAe, Public Relations Tel. (+44) 272 36 33 69 Tel. (+44) 272 36 33 68 Tuesday 15 February, 1994 - ESA/ESTEC, Noordwijk, the Netherlands Presentation and Press Conference Location: Noordwijk Space Expo, Keplerlaan 3, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, the Netherlands time: 09:30 hrs - 12:00 hrs contact: ESTEC Public Relations Office Tel. (+31) 1719 8 3006 Fax. (+31) 1719 17 400 Wednesday 16 February, 1944 - ESO, Garching - Munich, Germany Presentation and Press Conference Location: European Southern Observatory, Karl- Schwarzschild-Str. 2, 85748 Garching -Munich, Germany time: to be decided contact: ESO Information Service Tel. (+49) 89 32 006 276 Fax. (+49) 89 320 23 62 Thursday 17 February, 1994 - Bern, Switzerland a. Presentation and Press Conference Location: Hotel Bern, Zeughausgasse 9, 3001 Bern, Switzerland time: 09:30 hrs contact: Press & Information Service of the Federal Dept. for Education & Sciences Tel. (+41) 31 322 80 34 Fax. (+41) 31 312 30 15 b. Public conference Location: University of Bern, Institute of Physics time: 18:00 hrs - 20:00 hrs Friday 18 February, 1994 - Geneva, Switzerland a. Presentation and Press Conference Location: Geneva Observatory, Chemin des Maillettes 51, 1290 Sauverny, Switzerland time: 10:00 hrs - 11:30 hrs contact: Press Service University of Geneva Tel. (+41) 22 705 77 17 Tel. (+41) 22 328 25 66 b. Public Conference Location: University of Geneva, Auditorium Piaget, Uni Dufour time: 18:00 hrs - 20:30 hrs For accreditation and further information on these events, please get in touch directly with the contact listed for each location.

YRMR Organizing Committee

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2011-02-01

Elena Cannuccia graduated in physics at the University of Rome Tor Vergata in the Condensed Matter Theory Group (1http://www.fisica.uniroma2.it/?cmtheo-group/). She is currently finishing her PhD in the same research group. Her research project focused on the investigation of the role played by electron-phonon coupling on the electronic properties of polymers. Through completing her research she made a contribution to the development of YAMBO (http://www.yambo-code.org/), a FORTRAN/C code for Many-Body calculations in solid state and molecular physics. Luca Mazzaferro is a PhD student at the University of Rome "Tor Vergata". He works on the ATLAS experiment and is a member of the ATLAS Calibration group. He gratuated from the University of Rome "La Sapienza" in May 2010, and worked with the local ATLAS group, developing the LCDS routines for the calibration of the ATLAS MDT Chambers. This software is now a standard for managing the calibration analysis of ATLAS chambers. He also works in the administrative group of "Tor Vergata" grid-computing farm. Marina Migliaccio graduated in Universe Science at the University of Rome "Tor Vergata", and she is now a PhD student in Astronomy. During her PhD she has spent eight months as a visiting scholar at the Kavli Institute for Cosmology in Cambridge (UK). The focus of her research is precision cosmology. In this context, her work so far has been devoted to the study of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation in order to constrain cosmological models and early universe physics. She has analyzed the BOOMERanG balloon-borne experiment data, searching for a primordial non-Gaussian signature. Since 2008, she has been involved in the Planck mission Core Cosmology program, where her major contribution deals with measuring the statistical properties of CMB intensity and polarization fields in view of realistic (both instrumental and astrophysical) effects. Davide Pietrobon graduated in Astronomy, sharing the PhD between the University of Roma "Tor Vergata" and the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation at the University of Portsmouth, within the context of the European Cotutela project. His thesis represents a detailed analysis of the cosmological perturbations through needlets, a statistical tool he developed together with his colleagues in Rome. In particular he focused on two main open questions in cosmology: dark energy and non-Gaussianity. He gained his Bachelors degree in physics from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, and his Masters in physics at the University of Roma "Tor Vergata". He spent three months at the University of California Irvine as a visiting student and is now a postdoc at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Francesco Stellato has studied the role of metals in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinsons and Alzheimers during his PhD. To this purpose, he mainly used synchrotron radiation-based techniques, e.g. X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy. He is interested in the development of new-generation light sources such as high-brilliance synchrotron and Free Electron Lasers, and in their application to the structural and dynamical study of biomolecules. Marcella Veneziani is a postdoc fellow at the California Institute of Technology and the University of Rome "La Sapienza". In February 2009 she gained her PhD in Astronomy at the University of Rome "La Sapienza", and in Physics, Particles and Matter at the University of Paris Diderot. Her fields of interest are: physics of the interstellar medium and star formation; cosmic microwave background radiation; analysis of data from orbital and suborbital experiments, and instrumental calibration. She is a member of the Herschel-HiGal, the Planck-HFI and the BOOMERanG collaborations. Part of her work has been undertaken at the European Space Agency Astronomy Center and at the University of California Irvine.

Ulysses(*) reaches the South Pole of the Sun

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1994-08-01

One of the many investigations being carried out is a search for the Sun's south magnetic pole. As in the case of the Earth, the magnetic pole is offset from the rotation axis, and at some time in September it should sweep directly into line with Ulysses. Just as the polar regions of the Earth were the last to be explored, so it is with the Sun. For more than thirty years spacecraft have investigated the stream of electric particles know as the solar wind. Ulysses, developed by ESA, built by European Industry and flown in collaboration with NASA, is the first to fly through the solar wind coming from the poles. As Ulysses reaches its highest solar latitude of 80.2 degrees on 13 September, European and American researchers will gather at the ESA/ESTEC, the European Space Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, for a scientific workshop at which they will assess the results from the nine experiments carried by the spacecraft. For the week of the workshop, the ESA/ESTEC conference centre will be transformed into a busy scientific laboratory. The large meeting rooms will be divided into 24 working areas, where the Ulysses experiment teams will take up temporary residence. Bringing a variety of computing equipment with them, the scientists will be able to retrieve the latest data from the spacecraft and perform detailed analyses. The emphasis will be on informality, with exchange of scientific ideas - and data - the key ingredient, leading ultimately to a better understanding of the fascinating information being gathered by Ulysses on its unique exploratory journey. Presentations to the media at ESA/ESTEC will start at 10h00 on 16 September. Media representatives wishing to attend are kindly requested to fill out the attached form and return it - preferably by fax (+33.1.42.73.76.90) - to : ESA Public Relations Division, 8/10, rue Mario Nikis - 75015-PARIS. Note to Television Editors : A video index, containing extensive background material on the Ulysses voyage (including specially created 3-D animation), is available on Betacam SP together with a VHS time-coded copy and printed information. This package is available on request. On Thursday 15 and Friday 16 September video news releases explaining this memorable event will be distributed by Reuters London via satellite to all European broadcasters. (*) Ulysses is a joint ESA/NASA mission. ESA developed the probe and is contributing an estimated ECU 170 million up to 1995 to its in-flight operation. European research laboratories provided half of the scientific instruments. NASA provided the other half of the experiments flown, a radio-isotopic power generator and the launch; it is also maintaining day-to-day communications with the probe via its dedicated antennas.

Atmospheric aerosol monitoring and characterization: An emission control strategy to protect tropical forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mateus, V. L.; do Valles, T. V.; de Oliveira, T. B.; de Almeida, A. C.; Maia, L. F. P. G.; Saint'Pierre, T. D.; Gioda, A.

2013-12-01

Human activity represents one of the most harmful activities for biodiversity. Population growth has caused increasing interferences in natural areas suffering agriculture or urbanization. As a consequence, tropical forests are at risk, since they shelter more than half of the global biodiversity. In this context, protected areas are indeed important to preserve natural populations as well as threatened habitats. Aerosol samples were collected in two protected areas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in order to quantify water-soluble species and evaluate anthropogenic influences considering secondary aerosol formation and organic compounds. Samplings were conducted at the National Park of Serra dos Orgãos (Parnaso) and the National Forest Mario Xavier (Flonamax) during 24 h every six days using a high-volume sampler from July 2010 to June 2012 (PM10) and from July 2011 to August 2012 (TSP), respectively. The aerosol mass was determined by Gravimetry. The water-soluble ionic composition (WSIC) was obtained by Ion Chromatography in order to determine the major anions (Br-, Cl-, F-, NO2-, NO3-, PO43-, SO42-) and cations (Li+, Ca2+, K+, Mg2+, Na+, NH4+); total water-soluble carbon (TWSC), water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) were determined by a TOC analyzer and the elements were determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry. PM10 average concentrations ranged from 11.1 to 67.6 μg m-3 and TSP from 5.7 to 242.6 μg m-3. Regarding the ions, the highest cation concentration was measured for Na+ at both Parnaso and Flonamax sites, respectively, 2.9 and 6.1 μg m-3. Both sites are near to the coast, justifying these results. On the other hand, SO42- was the predominant anion measured at both sites with average concentrations ranged from 2.3 to 2.7 μg m-3. Around 50% of sulphate had a non-marine origin in the former site, while in the latter the percentage was of circa 40%. The correlation between NO3- and nss-SO42- was much stronger at Parnaso (r = 0.87) than at Flonamax (r = 0.46), suggesting a marked anthropogenic influence in the former. WSOC and nss-SO42- showed a moderate correlation ( r = 0.3-0.5) at both sites suggesting secondary aerosol formation. The dissimilarity between the areas regarding to water-soluble species are probably due to the particle size. However, both sites are influenced by highways, which, at first glance, is the highest anthropogenic input. In the conference, we will provide more data related to chemical characterization as well as the enrichment factor (EF) and principal component analysis (PCA), to better understand the source apportionment.

Effects of Potassium Mineral Fertilization on Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Yield on a Chernozem Soil in Hungary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

László, Márton, ,, Dr.

2010-05-01

Nowadays potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a more important throughout the world between field crops. As potato is such a potassium demanding crop, it is particularly important that the potassium fertilizers used should be correctly balanced. Applying the adequate quantity of balanced K- fertilizer is the first requirement for achieving optimum yield and doing so will result in potatoes of acceptable quality. Potato potassium nutrition has been studied at the Research Institute for Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (RISSAC-HAS)- Experiment Station, Nagyhörcsök (chernozem soil) in a long term field experiment designed to determine NPK- nutrient requirements. The method of the experiment was 43 mixed factorial design with 64 treatments in 2 repetitions with 128 plots. The residual effects of K- levels brought about by build- up fertilization were studied. Potato were planted in 1978. The experimental dates were estimated by multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). On the basis of foliar analysis at early flowering about 4.5 to 5.0% K in dry matter proved to be satisfactory for obtaining maximum yield (32.6 t/ha). The yields increased by 22%, 34%, and 38% at 124-140, 141-168 and 169-208 ppm soil AL- K2O rates, respectively. The tubers concentrated much N 19% and less P 81% than potassium. Results for tuber maximum uptake of potassium reached a maximum about 130 days after planting. The improvement of the K supply of the soil increased yield and induced low concentrations of numerous microelements on leaves considered to be important. Key words: Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), chernozem soil, potassium, yield Introduction Potato is an important food crop, more particularly in the temperate zone, especially in Europe and Asia. Between 1981 and 1995, in spite of an 18% decrease in cultivated area production increased by 13% because the average yield increased from 11.0 to 15.1 t/ha. Potato is a soil nutrients demanding crop and has a particularly high requirement for potassium. Tubers remove 1.5 times more potassium than nitrogen and 4 or 5 times the amount of phosphate. The quantity of nutrients taken up by a crop is not necessarily an indication of responsiveness to fertilizers but potato, because its root system is relativly poorly developed in relation to yield is extremly responsive to all nutrients (Márton 1984). As potato is such a demanding crop, it is particularly important that the potassium fertilizers used should be correctly balanced (Burton 1966). Applying the adequate quantity of balanced K- fertilizer is the first requirement for achieving optimum yield and doing so will result in potatoes of acceptable quality (Márton 2000). It is not the objective of present publication to give recommendations K- fertilizers which vary greatly according to local conditions. We intend to discuss various aspects of potassium effects on the basis of our research results. The importance of potatoes In terms of area planted, potato is the twelfth most important crop in all the world (18.48 million hectares) by FAO in 1995. In terms of total production it occupies the 5th position with 280 million t, between maize (515 mio) and sugar beet (266 mio). It is a high yielding crop. The world average being 15.1 t/ha, the third highest yielding crop on the bases of fresh matter following sugar cane (62.6 t/ha) and sugar beet (33.9 t/ha). Area planted, production and yield (1981 and 1995) Between 1981 and 1995 the total world area planted declined by 18%. While the importance of the crop declined more or less markedly in Europe, and in N. and C. America, there has been an increase in S. America (Márton 1999). The area planted in Asia has more than doubled and in Africa tripled. Despite of the reduction in area, world production has actually increased by 13% in the same period. This increase in production is due to a general 37% growth in yield from 11 to 15.1 t/ha. The potential yields of varieties, estimated at 85-100 t/ha for potato, 75-85 t/ha for beet and 12-15 t/ha for wheat (Evans 1977). These are far higher than the yields commonly obtained in practice. World average yields were only 1/6th of the potential for potato, 1/6th for wheat and 2/5th for sugar beet in 1995. Utilization of the crop The major part of potato production is usually used for human consumption. Human consumption of potatoes however has declined in the industrialised countries as the standard of living has increased. In these countries an increasing proportion of the crop is used for manufacturing products such as crisp, oven-ready chips, dehydrated potato powder. Thus, in Hungary the consumption of potatoes per person decreased from 110 kg in 1951/1960 to 60 kg in 1995, whereas the consumption of processed potatoes increased from 1 to 15 kg/person during this period. Uptake of potassium Potassium is the nutrient taken up by potato in the greatest quantity, it also takes up much nitrogen and appreciable amounts of phosphorus, calcium, magnesium and sulphur (Perrenoud 1993). Maximum uptakes by different varieties in Japan range between 140 and 267 K2O (Kali Kenkyu Kai 1980). In England, potatoes grown on the " blueprint" system and giving the very high yield of 77.7 t/ha took up 450 kg/ha K2O (Anderson and Hewgill 1978). Brazílian experiments with 6 varieties showed the following uptakes (kg/ha): potassium 207-367 (Motta 1976). Removal of potassium by tubers 23 experimental crops in France (Loué 1977), -with a mean yield of 37.3 t/ha tubers removed: 196 kg K2O, respectively. It is equal to 5.3 kg K2O per 1 tonne tuber. Motta Macedo (1976) reports the following removals in kg/ha for 6 varieties grown in Brazíl: K2O: 118-192. In 14 experiments in India (Grewal and Singh 1979) a mean yield of 28.8 t/ha tuber was obtained which removed an average of 91 kg/ha K2O. At very high yield level, nutrient removal in tuber is very high. Anderson and Hewgill (1978) report a yield of 90 t/ha, obtained at Stockbridge House in 1973 which contained 487 kg K2O in the tubers. The effects of potassium fertilizer on yield The averages of 1267 experimental results (607 from 8 developed countries and 660 from 10 developing countries) were estimated. Yields increased by 14, 10 and 11% for 1-100, 101-200 and 201-300 kg/ha K2O rates, respectively. The greater average effect of potassium on yield at the 1-100 kg/ha K2O rate as compared to higher doses was due to the strong effect of this nutrient in experiments. 1 kg K2O produces 32, 16 and 13 kg tubers when 1-100, 101-200 and 201-300 kg/ha K2O are applied. An example of the effect of potassium on yield is in the Siebold (1971) reports that heavy potash dressing had spectacular effects on yield on a soil which fixed potassium strongly. Nutrient interactions In 17 years of a long- term experiment at Aspach (France) (Loué 1977) positive interactions between N and K were recorded in 15 years and negative in 2. Yadav and Tripathi (1973) recorded an NxK interaction amounting to 4.44 t/ha tubers in India. Materials and Methods The NPK fertilization field trial was set up at the Nagyhörcsök Experiment Station of the Research Institute for Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences by Imre Kádár in the autumn of 1973. The method of the experiment was 43 design of the mixed factorial with 64 treatments, in 2 repetitions with 128 plots. The gross and net size of the plots were 6 x 6 = 36 m2 and 24.5 m2 respectivly. N fertilization was repeated yearly. As regards P and K residual effects of nutrient levels brought about by build-up fertilization in autumn 1973, were recorded. The experiment was carried out in South-East Hungary on a calcareous chernozem soil. The clay fraction (0.002 mm) content of the soil was 20 % and silt fraction (0.02 mm) 40 %. The 0.05-0.02 mm fraction was 35-50 %. The main characteristics of the soil (plough layer) are as follows: CaCO3 5 %, humus 3 %, pH(KCl) = 7.4-7.8, AL-P2O5 = 50-80 ppm, AL-K2O = 120-140 ppm, Mg(KCl) = 120-150 ppm, EDTA-Mn = 100-150 ppm, EDTA-Zn = 1-2 ppm, EDTA-Cu = 2-4 ppm. The initial nutrient supply of the soil was poor in P and medium in K. After build-up fertilization (1973) the easily soluble phosphorus and potassium contents of the soil rapidly decreased without yearly maintenance fertilization. In the first four years of the experiment winter wheat-winter wheat-maize-maize were grown. Potatoes (variety: Desirée) were planted by hand in 1978. Plant sampling was carried out by averaging 20 subsamples per plot. The experimental data were estimated by multivariate analysis of variance, MANOVA. In this paper We would like to present the potassium effects on potato yield. Results and Discussion Uptake of potassium Under the experimental conditions of 1978, on the basis of foliar analysis at early flowering, in dry matter about 4.5 to 5.0% K proved to be satisfactory for obtaining maximum yield (32.6 t/ha). Effects of K- fertilizers on yield Potato yields increased by 22%, 34% and 38% at 124-140, 141-168 and 169-208 ppm soil AL- K2O rates, respectively. That the average effect of potassium on yield was greater at 208 ppm K2O than at higher rates is due to the strong effect of this nutrient in experiments. 1 ppm K2O produced 268, 232 and 185 kg tubers when 124-140, 141-168 and 169-208 ppm K2O were applied. These results are very similar to those reported by Siebold (1971), he found that heavy dressing of potash had spectacular effects on the yield on a soil with strong potassium- fixing ability. Removal of potassium and other nutrients in tuber The tubers removed much nitrogen, 0.1 times more than potassium and 6 times as much as phosphorus. Removal of calcium and magnesium were much lower but still significant. In experiment- giving a mean yield of 32.6 t/ha tubers on K- effects on average of NP removed 454 kg N, 76 kg P2O5, 488 kg K2O, 81 kg CaO, 26 kg MgO and 14 kg/t N, 2 kg/t P2O5, 15 kg/t K2O, 3 kg/t CaO and 0.8 kg per tonne MgO, respectivly. We found that 32.6 t/ha crop removed 1.8 kg sodium, 1.6 kg iron, 400 g zinc and 100 g manganese. Pattern of potassium and other nutrient uptake The uptake of nutrients during potato growth were studied. Results for tuber average uptake of nitrogen (472 kg/ha), phosphorus (77 kg/ha) and potassium (426 kg/ha) reached a maximum about 130 days after planting. It was observed that crop took up about 3.6 kg N, 0.5 kg P and 3.0 kg K per ha per day. Nutrient interaction Improving K- supply of the soil was found to increase yield and induce low concentration of numerous elements on leaves considered as important. K- fertilization had a negative effect mainly on the Mg and Ca contents. Thus e.g. K/Mg ratio increased from 3 to 11 at yearly flowering as an effect of K fertilization, that however, should not be considered an unfavourable ratio as yet and on these plots K fertilization still remained effective. Acknowledgements This research was supported by Research Institute for Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. References Anderson, G.D.-Hewgill, D. (1978).: Effects of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium on ‘Blueprint' grown potatoes. Maximising Yields of crops. ADASARC Symposium. 139-150. Burton, W.G. (1966).: The potato. Veemann. Wageningen. Evans, S.A. (1977).: The place of fertilizers in ‘Blueprints' for the production of potatoes and cereals. Fertilizer use and production of carbohydrates and lipids. Proc. 13th Coll. Inst. Bern, 231-241. FAO. (1995).: Production Yearbook, Vol. 49. Grewal, J.S. (1975).: Manuring of potatoes. Indian Farming. 25:15-17. Kali, K.K. (1980).: Private communication. Tokyo. Loué, A. (1977).: Fertilisation et nutrition minérale de la pomme de terre. Expérimentation et études agronomiques, SCPA. Mulhouse. 147. Márton, L. (1984).: Fertilization effects on potato yield and quality. Doctoral dissertation. KAU. Keszthely. Márton, L.-Jose, A.B. (1999).: Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) production in Brazíl. Acta Agronomica Óváriensis. 41:153-158. Márton, L. (2000).: Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium effects on potato quality. In: Agro markets and conditions. Agricultural University of Veszprém. 241-247. Keszthely. Hungary. Motta Macedo, M.C. (1976).: Absorcao de nutrientes por cultivares nacionais de batatinha (Solanum tuberosum L.). Diss., Escola Superior. Luiz de Queiroz da Universidade de Sáo Paulo. Perrenoud, S.: (1993).: Potato. Fertilizing for high yield. IPI Bulletin. N.8. Basel. Switz. Siebold, M. (1971).: Kartoffelanbau auf kalifixierenden Böden. Kartoffelbau. 22:12-13. Yadav, S.C.-Tripathi, B.R. (1973).: Studies on soil moisture regimes and nitrogen, phosphorus and potash fertilization on yield of potato (S. tuberosum L.). Plant Sci. 5:97-104.

The "heartbeat of the proton"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weisskopf, Victor F.

Once Nino came to my office to tell me about his ideas of studying lepton pair production at PS. I was still not Director General, but Research Director at CERN. In addition to (e+e-) and (μ+μ-) pairs, he wanted to search for (e±μ∓) pairs as a signature of a new lepton carrying its own lepton number. He told me that if such a lepton existed with one GeV mass, it would have escaped detection in hadron accelerator experiments for two reasons: i) it would decay with a lifetime of order 10-11 sec and ii) because there is no π → μ mechanism for such a heavy new lepton: for its production a time-like photon would be needed. Time-like photons could be produced in hadronic interactions: for example in (bar{p}p) annihilation. This was before Lederman-Schwartz and Steinberger had discovered the two neutrinos. To think of a "sequential" Heavy Lepton and to work out the possible ways to get it in a hadron machine was for me extremely interesting Nino had just finished his first high precision work on the muon (g-2). It was some time after the Rochester Conference in 1960. I gave Nino the following suggestion: if you want to search for something so revolutionary as a Heavy Lepton carrying its own lepton number you should work out a proposal for a series of experiments where the study of lepton pairs (e+e-) and (μ+μ-) could be justified in terms of physics accepted by the community. In addition a high intensity antiproton beam was needed. He came later to tell me that he had two very good friends, both excellent engineers: Mario Morpurgo and Guido Petrucci. A very high intensity antiproton beam could be built to study the electromagnetic form factor of the proton in the time-like region. If the proton was "point-like" in the time-like region, the rate of time-like photons yielding (e+e-) and (μ+μ-) pairs could be accessible to experimental observation, thus allowing to establish some limits on the new Heavy Lepton mass, or to see it, via the (e±μ∓) channel. The "official" theme was: to establish if the proton had a structure or not in the time-like region. Thus a powerful system able to detect (e+e-) and (μ+μ-) pairs could be built. Nino established in 1963 the existence of a time-like structure of the proton studying the (e+e-) channel and in 1964 studying the (μ+μ-) channel. The set up was able to do what he wanted: a simultaneous detection of electrons and μ pairs, therefore (e±μ∓) as well. Unfortunately the proton was not a point-like particle in the time-like region and therefore the source of time-like photons originated in (bar{p}p) annihilation was very depressed. In fact, using the (e+e-) and the (μ+μ-) channels, Nino established that at 6.8 (GeV/c)2 time-like four momentum transfer, the crosssection was 500 times below the expected point-like value. This result had attracted a lot of attention. Bogoliubov was very interested when in 1964 Nino went to Dubna to present the (μ+μ-) results at the International Conference on "High Energy Physics". Yang had a model that predicted a point-like structure of the proton in the time-like region. I called this series of experiments as measuring the "heartbeat of the proton". Of course there were no (e±μ∓) events, neither in the (bar{p}p) nor in the (μ-p) channel. Nevertheless a series of experiments was performed on "standard" physics, such as the discovery of many rare decay modes of mesons and the measurement of the (φ-ϕ) mixing. All these experiments could be done because Nino had invented what is now known as the "preshower" method to reject with high efficiency pions in favor of "electrons". Once it was clear that in hadronic interactions there are very few time-like photons, he asked me if I would give green light in order to consider the use of the (e±μ∓) technology in the newly being developed Frascati (e+e-) method would have been the best in order to see if a Heavy Lepton carrying its own lepton number existed. Of course he got the green light and in 1970 he got the first limit on the Heavy Lepton mass together with a series of high precision QED measurements. But one story I will never forget in connection with the "heartbeat of the proton". After he succeeded with his friends Mario (Morpurgo) and Guido (Petrucci) to build the highest intensity antiproton beam at CERN, Nino came to my office and said more or less the following: "Viki, by changing the voltage of the electrostatic separator and a few other trivial details, in one night, I will be able to establish if the antideuteron exists with the correct expected deuteron mass". I told him that this was an experiment where he would get the Nobel prize if he found nothing. "But, there is a but", I added. "If you do not succeed in one night and if you destroy the beam, then I will not defend you. My green light is only valid if you really can check the existence of the antideuteron in a single night". Next morning, when I arrived at CERN, Nino was there with his graph where the antideuteron signal was exactly where it was expected to be. I remember the year, 1965, not the day. It was (and is) the birthday of Peter Standley who was at that time the PS Division Leader. I called him in my office and the antideuteron discovery at CERN was my and Nino's gift to our mutual friend Peter. I decided not to have a press-release and Nino agreed. A few weeks later we read in the newspaper that the antideuteron had been discovered by Lederman and Ting in the United States. They had decided to have a press-release. Nevertheless Nino's paper in Nuovo Cimento preceeds Leon's and Sam's publication in Physical Review.

Trial Protocol: Cognitive functional therapy compared with combined manual therapy and motor control exercise for people with non-specific chronic low back pain: protocol for a randomised, controlled trial.

PubMed

Belache, Fabiana Terra Cunha; Souza, Cíntia Pereira de; Fernandez, Jessica; Castro, Julia; Ferreira, Paula Dos Santos; Rosa, Elizana Rodrigues de Sousa; Araújo, Nathalia Cristina Gimenez de; Reis, Felipe José Jandre; Almeida, Renato Santos de; Nogueira, Leandro Alberto Calazans; Correia, Luís Cláudio Lemos; Meziat-Filho, Ney

2018-06-11

Chronic low back pain is a public health problem, and there is strong evidence that it is associated with a complex interaction of biopsychosocial factors. Cognitive functional therapy is an intervention that deals with potentially modifiable multidimensional aspects of pain (eg, provocative cognitive, movement and lifestyle behaviours). There is evidence (from a single randomised, controlled trial) that cognitive functional therapy is better than combined manual therapy and motor control exercise. However, this study had significant methodological shortcomings including the failure to carry out an intention-to-treat analysis and a considerable loss of follow-up of participants. It is important to replicate this study in another domain through a randomised clinical trial with similar objectives but correcting these methodological shortcomings. To investigate the efficacy of cognitive functional therapy compared to combined manual therapy and exercise on pain and disability at 3 months in patients with chronic non-specific low back pain. Two-group, randomised, multicentre controlled trial with blinded assessors. One hundred and forty-eight participants with chronic low back pain that has persisted for >3months and no specific spinal pathology will be recruited from the school clinic of the Centro Universitário Augusto Motta and a private clinic in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Four to 10 sessions of cognitive functional therapy. The physiotherapists who will treat the participants in the cognitive functional therapy group have previously attended 2 workshops with two different tutors of the method. Such physiotherapists have completed 106 hours of training, including workshops and patient examinations, as well as conducting a pilot study under the supervision of another physiotherapist with>3 years of clinical experience in cognitive functional therapy. Four to 10 sessions of combined manual therapy and motor control exercises. Participants in the combined manual therapy and exercise group will be treated by two physiotherapists with an average of >10years of clinical experience in manual therapy and motor control exercises, including isolated contractions of the deep abdominal muscles. The primary outcome measures will be pain intensity and disability 3 months after randomisation. Secondary outcomes will be pain and disability assessed 6 and 12 months after randomisation, and both global perceived effect and patient satisfaction at 3, 6 and 12 months after randomisation. The potential outcome mediators will be assessed at 3 and 6 months after randomisation, with brief screening questions for anxiety, social isolation, catastrophisation, depression, fear of movement, stress and sleep. Non-specific predictors and moderators will include age, gender, duration of chronic low back pain, chronicity risk (Örebro and Start Back score), number of pain areas, stressful life event, MRI scan imaging, and family history. Intention-to-treat analysis will be performed. Linear mixed models will be used to compare the mean differences in pain intensity, disability and global perceived effect between the intervention arms. The analysis of the effect of potential mediators of the treatment will be performed using the causal mediation methods described by Imai and colleagues. The baseline variables will be evaluated as predictors and moderators of treatment, including terms and interaction models. A level of statistical significance of 5% will be used in the analysis. All the analyses will be performed using RStudio. This study will investigate whether the results of the first cognitive functional therapy randomised clinical trial are reproducible. The present study will have a sample size capable of detecting clinically relevant effects of the treatment with a low risk of bias. In pragmatic terms, this clinical trial is designed to reproduce the intervention as it would be performed in clinical practice by a trained physiotherapist who works with cognitive functional therapy, which increases the relevance of this study. The combined manual therapy and exercise group comprises an intervention strategy widely used by physiotherapists to treat low back pain. As evidence of efficacy is still limited, the results of a randomised, controlled clinical trial of high methodological quality will help physiotherapists in clinical decision-making. Copyright © 2018 Australian Physiotherapy Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

ESA `Huygens and Mars Express' science highlights - call to press

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2005-11-01

Almost one year has passed since ESA’s Huygens probe landed on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. Today, a set of new wide-ranging results from the probe’s two-and-a-half hour descent and landing, part of the extraordinary NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and its moons, is ready for release. At the same time, ESA’s Mars Express mission is continuing its investigations of Mars, painting a new picture of the 'red planet'. This includes the first ever probing below the surface of Mars, new geological clues with implications for the climate, newly-discovered surface and atmospheric features and, above all, traces of the presence of water on this world. These and other exciting findings from just one year of observations and data analysis - in the context of ESA’s overall scientific achievements - will be the focus of a press conference to be held at ESA Headquarters in Paris at 16:00 on 30 November 2005. Media interested in attending are invited to complete the following registration form. Press conference programme Space Science Highlights 2005 From Huygens to Mars Express 30 November 2005, 16:00 hrs Room 137, European Space Agency Headquarters 8-10 Rue Mario-Nikis, F-75738 Paris Cedex, France 15:30 - Registration 16:00 - A Year of European Space Science Successes Prof. David Southwood, ESA Director of Science Programme 16:10 - Highlights of the Huygens Mission Results Jean-Pierre Lebreton, ESA Huygens Project Scientist 16:15 - Robin Duttaroy, Co-Investigator, Doppler Wind Experiment, University of Bonn, Germany 16:20 - Marcello Fulchignoni , Principal Investigator, Huygens Atmospheric Structure Instrument, Université de Paris 7, France 16:25 - John Zarnecki, Principal Investigator, Surface Science Package, Open University, UK 16:30 - François Raulin, Co-Investigator, Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer, Université de Paris 12 - Créteil, France 16:35 - Guy Israel, Principal Investigator, Aerosol Collector and Pyrolyser, Service d'Aéronomie/CNRS, France 16:40 - Bruno Bezard, Co-Investigator, Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer, Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique, Observatoire de Paris, France 16:45 - Jonathan Lunine, Interdisciplinary Scientist, Titan surface-atmosphere interactions, LPL/U, Arizona (USA) and INAF/IFSI, Rome (Italy) 16:55 - Questions and AnswersV 17:05 - Coffee break 17:10 - Mars Express: results in the overall context of Martian science, Agustin Chicarro, ESA Mars Express Project Scientist 17:15 - Giovanni Picardi, MARSIS Radar Principal Investigator, University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy Jeffrey Plaut, MARSIS Co-Principal Investigator, NASA/JPL, USA 17:25 - Martin Pätzold, Mars Radio Science Experiment, Principal Investigator, Universität Koln, Cologne, Germany 17:30 - Jean-Pierre Bibring, OMEGA Principal Investigator, Institut d’Astrophysique spatiale, Orsay, France 17:40 - Gerhard Neukum, HRSC Camera Principal Investigator, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany 17:45 - Questions and Answers 17:55 - Interview opportunities

Computer-Based Driving in Dementia Decision Tool With Mail Support: Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Rapoport, Mark J; Zucchero Sarracini, Carla; Kiss, Alex; Lee, Linda; Byszewski, Anna; Seitz, Dallas P; Vrkljan, Brenda; Molnar, Frank; Herrmann, Nathan; Tang-Wai, David F; Frank, Christopher; Henry, Blair; Pimlott, Nicholas; Masellis, Mario; Naglie, Gary

2018-05-25

Physicians often find significant challenges in assessing automobile driving in persons with mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia and deciding when to report to transportation administrators. Care must be taken to balance the safety of patients and other road users with potential negative effects of issuing such reports. The aim of this study was to assess whether a computer-based Driving in Dementia Decision Tool (DD-DT) increased appropriate reporting of patients with mild dementia or mild cognitive impairment to transportation administrators. The study used a parallel-group cluster nonblinded randomized controlled trial design to test a multifaceted knowledge translation intervention. The intervention included a computer-based decision support system activated by the physician-user, which provides a recommendation about whether to report patients with mild dementia or mild cognitive impairment to transportation administrators, based on an algorithm derived from earlier work. The intervention also included a mailed educational package and Web-based specialized reporting forms. Specialists and family physicians with expertise in dementia or care of the elderly were stratified by sex and randomized to either use the DD-DT or a control version of the tool that required identical data input as the intervention group, but instead generated a generic reminder about the reporting legislation in Ontario, Canada. The trial ran from September 9, 2014 to January 29, 2016, and the primary outcome was the number of reports made to the transportation administrators concordant with the algorithm. A total of 69 participating physicians were randomized, and 36 of these used the DD-DT; 20 of the 35 randomized to the intervention group used DD-DT with 114 patients, and 16 of the 34 randomized to the control group used it with 103 patients. The proportion of all assessed patients reported to the transportation administrators concordant with recommendation did not differ between the intervention and the control groups (50% vs 49%; Z=-0.19, P=.85). Two variables predicted algorithm-based reporting-caregiver concern (odds ratio [OR]=5.8, 95% CI 2.5-13.6, P<.001) and abnormal clock drawing (OR 6.1, 95% CI 3.1-11.8, P<.001). On the basis of this quantitative analysis, in-office abnormal clock drawing and expressions of concern about driving from caregivers substantially influenced physicians to report patients with mild dementia or mild cognitive impairment to transportation administrators, but the DD-DT tool itself did not increase such reports among these expert physicians. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02036099; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02036099 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6zGMF1ky8). ©Mark J Rapoport, Carla Zucchero Sarracini, Alex Kiss, Linda Lee, Anna Byszewski, Dallas P Seitz, Brenda Vrkljan, Frank Molnar, Nathan Herrmann, David F Tang-Wai, Christopher Frank, Blair Henry, Nicholas Pimlott, Mario Masellis, Gary Naglie. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 25.05.2018.

STS-77 Space Shuttle Mission Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fricke, Robert W., Jr.

1996-01-01

The STS-77 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report summarizes the Payload activities as well as the: Orbiter, External Tank (ET), Solid Rocket Booster (SRB), Reusable Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM), and the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) systems performance during the seventy-seventh flight of the Space Shuttle Program, the fifty-second flight since the return-to-flight, and the eleventh flight of the Orbiter Endeavour (OV-105). STS-77 was also the last flight of OV-105 prior to the vehicle being placed in the Orbiter Maintenance Down Period (OMDP). In addition to the Orbiter, the flight vehicle consisted of an ET that was designated ET-78; three SSME's that were designated as serial numbers 2037, 2040, and 2038 in positions 1, 2, and 3, respectively; and two SRB's that were designated BI-080. The RSRM's, designated RSRM-47, were installed in each SRB and the individual RSRM's were designated as 360TO47A for the left SRB, and 360TO47B for the right SRB. The STS-77 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report fulfills the Space Shuttle Program requirement as documented in NSTS 07700, Volume VII, Appendix E. The requirement stated in that document is that each organizational element supporting the Program will report the results of their hardware (and software) evaluation and mission performance plus identify all related in-flight anomalies. The primary objectives of this flight were to successfully perform the operations necessary to fulfill the requirements of Spacehab-4, the SPARTAN 207/inflatable Antenna Experiment (IAE), and the Technology Experiments Advancing Missions in Space (TEAMS) payload. Secondary objectives of this flight were to perform the experiments of the Aquatic Research Facility (ARF), Brilliant Eyes Ten-Kelvin Sorption Cryocooler Experiment (BETSCE), Biological Research in Canisters (BRIC), Get-Away-Special (GAS), and GAS Bridge Assembly (GBA). The STS-77 mission was planned as a 9-day flight plus 1 day, plus 2 contingency days, which were available for weather avoidance or Orbiter contingency operations. The sequence of events for the STS-77 mission is shown in Table 1, and the Space Shuttle Vehicle Management Office Problem Tracking List is shown in Table 11. The Government Fumished Equipment/Flight Crew Equipment (GFE/FCE) Problem Tracking List is shown in Table II. Appendix A lists the sources of data, both formal and informal, that were used to prepare this report. Appendix B provides the definition of acronyms and abbreviations used throughout the report. All times during the flight are given in Greenwich mean time (G.m.t.) and mission elapsed time (MET). The six-person crew for STS-77 consisted of John H. Casper, Col., U. S. Air Force, Commander; Curtis L. Brown, Jr., Lt. Col., U. S. Air Force, Pilot; Andrew S. W. Thomas, Civilian, Ph.D., Mission Specialist 1; Daniel W. Bursch, CDR., U. S. Navy, Mission Specialist 2; Mario Runco, Jr., Civilian, Mission Specialist 3; and Marc Gameau, Civilian, PhD, Mission Specialist 4.

Implementation of the Enhanced Moderated Online Social Therapy (MOST+) Model Within a National Youth E-Mental Health Service (eheadspace): Protocol for a Single Group Pilot Study for Help-Seeking Young People.

PubMed

Rice, Simon; Gleeson, John; Leicester, Steven; Bendall, Sarah; D'Alfonso, Simon; Gilbertson, Tamsyn; Killackey, Eoin; Parker, Alexandra; Lederman, Reeva; Wadley, Greg; Santesteban-Echarri, Olga; Pryor, Ingrid; Mawren, Daveena; Ratheesh, Aswin; Alvarez-Jimenez, Mario

2018-02-22

There is a substantial need for youth electronic mental health (e-mental health) services. In addressing this need, our team has developed a novel moderated online social therapy intervention called enhanced moderated online social therapy (MOST+). MOST+ integrates real-time, clinician-delivered Web chat counseling, interactive user-directed online therapy, expert and peer moderation, and private and secure peer-to-peer social networking. MOST+ has been designed to give young people immediate, 24-hour access to anonymous, evidence-based, and short-term mental health care. The primary aims of this pilot study were to determine the feasibility, acceptability, and safety of the intervention. Secondary aims were to assess prepost changes in key psychosocial outcomes and collect qualitative data for future intervention refinement. MOST+ will be embedded within eheadspace, an Australian youth e-mental health service, and will be evaluated via an uncontrolled single-group study. Approximately 250 help-seeking young people (16-25 years) will be progressively recruited to the intervention from the eheadspace home page over the first 4 weeks of an 8-week intervention period. All participants will have access to evidence-based therapeutic content and integrated Web chat counseling. Additional access to moderated peer-to-peer social networking will be granted to individuals for whom it is deemed safe and appropriate, through a three-tiered screening process. Participants will be enrolled in the MOST+ intervention for 1 week, with the option to renew their enrollment across the duration of the pilot. Participants will complete a survey at enrollment to assess psychological well-being and other mental health outcomes. Additional assessment will occur following account deactivation (ie, after participant has opted not to renew their enrollment, or at trial conclusion) and will include an online survey and telephone interview assessing psychological well-being and experience of using MOST+. Recruitment for the study commenced in October 2017. We expect to have initial results in March 2018, with more detailed qualitative and quantitative analyses to follow. This is the first Australia-wide research trial to pilot an online social media platform merging real-time clinical support, expert and peer moderation, interactive online therapy, and peer-to-peer social networking. The importance of the project stems from the need to develop innovative new models for the efficient delivery of responsive evidence-based online support to help-seeking young people. If successful, this research stands to complement and enhance e-mental health services in Australia. ©Simon Rice, John Gleeson, Steven Leicester, Sarah Bendall, Simon D'Alfonso, Tamsyn Gilbertson, Eoin Killackey, Alexandra Parker, Reeva Lederman, Greg Wadley, Olga Santesteban-Echarri, Ingrid Pryor, Daveena Mawren, Aswin Ratheesh, Mario Alvarez-Jimenez. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 22.02.2018.

SYMBIOTIC STAR BLOWS BUBBLES INTO SPACE

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

A tempestuous relationship between an unlikely pair of stars may have created an oddly shaped, gaseous nebula that resembles an hourglass nestled within an hourglass. Images taken with Earth-based telescopes have shown the larger, hourglass-shaped nebula. But this picture, taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, reveals a small, bright nebula embedded in the center of the larger one (close-up of nebula in inset). Astronomers have dubbed the entire nebula the 'Southern Crab Nebula' (He2-104), because, from ground-based telescopes, it looks like the body and legs of a crab. The nebula is several light-years long. The possible creators of these shapes cannot be seen at all in this Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 image. It's a pair of aging stars buried in the glow of the tiny, central nebula. One of them is a red giant, a bloated star that is exhausting its nuclear fuel and is shedding its outer layers in a powerful stellar wind. Its companion is a hot, white dwarf, a stellar zombie of a burned-out star. This odd duo of a red giant and a white dwarf is called a symbiotic system. The red giant is also a Mira Variable, a pulsating red giant, that is far away from its partner. It could take as much as 100 years for the two to orbit around each other. Astronomers speculate that the interaction between these two stars may have sparked episodic outbursts of material, creating the gaseous bubbles that form the nebula. They interact by playing a celestial game of 'catch': as the red giant throws off its bulk in a powerful stellar wind, the white dwarf catches some of it. As a result, an accretion disk of material forms around the white dwarf and spirals onto its hot surface. Gas continues to build up on the surface until it sparks an eruption, blowing material into space. This explosive event may have happened twice in the 'Southern Crab.' Astronomers speculate that the hourglass-shaped nebulae represent two separate outbursts that occurred several thousand years apart. The jets of material in the lower left and upper right corners may have been accelerated by the white dwarf's accretion disk and probably are part of the older eruption. The nebula, located in the Southern Hemisphere constellation of Centaurus, is a few thousand light-years from Earth. This image, taken in May 1999, captures the glow of nitrogen gas energized by the white dwarf's intense radiation. These results were presented at the 'Asymmetrical Planetary Nebulae II: From Origins to Microstructures' conference, which took place at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, August 3-6, 1999. Credits: Romano Corradi, Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Tenerife, Spain; Mario Livio, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.; Ulisse Munari, Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova-Asiago, Italy; Hugo Schwarz, Nordic Optical Telescope, Canarias, Spain; and NASA

BABOC: A new project aimed at analysing geological boundary conditions for the East Antarctic Ice Sheet in the Wilkes Subglacial Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Armadillo, Egidio; Ferraccioli, Fausto; Balbi, Pietro; Jordan, Tom; Young, Duncan; Blankenship, Don; Bozzo, Emanuele; Siegert, Martin

2013-04-01

The Wilkes Subglacial Basin extends for ca 1,400 km from George V Land into the interior of East Antarctica and hosts several major glaciers that drain a large sector of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS). The region is of major significance for assessing the long-term stability of the EAIS, as it lies well below sea level and its bedrock deepens inland. This makes it potentially prone to marine ice sheet instability, much like areas of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) that are presently experiencing significant mass loss. This sector of the EAIS has also recently become a major focus of research within IODP Leg 318 that aims to better comprehend the initial stages of glaciation in East Antarctica and the subsequent history and stability of the ice sheet in response to major paleoclimatic changes (Escutia et al., 2010 IODP Rep.). Understanding geological boundary conditions in this region is therefore important to assess their influence on ice sheet dynamics and stability. Early geophysical models inferred the existence of a major extensional sedimentary basin beneath the region, which if true, could be similar to some areas of the WAIS, There thick subglacial sediments deposited within deep rift basins or forming thin marine sedimentary drapes have been inferred to exert a key influence on the onset and maintenance of fast-glacial flow. However, later geophysical models indicated that the Wilkes Basin contains little or no sediment, is not rift-related and formed in response to Cenozoic flexural uplift of the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM). A major joint Italian-UK aerogeophysical exploration campaign over parts of the Wilkes Basin is super-seeding these earlier geophysical views of the basin: i) Precambrian and Paleozoic basement faults can now be recognised as exerting fundamental controls on the location of the topographic margins of the basin; ii) the crust underlying the basin is thinner compared to the TAM, but is unlikely to be Cretaceous or Cenozoic-age rifted crust and; iii) its bedrock is composed of a variety of rocks of different ages and bulk composition, including inferred Proterozoic basement, Neoproterozoic and Cambrian sediments intruded by Cambrian arc rocks, and cover rocks formed primarily by Beacon sediments intruded by Ferrar sills of Jurassic age. Within the framework of the collaborative Italian-US-UK BABOC project a new initiative has been launched to analyse and model variable geological boundary conditions in the Wilkes Basin, by analysing both new and existing geophysical data. A couple of new flights over the region were flown by the ICECAP team for BABOC during the 2010-11 field campaign from Mario Zucchelli Station. ICECAP independently acquired a suite of extensive aerogeophysical observations over three campaigns, centred in particular over the southern part of the basin, and some new profiles over the northern coastal margin of the basin. We present an initial analyses and interpretation of the potential field signatures over the different parts of the basin and assess regional geological controls on the subglacial topography of the basin.

Factors affecting adherence to guidelines for antithrombotic therapy in elderly patients with atrial fibrillation admitted to internal medicine wards.

PubMed

Marcucci, M; Iorio, A; Nobili, A; Tettamanti, M; Pasina, L; Marengoni, A; Salerno, F; Corrao, S; Mannucci, P M

2010-12-01

Current guidelines for ischemic stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation or flutter (AFF) recommend Vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) for patients at high-intermediate risk and aspirin for those at intermediate-low risk. The cost-effectiveness of these treatments was demonstrated also in elderly patients. However, there are several reports that emphasize the underuse of pharmacological prophylaxis of cardio-embolism in patients with AFF in different health care settings. To evaluate the adherence to current guidelines on cardio-embolic prophylaxis in elderly (> 65 years old) patients admitted with an established diagnosis of AFF to the Italian internal medicine wards participating in REPOSI registry, a project on polypathologies/polytherapies stemming from the collaboration between the Italian Society of Internal Medicine and the Mario Negri Institute of Pharmacological Research; to investigate whether or not hospitalization had an impact on guidelines adherence; to test the role of possible modifiers of VKAs prescription. We retrospectively analyzed registry data collected from January to December 2008 and assessed the prevalence of patients with AFF at admission and the prevalence of risk factors for cardio-embolism. After stratifying the patients according to their CHADS(2) score the percentage of appropriateness of antithrombotic therapy prescription was evaluated both at admission and at discharge. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were employed to verify whether or not socio-demographic (age >80years, living alone) and clinical features (previous or recent bleeding, cranio-facial trauma, cancer, dementia) modified the frequency and modalities of antithrombotic drugs prescription at admission and discharge. Among the 1332 REPOSI patients, 247 were admitted with AFF. At admission, CHADS(2) score was ≥ 2 in 68.4% of patients, at discharge in 75.9%. Among patients with AFF 26.5% at admission and 32.8% at discharge were not on any antithrombotic therapy, and 43.7% at admission and 40.9% at discharge were not taking an appropriate therapy according to the CHADS(2) score. The higher the level of cardio-embolic risk the higher was the percentage of antiplatelet- but not of VKAs-treated patients. At admission or at discharge, both at univariable and at multivariable logistic regression, only an age >80 years and a diagnosis of cancer, previous or active, had a statistically significant negative effect on VKAs prescription. Moreover, only a positive history of bleeding events (past or present) was independently associated to no VKA prescription at discharge in patients who were on VKA therapy at admission. If heparin was considered as an appropriate therapy for patients with indication for VKAs, the percentage of patients admitted or discharged on appropriate therapy became respectively 43.7% and 53.4%. Among elderly patients admitted with a diagnosis of AFF to internal medicine wards, an appropriate antithrombotic prophylaxis was taken by less than 50%, with an underuse of VKAs prescription independently of the level of cardio-embolic risk. Hospitalization did not improve the adherence to guidelines. Copyright © 2010 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The lost church of Montemurro (Basilicata, Italy): Ground Penetrating Radar and Electrical Resistivity Tomography for detecting its buried remains in S. Maria Square.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bavusi, Massimo; Giocoli, Alessandro; de Martino, Gregory; Loperte, Antonio; Lapenna, Vincenzo

2010-05-01

Montemurro is a little centre town located in the Agri Valley (Basilicata Region, Italy) which was affected by two catastrophic events: in the 1842 a very large landslide has damaged great part of the centre and in the 1857 the town was destroyed completely by the "Great Neapolitan Earthquake" (Mallet, 1862), a seismic event having epicenter in the Agri Valley (Cello et al., 2003; Bavusi et al., 2004). Signs of those tragic events can be still found in the fabric of the city. One of these is certainly S. Maria square, a place suspected to house a church before the disastrous events of 1842. This suspicion is supported by a series of evidences: a historical drawing, dating back to before 1842, shows a church in position compatible with the location of the square; in aerial view S. Maria square appears as tear in the fabric of the city; the tales of the erderlies of Montemurro speak about an ancient missing church in the town. Then, in the attempt to resolve the doubt about the presence of the church, a geophysical survey was planned in S. Maria Square with the aim to detect some buried masonry structures related to the church. In this work we selected two active techniques such as the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and the Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT). Sixty parallel GPR profiles 0.5 m spaced were gathered in S. Maria Square and in a contiguous street by using a GSSI SIR3000 system with a central frequency antenna of 200 MHz. Processed radargrams showed numerous reflectors and heterogeneities in the subsoil related to manmade objects. Then, a laborious data processing (Nuzzo et al., 2002) allowed to obtain several time-slices showing noticeable reflections compatible with masonry structures. Moreover, two ERT profiles were carried out by using an IRIS Syscal R2 system equipped with a multielectrode cable. The first ERT profile 86 m long and having 44 electrodes 2 m spaced allowed to investigate up to 9 m of depth. The second, overlapped on the previous one in the central part and constituted by 48 electrodes 1 m spaced for a length of 47 m, allowed to investigate up to about 4.5 m. Both Wenner and dipole-dipole sequences gathered along two arrays were inverted by using Res2DInv software (Loke and Barker, 1996). They showed several shallow high resistive nuclei. Their positions are in good agreement with those of the reflectors showed in the radargrams and time slices. Joint interpretation of GPR and ERT results suggests the presence of cavities and manmade structures under the square. Acknowledgements This work was supported by the traffic policeman, the technicians, the workers and the mayor Mario Di Sanzio of the Commune of Montemurro. References Bavusi M., Chianese D., Giano S.I., Mucciarelli M. (2004). Multidisciplinary investigations on the Roman aqueduct of Grumentum (Basilicata, Southern Itlay). Annals of geophysics, 47 (6), 1791-1801. Cello G., , Tondi E., Micarelli L. and Mattioni L. (2003). Active tectonics and earthquake sources in the epicentral area of the 1857 Basilicata earthquake (southern Italy). Journal of Geodynamics, 36 (1,2), 37-50. Loke M.H., Barker R.D., (1996). Rapid least-square inversion of apparent resistivity pseudosections using a quasi-Newton method. Geophysical Prospecting, 44, 131 -152. Mallet R. (1862) - Great Neapolitan Earthquake of 1857. London 1862, 2, Chapmann and Hall.

Integrated application of in situ non destructive techniques for the evaluation of the architectural elements of monumental structures.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fais, Silvana; Casula, Giuseppe; Cuccuru, Francesco; Ligas, Paola; Bianchi, Maria Giovanna; Marraccini, Alessandro

2017-04-01

The need to integrate different non invasive geophysical datasets for an effective diagnostic process of the stone materials of cultural heritage buildings is due to the complexity of the intrinsic characteristics of the different types of stones and of their degradation process. Consequently integration between different geophysical techniques is required for the characterization of stone building materials. In order to perform the diagnostic process by different non-invasive techniques thus interpreting in a realistic way the different geophysical parameters, it is necessary to link the petrophysical characteristics of stones with the geophysical ones. In this study the complementary application of three different non invasive techniques (terrestrial laser scanner (TLS), infrared thermography and ultrasonic surface and tomography measurements) was carried out to analyse the conservation state and quality of the carbonate building materials of three inner columns of the old precious church of San Lorenzo in the historical city center of Cagliari (Sardinia). In previous works (Casula et al., 2009; Fais et al., 2015), especially the integrated application of TLS and ultrasonic techniques has been demonstrated to represent a powerful tool in evaluating the quality of the stone building materials by solving or limiting the uncertainties typical of all indirect methods. Thanks to the terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) technique it was possible to 3D model the investigated columns and their surface geometrical anomalies. The TLS measurements were complemented by several ultrasonic in situ and laboratory tests in the 24kHz - 54kHz range. The ultrasonic parameters, especially longitudinal and transversal velocities, allow to recover information on materials related with mechanical properties. A good correlation between TLS surface geometrical anomalies and the ultrasonic velocity ones is evident at the surface and in shallow parts of the investigated architectural elements. To calibrate the geophysical results and provide reliable data for the interpretation, the petrophysical properties (porosity, density, water absorption) and petrographical characteristics (especially texture) of the carbonate building materials under study were examined. By combining petrographical, petrophysical, terrestrial laser scanner and ultrasonic techniques, a consistent diagnostic process of the carbonate building materials can be achieved to detect the presence of defects, fissures, fractures, weathering process or compositional variations. The above diagnostic process is very useful also to evaluate the behavior of the carbonate building materials, facilitating the planning of urgent and long-term conservation programs and in time monitoring. References Casula G, Fais S, Ligas P (2009) Experimental application of 3-D laser scanning and acoustic techniques in assessing the quality of stones used in monumental structures. Int J Microstruct. Mater. Prop. 4:45-56. doi: 10.1504/IJMMP.2009.028432 Fais, S., Cuccuru, F., Ligas, P, Casula, G., Bianchi M.G. (2015) Integrated ultrasonic, laser scanning and petrographical characterisation of carbonate building materials on an architectural structure of a historic building. Bull Eng Geol Environ. doi: 10.1007/s10064-015-0815-9 Acknowledgements: This work was supported by Regione Autonoma della Sardegna (RAS), Regional Law 7th August 2007, n. 7. The authors would also like to thank Archidiocesi di Cagliari and Mons. Mario Ledda for their kind permission to work on the San Lorenzo Church.

Best Management Practices for sediment control in a Mediterranean agricultural watershed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdelwahab, Ossama M. M.; Bingner, Ronald L.; Milillo, Fabio; Gentile, Francesco

2015-04-01

Soil erosion can lead to severe destruction of agricultural sustainability that affects not only productivity, but the entire ecosystem in the neighboring areas. Sediments transported together with the associated nutrients and chemicals can significantly impact downstream water bodies. Various conservation and management practices implemented individually or integrated together as a system can be used to reduce the negative impacts on agricultural watersheds from soil erosion. Hydrological models are useful tools for decision makers when selecting the most effective combination of management practices to reduce pollutant loads within a watershed system. The Annualized Agricultural Non-point Source (AnnAGNPS) pollutant loading management model can be used to analyze the effectiveness of diverse management and conservation practices that can control or reduce the impact of soil erosion processes and subsequent sediment loads in agricultural watersheds. A 506 km2 Mediterranean medium-size watershed (Carapelle) located in Apulia, Southern Italy was used as a case study to evaluate the model and best management practices (BMPs) for sediment load control. A monitoring station located at the Ordona bridge has been instrumented to continuously monitor stream flow and suspended sediment loads. The station has been equipped with an ultrasound stage meter and a stage recorder to monitor stream flow. An infrared optic probe was used to measure suspended sediment concentrations (Gentile et al., 2010 ). The model was calibrated and validated in the Carapelle watershed on an event basis (Bisantino et al., 2013), and the validated model was used to evaluate the effectiveness of BMPs on sediment reduction. Various management practices were investigated including evaluating the impact on sediment load of: (1) converting all cropland areas into forest and grass covered conditions; (2) converting the highest eroding cropland areas to forest or grass covered conditions; and (3) utilizing a crop rotation of wheat and forage crops (Abdelwahab et al., 2014). Further evaluations include scenarios with additional improvements in the input data, in particular better reflecting the management operations within model input parameters used to represent the current conditions applied in the watershed, and the study of the efficiency of the model in predicting runoff and sediment loads at a monthly and annual scale using un-calibrated parameters. The effect of riparian buffers as a natural trap that reduce runoff and increase the in-situ sediment deposition are also investigated. Acknowledgements This work is carried out in the framework of the Italian Research Project of Relevant Interest (PRIN2010-2011), prot. 20104ALME4, "National network for monitoring, modeling, and sustainable management of erosion processes in agricultural land and hilly-mountainous area" National Coordinator prof. Mario Lenzi (University of Padova). References Gentile F., Bisantino T., Corbino R., Milillo F., Romano G., Trisorio Liuzzi G. (2010) Monitoring and analysis of suspended sediment transport dynamics in the Carapelle torrent (southern Italy). Catena 80, 1-8, doi:10.1016/j.catena.2009.08.004. Bisantino T., Bingner R., Chouaib W., Gentile F., Trisorio Liuzzi G. (2013) Estimation of runoff, peak discharge and sediment load at the event scale in a medium-size Mediterranean watershed using the AnnAGNPS model. Land Degradation & Development, wileyonlinelibrary.com, doi: 10.1002/ldr.2213. Abdelwahab O.M.M., Bingner R.L., Milillo F., Gentile F. (2014) Effectiveness of alternative management scenarios on the sediment load in a Mediterranean agricultural watershed. Journal of Agricultural Engineering, vol. XLV:430, 125-136, doi: 10.4081/jae.2014.430.

Human geomorphic footprint and global geomorphic change: implications for hydrogeomorphic hazards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Remondo, Juan

2010-05-01

The human geomorphic footprint (HGF), expressed as the area affected by the construction of new 'anthropogeoforms' or the volume of geologic materials directly or indirectly displaced by human action has grown considerably in the last decades. Available data suggest that the present HGF is roughly 50,000 km2 a-1 of new anthropogeoforms and 300 x109 t a-1 of solid materials transferred from one part of the earth's surface to another. The latter represents a 'technological denudation' that could be 1-2 orders of magnitude greater than denudation by natural agents or sediment transport by the world's rivers. This implies a profound modification of geomorphic processes that produces a series of often disregarded environmental consequences. Some of those can by directly linked to excavation/accumulation activities and are essentially local, but in other cases the possible relationship appears to be more indirect and could have a widespread character. The transformation of land surface by human action is shown not only by landform construction and transfer of geologic materials, but also by land-use change in general and modification of the characteristics of the surface layer. This seems to affect both the hydrologic response and the sensitivity of that surface layer to different geomorphic agents. The magnitude of the above mentioned modification is logically related to the intensity of human activities, themselves related to the number of people on the planet and their economic and technological capabilities, which grow practically in all regions of the planet. It is thus reasonable to expect that the HGF and its effects should grow with time. If this were so, we should expect to find evidences of a general acceleration of geomorphic processes in the world that could represent a 'global geomorphic change'. The final expression of geomorphic processes, which could be used to test that hypothesis, is sediment generation and deposition. Data are presented on sedimentation rates in different areas showing that in most of them sedimentation has increased significantly during the last century (by about one order of magnitude in most cases) and that such increase does not seem to be related to climate but rather to human activity. If a global geomorphic change is indeed taking place, an increase in the frequency/intensity of related hazards, such as landslides or floods, should be expected. Data are presented indicating that it could be so. If what the data presented suggest is confirmed by further and deeper analyses, existing hazard and risk assessments for those processes should be reconsidered, because they would likely represent underestimates. The CAMGEO Team is formed by the following persons: Antonio Cendrero1, Gonzalo Méndez2, Jaime Bonachea1, José Gómez-Arozamena1, José Luis Cavallotto5, José Manuel Naredo3, Juan Remondo1, Lazaro V. Zuquette6, Luis Salas1, Luis M. Forte4, Marcilene Dantas-Ferreira6, Maria Angélica de O. Bezerra7, Mario da Silva, Martín A. Hurtado4, Osni J. Pejon6, Victoria Rivas1, Viola M. Bruschi1. 1) Universidad de Cantabria, Spain; 2) Universidad de Vigo, Spain; 3) Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain; 4) Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina; 5) Servicio de Hidrografía Naval, Argentina; 6) Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Carlos, Brazil; 7) Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.

List of Participants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2008-11-01

Mohab Abou ZeidInstitut des Hautes Études Scientifiques, Bures-sur-Yvette Ido AdamMax-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik (AEI), Potsdam Henrik AdorfLeibniz Universität Hannover Mohammad Ali-AkbariIPM, Tehran Antonio Amariti Università di Milano-Bicocca Nicola Ambrosetti Université de Neuchâtel Martin Ammon Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Christopher AndreyÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Laura AndrianopoliPolitecnico di Torino David AndriotLPTHE, Université UPMC Paris VI Carlo Angelantonj Università di Torino Pantelis ApostolopoulosUniversitat de les Illes Balears, Palma Gleb ArutyunovInstitute for Theoretical Physics, Utrecht University Davide AstolfiUniversità di Perugia Spyros AvramisUniversité de Neuchâtel Mirela BabalicChalmers University, Göteborg Foday BahDigicom Ioannis Bakas University of Patras Igor BandosUniversidad de Valencia Jose L F BarbonIFTE UAM/CSIC Madrid Till BargheerMax-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik (AEI), Potsdam Marco Baumgartl Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zürich James BedfordImperial College London Raphael BenichouLaboratoire de Physique Théorique, École Normale Supérieure, Paris Francesco Benini SISSA, Trieste Eric Bergshoeff Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Groningen Alice BernamontiVrije Universiteit, Brussel Julia BernardLaboratoire de Physique Théorique, École Normale Supérieure, Paris Adel Bilal Laboratoire de Physique Théorique, École Normale Supérieure, Paris Marco Billo' Università di Torino Matthias Blau Université de Neuchâtel Guillaume BossardAlbert-Einstein-Institut, Golm Leonardo BriziÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Johannes BroedelLeibniz Universität Hannover (AEI) Tom BrownQueen Mary, University of London Ilka BrunnerEidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zürich Erling BrynjolfssonUniversity of Iceland Dmitri BykovSteklov Institute, Moscow and Trinity College, Dublin Joan CampsUniversitat de Barcelona Davide CassaniLaboratoire de Physique Théorique, École Normale Supérieure, Paris Alejandra CastroUniversity of Michigan Claudio Caviezel Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Alessio Celi Universitat de Barcelona Anna Ceresole Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Università di Torino Athanasios ChatzistavrakidisNational Technical University of Athens Wissam ChemissanyCentre for Theoretical Physics, University of Groningen Eugen-Mihaita CioroianuUniversity of Craiova Andres CollinucciTechnische Universität Wien Paul CookUniversità di Roma, Tor Vergata Lorenzo CornalbaUniversità di Milano-Bicocca Aldo CotroneKatholieke Universiteit Leuven Ben Craps Vrije Universiteit, Brussel Stefano Cremonesi SISSA, Trieste Riccardo D'AuriaPolitecnico di Torino Gianguido Dall'AgataUniversity of Padova Jose A de AzcarragaUniversidad de Valencia Jan de BoerInstituut voor Theoretische Fysica, Universiteit van Amsterdam Sophie de BuylInstitut des Hautes Études Scientifiques, Bures-sur-Yvette Marius de LeeuwUtrecht University Frederik De RooVrije Universiteit, Brussel Jan De Rydt Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and CERN, Geneva Bernard de WitInstitute for Theoretical Physics, Utrecht University Stephane DetournayIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano Paolo Di Vecchia Niels Bohr Institute, København Eugen DiaconuUniversity of Craiova Vladimir Dobrev Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia Nick DoreyUniversity of Cambridge Hajar Ebrahim NajafabadiIPM, Tehran Federico Elmetti Università di Milano Oleg Evnin Vrije Universiteit, Brussel Francesco Fiamberti Università di Milano Davide Forcella SISSA, Trieste and CERN, Geneva Valentina Forini Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Angelos Fotopoulos Università di Torino Denis Frank Université de Neuchâtel Marialuisa Frau Università di Torino Matthias Gaberdiel Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zürich Diego Gallego SISSA/ISAS, Trieste Maria Pilar Garcia del MoralIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Università di Torino Valentina Giangreco Marotta PulettiUppsala University Valeria L GiliQueen Mary, University of London Luciano GirardelloUniversità di Milano-Bicocca Gian GiudiceCERN, Geneva Kevin Goldstein Institute for Theoretical Physics, Utrecht University Joaquim Gomis Universitat de Barcelona Pietro Antonio GrassiUniversità del Piemonte Orientale, Alessandria Viviane GraßLudwig-Maximilians-Universität, München Gianluca Grignani Università di Perugia Luca Griguolo Università di Parma Johannes GrosseJagiellonian University, Krakow Umut Gursoy École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Norberto Gutierrez RodriguezUniversity of Oviedo Babak HaghighatPhysikalisches Institut, Universität Bonn Troels Harmark Niels Bohr Institute, København Robert HaslhoferEidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zürich Tae-Won HaPhysikalisches Institut, Universität Bonn Alexander HauptImperial College London and Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik (AEI), Potsdam Marc HenneauxUniversité Libre de Bruxelles Johannes HennLAPTH, Annecy-le-Vieux Shinji HiranoNiels Bohr Institute, København Stefan HoheneggerEidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zürich Jan HomannLudwig-Maximilians-Universität, München Gabriele Honecker CERN, Geneva Joost HoogeveenInstituut voor Theoretische Fysica, Universiteit van Amsterdam Mechthild HuebscherUniversidad Autónoma de Madrid Chris HullImperial College London Carmen-Liliana IonescuUniversity of Craiova Ella JasminUniversité Libre de Bruxelles Konstantin KanishchevInstitute of Theoretical Physics, University of Warsaw Stefanos Katmadas Utrecht University Alexandros KehagiasNational Technical University of Athens Christoph Keller Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zürich Patrick Kerner Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Rebiai KhaledLaboratoire de Physique Mathématique et Physique Subatomique, Université Mentouri, Constantine Elias Kiritsis Centre de Physique Théorique, École Polytechnique, Palaiseau and University of Crete Denis KleversPhysikalisches Institut, Universität Bonn Paul Koerber Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Simon Koers Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Karl KollerLudwig-Maximilians-Universität, München Peter Koroteev Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP), Moscow and Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik (AEI), Potsdam Alexey KoshelevVrije Universiteit, Brussel Costas KounnasÉcole Normale Supérieure, Paris Daniel KreflCERN, Geneva Charlotte KristjansenNiels Bohr Institute, København Finn LarsenCERN, Geneva and University of Michigan Arnaud Le DiffonÉcole Normale Supérieure, Lyon Michael LennekCentre de Physique Théorique, École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Alberto Lerda Università del Piemonte Orientale, Alessandria Andreas LiberisUniversity of Patras Maria A Lledo Universidad de Valencia Oscar Loaiza-Brito CINVESTAV, Mexico Florian Loebbert Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik (AEI), Potsdam Yolanda Lozano University of Oviedo Dieter Luest Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München Tomasz Łukowski Jagiellonian University, Krakow Diego Mansi University of Crete Alberto Mariotti Università di Milano-Bicocca Raffaele Marotta Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Napoli Alessio Marrani Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare and LNF, Firenze Andrea Mauri University of Crete Liuba Mazzanti École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Sean McReynoldsUniversità di Milano-Bicocca AKM Moinul Haque Meaze Chittagong University Patrick Meessen Instituto de Física Teórica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Carlo MeneghelliUniversità di Parma and Albert-Einstein-Institut, Golm Lotta Mether University of Helsinki and CERN, Geneva René Meyer Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Georgios MichalogiorgakisCenter de Physique Théorique, École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Giuseppe Milanesi Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zürich Samuel Monnier Université de Genève Wolfgang MueckUniversità di Napoli Federico II Elena Méndez Escobar University of Edinburgh Iulian Negru University of Craiova Emil NissimovInstitute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy, Sofia Teake NutmaCentre for Theoretical Physics, University of Groningen Niels Obers Niels Bohr Institute, København Olof Ohlsson SaxUppsala University Rodrigo OleaIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano Domenico OrlandoUniversité de Neuchâtel Marta Orselli Niels Bohr Institute, København Tomas OrtinInstituto de Física Teórica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Yaron OzTel Aviv University Enrico PajerLudwig-Maximilians-Universität, München Angel Paredes GalanUtrecht University Sara PasquettiUniversité de Neuchâtel Silvia PenatiUniversità di Milano-Bicocca Jan PerzKatholieke Universiteit Leuven Igor PesandoUniversità di Torino Tassos PetkouUniversity of Crete Marios PetropoulosCenter de Physique Théorique, École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Franco PezzellaIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Napoli Moises Picon PonceUniversity of Padova Marco PirroneUniversità di Milano-Bicocca Andrea PrinslooUniversity of Cape Town Joris RaeymaekersKatholieke Universiteit Leuven Alfonso RamalloUniversidade de Santiago de Compostela Carlo Alberto RattiUniversità di Milano-Bicocca Marco RauchPhysikalisches Institut, Universität Bonn Ronald Reid-EdwardsUniversity of Hamburg Patricia RitterUniversity of Edinburgh Peter RoenneDESY, Hamburg Jan RosseelUniversità di Torino Clement RuefService de Physique Théorique, CEA Saclay Felix RustMax-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Thomas RyttovNiels Bohr Institute, København and CERN, Geneva Agustin Sabio VeraCERN, Geneva Christian SaemannTrinity College, Dublin Houman Safaai SISSA, Trieste Henning SamtlebenÉcole Normale Supérieure, Lyon Alberto SantambrogioIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano Silviu Constantin SararuUniversity of Craiova Ricardo SchiappaCERN, Geneva Ionut Romeo SchiopuChalmers University, Göteborg Cornelius Schmidt-ColinetEidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zürich Johannes SchmudeSwansea University Waldemar SchulginLaboratoire de Physique Théorique, École Normale Supérieure, Paris Domenico SeminaraUniversità di Firenze Alexander SevrinVrije Universiteit, Brussel Konstadinos SfetsosUniversity of Patras Igor ShenderovichSt Petersburg State University Jonathan ShockUniversidade de Santiago de Compostela Massimo SianiUniversità di Milano-Bicocca Christoph SiegUniversità Degli Studi di Milano Joan SimonUniversity of Edinburgh Paul SmythUniversity of Hamburg Luca SommovigoUniversidad de Valencia Dmitri Sorokin Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Padova Christos SourdisUniversity of Patras Wieland StaessensVrije Universiteit, Brussel Ivan StefanovUniversity of Patras Sigurdur StefanssonUniversity of Iceland Kellogg Stelle Imperial College London Giovanni Tagliabue Università di Milano Laura Tamassia Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Javier TarrioUniversidade de Santiago de Compostela Dimitri TerrynVrije Universiteit, Brussel Larus Thorlacius University of Iceland Mario ToninDipartimento Di Fisica, Sezione Di Padova Mario Trigiante Politecnico di Torino Efstratios TsatisUniversity of Patras Arkady TseytlinImperial College London Pantelis TziveloglouCornell University, New York and CERN, Geneva Angel Uranga CERN, Geneva Dieter Van den Bleeken Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Ernst van Eijk Università di Napoli Federico II Antoine Van Proeyen Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Maaike van ZalkUtrecht University Pierre Vanhove Service de Physique Théorique, CEA Saclay Silvia Vaula Instituto de Física Teórica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Cristian Vergu Service de Physique Théorique, CEA Saclay Alessandro VichiÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Marlene WeissCERN, Geneva and Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zürich Sebastian Weiss Université de Neuchâtel Alexander WijnsUniversity of Iceland Linus WulffUniversity of Padova Thomas WyderKatholieke Universiteit Leuven Ahmed YoussefAstroParticule et Cosmologie (APC), Université Paris Diderot Daniela ZanonUniversità Degli Studi di Milano Andrea ZanziPhysikalisches Institut, Universität Bonn Andrey ZayakinInstitute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP), Moscow Tobias ZinggUniversity of Iceland Dimitrios ZoakosUniversidade de Santiago de Compostela Emanuele ZorzanUniversità di Milano Konstantinos ZoubosNiels Bohr Institute, København

List of Participants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2011-09-01

AbeTakashiUniversity of Tokyotabe@nt.phys.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp AmusiaMironRacah Institute of Physics, Jerusalemamusia@vms.huji.ac.il BaldoMarcelloINFN Cataniabaldo@ct.infn.it BansalManiePanjab University, Chandigarhbansalmanni@gmail.com BarrancoFranciscoUniversity of Sevillebarranco@us.es BertschGeorgeUniversity of Washington, Seattlebertsch@u.washington.edu BhagwatAmeeyaCBS Mumbaiameeya@kth.se BorderieBernardIPN Orsayborderie@ipno.in2p3.fr CarbonellJaumeLPSC Grenoblejaume.carbonell@lpsc.in2p3.fr CarlsonJoeLos Alamos National Laboratorycarlson@lanl.gov ColòGianlucaINFN - Università degli Studi di Milanocolo@mi.infn.it DanielewiczPawelNSCL, Michigan State Universitydanielewicz@nscl.msu.edu DescouvemontPierreUniversité Libre de Bruxellespdesc@ulb.ac.be Dohet-EralyJérémyUniversité Libre de Bruxellesjdoheter@ulb.ac.be DraayerJerryLouisiana State Universitydraayer@lsu.edu DufourMarianneIPHC, Université de Strasbourgmarianne.dufour@ires.in2p3.fr DuguetThomasCEA Saclaythomas.duguet@cea.fr DukelskyJorgeCSIC Madriddukelsky@iem.cfmac.csic.es EbranJean-PaulCEA-DAM, Arpajonebran@ipno.in2p3.fr FreerMartinUniversity of Birminghamm.freer@bham.ac.uk FujiiShinichiroUniversity of Tokyosfujii@cns.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp FunakiYasuroRIKEN Nishina Center, Wakofunaki@riken.jp GrassoMarcellaIPN Orsaygrasso@ipno.in2p3.fr HaginoKouichiTohoku Universityhagino@nucl.phys.tohoku.ac.jp HansenHubertUniversité Claude Bernard Lyon 1hansen@ipnl.in2p3.fr HolzmannMarkusLPMMC Grenoblemarkus@lptl.jussieu.fr HoriuchiHisashiRCNP, Osaka Universityhoriuchi@rcnp.osaka-u.ac.jp HoriuchiWataruGSI Darmstadtw.horiuchi@gsi.de HupinGuillaumeGANIL, Caenhupin@ganil.fr JinMengHuazhong Normal University, Wuhanjinm@iopp.ccnu.edu.cn KamimuraMasayasuRIKEN Nishina Center, Wakomkamimura@riken.jp Kanada-En'yoYoshikoKyoto Universityyenyo@ruby.scphys.kyoto-u.ac.jp KatoKiyoshiHokkaido University, Sapporokato@nucl.sci.hokudai.ac.jp KawabataTakahiroKyoto Universitykawabata@scphys.kyoto-u.ac.jp KhanEliasIPN Orsaykhan@ipno.in2p3.fr KhodelVictorKurchatov Institute, Moscowvak@wuphys.wustl.edu KimuraMasaakiHokkaido University, Sapporomasaaki@nucl.sci.hokudai.ac.jp LacroixDenisGANIL, Caenlacroix@ganil.fr LiangHaozhaoPeking University, Beijinghzliang@pku.edu.cn MargueronJérômeIPN Orsayjerome.margueron@ipno.in2p3.fr MassotElisabethIPN Orsaymassot@ipno.in2p3.fr MengJiePeking University, Beijingmengj@pku.edu.cn MillerTomaszWarsaw University of Technologymillert@student.mini.pw.edu.pl MoghrabiKassemIPN Orsaymoghrabi@ipno.in2p3.fr NapolitaniPaoloIPN Orsaynapolita@ipno.in2p3.fr NeffThomasGSI Darmstadtt.neff@gsi.de NguyenVan GiaiIPN Orsaynguyen@ipno.in2p3.fr OtsukaTakaharuUniversity of Tokyootsuka@phys.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp PilletNathalie-MarieCEA-DAM, Arpajonnathalie.pillet@cea.fr QiChongKTH Stockholmchongq@kth.se RamananSunethraICTP Triestesramanan@ictp.it RingPeterTU Munichring@ph.tum.de Rios HuguetArnauUniversity of Surreya.rios@surrey.ac.uk RivetMarie-FranceIPN Orsayrivet@ipno.in2p3.fr RobledoLuisUniversidad Autonoma de Madridluis.robledo@uam.es Roca MazaXavierINFN Milanoxavier.roca.maza@mi.infn.it RöpkeGerdRostock Universitygerd.roepke@uni-rostock.de RowleyNeilIPN Orsayrowley@ipno.in2p3.fr SagawaHiroyukiUniversity of Aizusagawa@u-aizu.ac.jp SandulescuNicolaeIFIN-HH, Bucharestsandulescu@theory.nipne.ro SchuckPeterIPN Orsayschuck@ipno.in2p3.fr SedrakianArmenGoethe Universität Frankfurtsedrakian@th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de SeveryukhinAlexeyJINR Dubnasever@theor.jinr.ru SogoTakaakiIPN Orsaysogo@ipno.in2p3.fr SomàVittorioCEA Saclayvittorio.soma@cea.fr StrinatiGiancarloUniversità di Camerinogiancarlo.strinati@gmail.com SuharaTadahiroKyoto Universitysuhara@ruby.scphys.kyoto-u.ac.jp SukhoruchkinSergeiPetersburg Nuclear Physics Institutesergeis@pnpi.spb.ru SuzukiToruTokyo Metropolitan Universitysuzukitr@tmu.ac.jp SuzukiToshioNihon University, Tokyosuzuki@chs.nihon-u.ac.jp TarpanovDimitarINRNE, Sofiadimitert@yahoo.co.uk Tohsaki-SuzukiAkihiroOsaka Universitytohsaki@rcnp.osaka-u.ac.jp TypelStefanGSI Darmstadts.typel@gsi.de UesakaTomohiroUniversity of Tokyouesaka@cns.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp UrbanMichaelIPN Orsayurban@ipno.in2p3.fr Van IsackerPietGANIL Caenisacker@ganil.fr VigezziEnricoINFN Milanovigezzi@mi.infn.it ViñasXavierUniversitat de Barcelonaxavier@ecm.ub.es Vinh MauNicoleIPN Orsayvinhmau@ipno.in2p3.fr VitturiAndreaINFN Padovavitturi@pd.infn.it Von OertzenWolframHelmholtz Zentrum Berlinoertzen@helmholtz-berlin.de WambachJochenTechnische Universität Darmstadtjochen.wambach@physik.tu-darmstadt.de WlazłowskiGabrielWarsaw University of Technologygabrielw@if.pw.edu.pl YamadaTaiichiKanto Gakuin University, Yokohamayamada@kanto-gakuin.ac.jp YoshidaKenichiRIKEN Nishina Center, Wakokenichi.yoshida@riken.jp YoshidaSatoshiHosei University, Tokyos_yoshi@i.hosei.ac.jp

Management of postoperative pain in abdominal surgery in Spain. A multicentre drug utilization study

PubMed Central

Vallano, Antonio; Aguilera, Cristina; Arnau, Josep Maria; Baños, Josep-Eladi; Laporte, Joan-Ramon

1999-01-01

Participating centres: Hospital Universitario San Juan, Alicante: Maria Jesús Olaso, Javier Agulló, Clara Faura. Hospital Torrecárdenas, Almería: Carmen Fernández Sánchez, Miguel Lorenzo Campos, Juan Manuel Rodríguez Alonso. Hospital Quirúrgic Adriano, Barcelona: Carmen Alerany Pardo, Paquita Alvarez González, Teresa Martín Benito. Hospital Universitari del Mar-IMIM, Barcelona: Magí Farré, Maite Terán. Corporació Sanitària Parc Taulí, Sabadell: Montserrat Cañellas, Sergio Zavala, Josep Planell. Hospital Universitari de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau: Gonzalo Calvo, Rosa Morros, Silvia Mateo. Hospital General Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona: Carmen Bosch, María José Martínez. Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Victoria, Málaga: Maribel Lucena, José Antonio González, Gabriel Carranque. Hospital Clínico Universitario San Carlos, Madrid: Emilio Vargas, Amparo Gil López-Oliva, Míriam García Mateos. Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla, Santander: Mario González, Antonio Cuadrado. Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Macarena, Sevilla: Juan Antonio Durán, Pilar Máyquez, María Isabel Serrano. Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla: Jaume Torelló, Juan Ramón Castillo, María de las Nieves Merino. Aims Postoperative pain is common in hospital-admitted patients. Its management is determined by different therapeutic traditions and by the attitudes of health professionals in each hospital. The aim of this study was to describe the patterns of prescription and administration of analgesic drugs used for postoperative pain after abdominal surgery in Spanish hospitals, to know the prevalence and the severity of postoperative pain, and to determine the extent of variability in the management of postoperative pain among the participating centres. Methods The study was a multicentre descriptive cross-sectional drug utilization study in 12 Spanish hospitals. The subjects were an unselected sample of consecutive patients undergoing abdominal surgery, admitted between October 1994 and January 1995. For each patient, information about the surgical procedure and the use of analgesics was prospectively collected. The severity of postoperative pain was assessed during the first day after surgery by means of a six-category (none, mild, moderate, severe, very severe, and unbearable) rating scale and a visual analogue scale (VAS). Results Nine hundred and ninety-three patients (547 men) were included. The most common surgical procedures were inguinal hernia repair (315, 32%), cholecystectomy (268, 27%), appendectomy (140, 14%), bowel resection (137, 14%), and gastric surgery (58, 6%). Fifty-nine percent of patients (587) received nonopioid analgesics only, 9% (89) received opioid analgesics only, and 27% (263) received both opioid and nonopioid analgesics. The most frequently administered drugs were metamizole (667 patients) and pethidine (213 patients). Although in the majority of medical orders the administration of analgesics was scheduled at regular time intervals, the majority of actual doses were given ‘as-needed’. The average administered daily doses of all analgesics were lower than those prescribed. Thirty-eight percent (371/967) of patients rated their maximum pain on the first day as severe to unbearable. Wide interhospital variability was recorded in the surgical procedures which had been performed, in the analgesics used, and also in the pain scores referred by patients. The percentage of patients in each centre who suffered severe to unbearable pain varied from 22 to 67%. Conclusions In Spain many patients still suffer severe pain after abdominal surgery, and this seems to be due to an inadequate use of analgesics. Wide interhospital variability in the management of postoperative pain and in its prevalence was also recorded. PMID:10383545

The dynamical interactions of Amazon deforestation, intensification of cattle ranching and technology adoption: insights from a socio-ecological model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Müller-Hansen, Finn; Heitzig, Jobst; Donges, Jonathan F.; Cardoso, Manoel F.; Kurths, Jürgen; Thonicke, Kirsten

2017-04-01

Deforestation in the tropics - with vast consequences for the ecosystem and climate - is mainly driven by subsequent land use, which is not only determined by environmental and economic constraints but also influenced by the use of different production technologies. Inefficient production technologies can lead to excessive use of land, especially in areas where land is easily available and accessible. Here, the adoption of new technologies could help to use already converted land more intensively and ease pressures on ecologically valuable areas. In this study, we take the Brazilian Amazon as a prominent example region to explore the interplay of land-use decisions with environmental and economic dynamics in the process of land-use intensification and frontier expansion. Expansion of pasture land for cattle ranching to satisfy increasing domestic and international demands is one of the important drivers for deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Pasture run-down and following land abandonment further drive the expansion of deforestation frontiers into pristine forests. Therefore, intensification of livestock production, especially better pasture management, could potentially reduce deforestation. However, a number of reasons including the large spatial extent of the region make the process of comparing the effectiveness of different management techniques, technologies and policies in the region difficult. Therefore, the effectiveness and possible outcomes of policies to foster intensification are highly debated in the literature. Some authors deny that intensification policies are a viable option to spare forests as long as they are not a scarce resource [1] while others insist that intensification has an effect if only supported by the right policies [2]. In this presentation, we introduce a concise agent-based model to study conditions under which intensification can reduce deforestation and explore the trade-offs between intensified and extensive land uses. While most agent-based models in land science are developed for small study regions, our approach is scalable also to regional levels and for this purpose abstracts from many local specificities. In the proposed model, a collection of cattle ranchers interacts with the local environment via decisions to convert forest into pasture land and manage this pasture. Deforestation and land abandonment is traced by simple land-cover succession equations and ecological dynamics consider the evolution of pasture productivity depending on pasture management, deforestation and tree regrowth. Agent decisions are captured by heuristic strategies depending on economic and ecological constraints. Agents can follow either an extensive strategy, corresponding to traditional cattle ranching with fallow periods and slash-and-burn fertilization, or an intensive strategy, i.e. cattle ranching with high inputs such as machinery and industrial fertilizers. The choice of the production strategy is modeled as a social learning process: Agents are located on a geometric network representing neighborhood and acquaintance relations and imitate the successful strategies of their neighbors. We will present a comprehensive analysis of the model and discuss conditions that foster sustainable land use. Finally, we will give an outlook at possible extensions of the model and applications to issues such as compliance with Brazil's Forest Code and feedbacks from changes in climate. References: [1] Kaimowitz, David and Arild Angelsen (2008). "Will Livestock Intensification Help Save Latin America's Tropical Forests?" In: Journal of Sustainable Forestry 27.1-2, pp. 6-24. [2] Cohn, Avery S, Aline Mosnier, Petr Havlík, Hugo Valin, Mario Herrero, Erwin Schmid, Michael O'Hare, and Michael Obersteiner (2014). "Cattle ranching intensification in Brazil can reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by sparing land from deforestation." In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 111.20, pp. 7236-7241.

Parts-based geophysical inversion with application to water flooding interface detection and geological facies detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Junwei

I built parts-based and manifold based mathematical learning model for the geophysical inverse problem and I applied this approach to two problems. One is related to the detection of the oil-water encroachment front during the water flooding of an oil reservoir. In this application, I propose a new 4D inversion approach based on the Gauss-Newton approach to invert time-lapse cross-well resistance data. The goal of this study is to image the position of the oil-water encroachment front in a heterogeneous clayey sand reservoir. This approach is based on explicitly connecting the change of resistivity to the petrophysical properties controlling the position of the front (porosity and permeability) and to the saturation of the water phase through a petrophysical resistivity model accounting for bulk and surface conductivity contributions and saturation. The distributions of the permeability and porosity are also inverted using the time-lapse resistivity data in order to better reconstruct the position of the oil water encroachment front. In our synthetic test case, we get a better position of the front with the by-products of porosity and permeability inferences near the flow trajectory and close to the wells. The numerical simulations show that the position of the front is recovered well but the distribution of the recovered porosity and permeability is only fair. A comparison with a commercial code based on a classical Gauss-Newton approach with no information provided by the two-phase flow model fails to recover the position of the front. The new approach could be also used for the time-lapse monitoring of various processes in both geothermal fields and oil and gas reservoirs using a combination of geophysical methods. A paper has been published in Geophysical Journal International on this topic and I am the first author of this paper. The second application is related to the detection of geological facies boundaries and their deforation to satisfy to geophysica data and prior distributions. We pose the geophysical inverse problem in terms of Gaussian random fields with mean functions controlled by petrophysical relationships and covariance functions controlled by a prior geological cross-section, including the definition of spatial boundaries for the geological facies. The petrophysical relationship problem is formulated as a regression problem upon each facies. The inversion is performed in a Bayesian framework. We demonstrate the usefulness of this strategy using a first synthetic case study, performing a joint inversion of gravity and galvanometric resistivity data with the stations all located at the ground surface. The joint inversion is used to recover the density and resistivity distributions of the subsurface. In a second step, we consider the possibility that the facies boundaries are deformable and their shapes are inverted as well. We use the level set approach to deform the facies boundaries preserving prior topological properties of the facies throughout the inversion. With the additional help of prior facies petrophysical relationships, topological characteristic of each facies, we make posterior inference about multiple geophysical tomograms based on their corresponding geophysical data misfits. The result of the inversion technique is encouraging when applied to a second synthetic case study, showing that we can recover the heterogeneities inside the facies, the mean values for the petrophysical properties, and, to some extent, the facies boundaries. A paper has been submitted to Geophysics on this topic and I am the first author of this paper. During this thesis, I also worked on the time lapse inversion problem of gravity data in collaboration with Marios Karaoulis and a paper was published in Geophysical Journal international on this topic. I also worked on the time-lapse inversion of cross-well geophysical data (seismic and resistivity) using both a structural approach named the cross-gradient approach and a petrophysical approach. A paper was published in Geophysics on this topic.

The Project Serapis: High Resolution Seismic Imagingof The Campi Flegrei Caldera Structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zollo, A.; Virieux, J.; Capuano, P.; Chiarabba, C.; de Franco, R.; Makris, J.; Michelini, A.; Musacchio, G.; Serapis Group

During September 2001, an extended active seismic survey has been performed in the gulfs of Naples and Pozzuoli in the framework of the so called SERAPIS (SEismic Re- flection Acquisition Project for Imaging Structures). The project SERAPIS is aimed at the acquisition in the bays of Naples and Pozzuoli, on land and at the sea bottom (using sea bottom seismographs), of seismic signals emitted by a very dense network of airgun sources. The energization is performed through the syncronized implosion of bubbles produced by a battery of three to twelve, 16 liters airguns, mounted on the oceanographic vessel NADIR, owned by the french company IFREMER, which supported the project at no cost. The experiment has been designed to have 2D-3D acquisition lay-outs and its objective is the high resolution imaging of the main shal- low crustal discontinuities underneath the major neapolitan volcanic complexes. In particular some desired targets are the location and spatial definition of the magmatic feeding system of Campi Flegrei and the morphologic reconstruction of the interface separating the shallow volcano-alluvium sediments and the Mesozoic carbonates, re- cently detected and accurately imaged underneath Mt.Vesuvius volcano. A secondary but not less important objective is the denser re-sampling of areas in the Bay of Naples prospicient to Mt.Vesuvius, which have been investigated during the last marine sur- vey using the same vessel in 1997 (MareVes 97). Sixty, three-component stations have been installed on-land in the areas of Campi Flegrei, Mt.Vesuvius and on the islands of Ischia and Procida. In particular, the Mt.Vesuvius stations have been deployed along a 40 km long, SE-NW profile crossing the Campanian Plain toward the limestone out- crops. 72 sea bottom seismographs (OBS) have been installed in the gulfs of Naples and Pozzuoli by the University of Hamburg, with the logistic support of Geopro smbh and Geolab Italia. The OBS network geometry follows the main expected NE-SW and SE-NW structural trends and it has been designed to get 2D/3D images of the crustal structure at a regional scale. A denser 2D network of 35 OBSs has been deployed in the bay of Pozzuoli aimed at detecting and modeling reflected/converted waves from 1 the possible shallow to deep discontinuities beneath the Campi Flegrei caldera. The main target of this particular receiver lay-out is the detailed imaging of the magma chamber top, expected at 4-5 km depth, according to temperature measurements in wells and sparse seismic observations. About 5000 shots have been performed dur- ing the SERAPIS experiment, at an average spatial spacing of 125 m, for a total ship travel path of 620 km. All of the seismic lines have been re-sampled at least twice, using a staggered configuration, which results in a smaller source spacing (less than 65m). In the gulf of Pozzuoli the source array had a geometry of a 5x5 km grid, slightly shifted south with respect to the OBS array. Seismic signals produced by air- guns have been well detected up to 50-60 km distance and the whole Campi Flegrei, Ischia and Procida on-land networks have recorded high quality seismograms pro- duced by the gridded source array in the bay of Pozzuoli. Due to the extended and very dense source and receiver arrays used for SERAPIS, this campaign can provide an innovative contribution to the accurate reconstruction of the Campi Flegrei caldera structure and to the definition of its feeding system at depth. *SERAPIS group: Auger Emmanuel, Bernard Marie-Lise, Bobbio Antonella, Bonagura Mariateresa, Cantore Luciana, Convertito Vincenzo, D'Auria Luca, De Matteis Raffaella, Emolo Anto- nio, Festa Gaetano, Gasparini Paolo, Giberti Grazia, Herrero Andre, Improta Luigi, Lancieri Maria Flora, Nielsen Stefan, Nisii Vincenzo, Russo Guido, Satriano Clau- dio, Simini Mariella, Vassallo Maurizio, Bruno Pier Paolo, Buonocunto Ciro, Capello Marco, Del Pezzo Edoardo, Galluzzo Danilo, Gaudiosi Germana, Giuliana Alessio, Iannaccone Giovanni, La Rocca Mario, Saccorotti Gilberto, Cattaneo Marco, De Mar- tin Martina , Colasanti Gianfranco, Moretti Milena, Marcello Silvestri, Edoardo Gian- domenico, Raffaele Stefano, Graziano Boniolo, Maria Rosaria Tondi, Maistrello Mar- iano, Gomez Antonio, Piccareda Carlo, Paolo Di Bartolomeo, Marco Romanelli, So- phie Peyrat, Christophe Larroque, Claude Pambrun, Tony Monfret, Stephane Gaffet, Mark Noble, Sylvain Nguyen 2

PREFACE: Third Congress on Materials Science and Engineering (CNCIM-Mexico 2012)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Coss, Romeo; Murrieta-Hernández, Gabriel; Aguayo-González, Aarón; Rubio-Rosas, Efraín; Chigo-Anota, Ernesto; Vigueras-Santiago, Enrique

2013-06-01

The Third Congress on Material Science and Engineering (CNCIM-México 2012), which took place in Mérida, México, from 27 February to 2 March 2012 was organized by three research groups (cuerpos académicos) from the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán: Ingeniería Física (UADY-CA-27), Modelado y Simulación Computacional de Sistemas Físicos (UADY-CA-101) and Química Fundamental y Aplicada (UADY-CA-32), in collaboration with the Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (Cinvestav-Mérida). The First Congress in Material Science and Engineering (CNCIM-2010), was organized in Puebla, México in February 2010. This was followed by CNCIM-2011 held in Toluca, México in February 2011. The CNCIM-México 2012 Conference consisted of plenary talks (8), invited talks (10), oral contributions (54) and poster presentations (70). The topics of the Conference were: Synthesis and Preparation of Materials: Organic and Inorganic Characterization of Materials: Novel Methods and Techniques Applications of Materials: Environment, Medicine, Pharmacy, Technology, Food and Renewable Energy New Materials: Composites, Nanostructures, and from Natural Sources Theory: New Methods and Computer Simulations We want to thank the Organizing Committee, the Institutions and Sponsors supporting the Conference, and everyone who contributed to the organization of this meeting, for their invaluable efforts in order to guarantee the complete success of this conference. Editors Romeo de Coss Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del I.P.N. (Cinvestav-Mérida) A.P. 73 Cordemex 97310, Mérida, Yucatán, México decoss@mda.cinvestav.mx Gabriel Murrieta-Hernández Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán Calle 60 No. 491-A, Centro Histórico, C.P. 97000, Mérida, Yucatán, México murrieta@uady.mx Aarón Aguayo-González Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán Calle 60 No. 491-A, Centro Histórico, C.P. 97000, Mérida, Yucatán, México aguayo@uady.mx Efraín Rubio-Rosas Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla Ciudad Universitaria, Col. San Manuel, C.P. 72570, Puebla, Puebla, México efrain.rubio@cuv.buap.mx Ernesto Chigo-Anota Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla Ciudad Universitaria, Col. San Manuel, C.P. 72570, Puebla, Puebla, México ernesto.chigo@correo.buap.mx Enrique Vigueras-Santiago Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México Instituto Literario No. 100, Col. Centro 50000, Toluca, Edo. de México, México vigueras@uaemex.mx Session Chairs Gabriel Canto Santana, Universidad Autónoma de Campeche. Enrique Vigueras Santiago, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México. César Cab, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. Alejandro ávila Ortega, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. Jesús Barrón Zambrano, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. Maritza de Coss, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. Jorge A. Tapia González, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. David Muñoz Rodríguez, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. Mario Pérez Cortes, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. Jesús García Serrano, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo. Rubén Arturo Medina Esquivel, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. César R. Acosta, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. Organizing Committee Aarón Aguayo González, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. Gabriel Murrieta Hernández, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. Alejandro Tapia González, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. Cristian Carrera Figueiras, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. Heriberto Hernández Cocoletzi, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. Ernesto Chigo Anota, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. Efraín Rubio Rosas, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. Enrique Vigueras Santiago, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México. Romeo de Coss, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (Cinvestav-Mérida). Organizers: Organizers Sponsors: Sponsors

Venus within ESA probe reach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2006-03-01

Venus Express mission controllers at the ESA Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany are making intensive preparations for orbit insertion. This comprises a series of telecommands, engine burns and manoeuvres designed to slow the spacecraft down from a velocity of 29000 km per hour relative to Venus, just before the first burn, to an entry velocity some 15% slower, allowing the probe to be captured into orbit around the planet. The spacecraft will have to ignite its main engine for 50 minutes in order to achieve deceleration and place itself into a highly elliptical orbit around the planet. Most of its 570 kg of onboard propellant will be used for this manoeuvre. The spacecraft’s solar arrays will be positioned so as to reduce the possibility of excessive mechanical load during engine ignition. Over the subsequent days, a series of additional burns will be done to lower the orbit apocentre and to control the pericentre. The aim is to end up in a 24-hour orbit around Venus early in May. The Venus orbit injection operations can be followed live at ESA establishments, with ESOC acting as focal point of interest (see attached programme). In all establishments, ESA specialists will be on hand for interviews. ESA TV will cover this event live from ESOC in Darmstadt. The live transmission will be carried free-to-air. For broadcasters, complete details of the various satellite feeds are listed at http://television.esa.int. The event will be covered on the web at venus.esa.int. The website will feature regular updates, including video coverage of the press conference and podcast from the control room at ESA’s Operations Centre. Media representatives wishing to follow the event at one of the ESA establishments listed below are requested to fill in the attached registration form and fax it back to the place of their choice. For further information, please contact: ESA Media Relations Division Tel : +33(0)1.53.69.7155 Fax: +33(0)1.53.69.7690 Venus Express Orbit Insertion - Tuesday 11 April 2006 ESA/ESOC, Robert Bosch Strasse, 5 - Darmstadt (Germany) PROGRAMME 07:30 - Doors open 08:45 - Start of local event, welcome addresses 09:10 - ESA TV live from Mission Control Room (MCR) starts 09:17 - Engine burn sequence starts 09:45 - Occultation of spacecraft by Venus starts 09:55 - Occultation ends 10:07 - Main engine burn ends 10:20 - Address by Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA’s Director General, and other officials Break and buffet Interview opportunities 11:30-12:15 - Press Conference Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director General, ESA Prof. David Southwood, Director of Science, ESA Gaele Winters, Director of Operations and Infrastructure, ESA Manfred Warhaut, Flight Operations Director, ESA Håkan Svedhem, Venus Express Project Scientist, ESA Don McCoy, Venus Express Project Manager, ESA 13:15 - End of event at ESOC ACCREDITATION REQUEST FORM Venus Express Orbit Insertion - ESA/ESOC Darmstadt - 11 April 2006 First name:___________________ Surname:_____________________ Media:______________________________________________________ Address: ___________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Tel:_______________________ Fax: ___________________________ Mobile :___________________ E-mail: ________________________ I will be attending the Venus Express Orbit Insertion event at the following site: [ ] Germany Location: ESA/ESOC Address: Robert Bosch Strasse 5, Darmstadt, Germany Opening hours: 07:30 - 13:00 Contact: Jocelyne Landeau-Constantin, Tel: +49.6151.902.696 - Fax: +49.6151.902.961 [ ] France Location: ESA HQ Address: 8/10, rue Mario Nikis - Paris 15, France Opening hours: 08:00 - 13:00 Contact: Anne-Marie Remondin - Tel: +33(0)1.53.69.7155 - fax: +33(0)1.53.69.7690 [ ] The Netherlands Location: Newton Room, ESA/ESTEC Address: Keplerlaan 1, Noordwijk, The Netherlands Opening hours: 08:30 - 12:30 Contact: Michel van Baal, tel. + 31 71 565 3006, fax + 31 71 565 5728 [ ] Italy Location: ESA/ESRIN Address: Via Galileo Galilei, Frascati (Rome), Italy Opening hours: 07:00 - 14:00 Contact: Franca Morgia - Tel: +39.06.9418.0951 - Fax: +39.06.9418.0952 [ ] Spain Location: ESA/ESAC Address: Urbanización Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain Opening hours: 8:30 - 13:30 Contact: Monica Oerke, Tel + 34 91 813 13 27/59 - Fax: + 34 91 813 12 19

Advanced Instrumentation and Control Methods for Small and Medium Reactors with IRIS Demonstration

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

J. Wesley Hines; Belle R. Upadhyaya; J. Michael Doster

2011-05-31

Development and deployment of small-scale nuclear power reactors and their maintenance, monitoring, and control are part of the mission under the Small Modular Reactor (SMR) program. The objectives of this NERI-consortium research project are to investigate, develop, and validate advanced methods for sensing, controlling, monitoring, diagnosis, and prognosis of these reactors, and to demonstrate the methods with application to one of the proposed integral pressurized water reactors (IPWR). For this project, the IPWR design by Westinghouse, the International Reactor Secure and Innovative (IRIS), has been used to demonstrate the techniques developed under this project. The research focuses on three topicalmore » areas with the following objectives. Objective 1 - Develop and apply simulation capabilities and sensitivity/uncertainty analysis methods to address sensor deployment analysis and small grid stability issues. Objective 2 - Develop and test an autonomous and fault-tolerant control architecture and apply to the IRIS system and an experimental flow control loop, with extensions to multiple reactor modules, nuclear desalination, and optimal sensor placement strategy. Objective 3 - Develop and test an integrated monitoring, diagnosis, and prognosis system for SMRs using the IRIS as a test platform, and integrate process and equipment monitoring (PEM) and process and equipment prognostics (PEP) toolboxes. The research tasks are focused on meeting the unique needs of reactors that may be deployed to remote locations or to developing countries with limited support infrastructure. These applications will require smaller, robust reactor designs with advanced technologies for sensors, instrumentation, and control. An excellent overview of SMRs is described in an article by Ingersoll (2009). The article refers to these as deliberately small reactors. Most of these have modular characteristics, with multiple units deployed at the same plant site. Additionally, the topics focus on meeting two of the eight needs outlined in the recently published 'Technology Roadmap on Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface (ICHMI) to Support DOE Advanced Nuclear Energy Programs' which was created 'to provide a systematic path forward for the integration of new ICHMI technologies in both near-term and future nuclear power plants and the reinvigoration of the U.S. nuclear ICHMI community and capabilities.' The research consortium is led by The University of Tennessee (UT) and is focused on three interrelated topics: Topic 1 (simulator development and measurement sensitivity analysis) is led by Dr. Mike Doster with Dr. Paul Turinsky of North Carolina State University (NCSU). Topic 2 (multivariate autonomous control of modular reactors) is led by Dr. Belle Upadhyaya of the University of Tennessee (UT) and Dr. Robert Edwards of Penn State University (PSU). Topic 3 (monitoring, diagnostics, and prognostics system development) is led by Dr. Wes Hines of UT. Additionally, South Carolina State University (SCSU, Dr. Ken Lewis) participated in this research through summer interns, visiting faculty, and on-campus research projects identified throughout the grant period. Lastly, Westinghouse Science and Technology Center (Dr. Mario Carelli) was a no-cost collaborator and provided design information related to the IRIS demonstration platform and defining needs that may be common to other SMR designs. The results of this research are reported in a six-volume Final Report (including the Executive Summary, Volume 1). Volumes 2 through 6 of the report describe in detail the research and development under the topical areas. This volume serves to introduce the overall NERI-C project and to summarize the key results. Section 2 provides a summary of the significant contributions of this project. A list of all the publications under this project is also given in Section 2. Section 3 provides a brief summary of each of the five volumes (2-6) of the report. The contributions of SCSU are described in Section 4, including a summary of undergraduate research experience. The project management organizational chart is provided as Figure 1. Appendices A, B, and C contain the reports on the summer research performed at the University of Tennessee by undergraduate students from South Carolina State University.« less

FOREWORD International Conference on Defects in Insulating Materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valerio, Mário Ernesto Giroldo; Jackson, R. A.

2010-11-01

These proceedings represent a sample of the scientific works presented during ICDIM2008, the 16th International Conference on Defects in Insulating Materials, held at the Federal University of Sergipe, Aracaju, Brazil from 24-29 August 2008. The conference was the latest in a series which began at Argonne in 1956, and which has been held most recently in Riga, Latvia (2004) and Johannesburg, South Africa (2000). The conference was also related scientifically to the EURODIM series, which have been held most recently in Milan, Italy (2006), Wroclaw, Poland (2002) and Pecs, Hungary (2010). The aim of the conference was to bring together physicists, chemists and materials scientist to discuss defects in insulating materials and their effect on materials, including their optical, mass/charge transport, energy storage and sensor properties. The conference featured 6 plenary lectures, 60 contributed lectures and about 130 posters. The posters were displayed for the whole conference, but discussed in two three-hour sessions. We are grateful to the International Advisory Committee for suggesting invited speakers and to the Programme Committee for their help in refereeing all the abstracts and choosing the contributed oral contributions. We would also like to thank the Local Organising Committee and the Brazilian Physical Society for their help with local organisation and the online registration/payment process respectively. The chairpersons would like to specially thanks all the sponsors listed below for financial support. The Federal University of Sergipe, one of the public and 'free tuition' Universities of the Country, run by the Brazilian Ministry of Education, were pleased to host this 16th meeting, the first one in Latin America. Mario E G Valerio Conference Chair Robert A Jackson Programme Chair Conference Scope Scope of the Conference was the presentation of the latest investigations on point and extended defects in bulk materials and thin films. Technological applications will be presented alongside fundamental measurements and theories. The main scientific areas included: 1 Fundamental physical phenomena Point and extended defects in wide band-gap systems: oxides, fluorides, nitrides, alkali- and silver-halides, perovskites, minerals, ceramics, nano-structures, organic molecular crystals, glasses, high-k and low-k materials, photonic crystals. 2 Defects at surfaces and interfaces Thin films and low-dimensional systems. Colloids, nano-crystals, and aggregates. Defects and material preparation technology. Defects modelling and computational methods. Radiation effects, radiation induced defects, colour centres. Luminescence of excitons, impurities, and defects. Electronic excitations, excited state dynamics, radiative and non-radiative relaxations. Scintillation, energy transfer and storage, carrier trapping phenomena. Non-linear optical phenomena. Laser active centres. Phonons and defects, electron-phonon interactions. Defect diffusion, ionic relaxations, ionic transport. 3 Technological applications Radiologic imaging and detection, scintillators, and dosimeters. Optical devices and photonics, photorefractive electro-optics, optical fibres, lasers. Materials for micro-electronics. Solid electrolytes, fuel cells, electrochemical sensors, fast ionic conductors. Conference chairpersons: Mário E G Valerio (Conference Chairman), Physics Department, Federal University of Sergipe, SE, Brasil Robert A Jackson (Programme Chairman), School of Physical and Geographical Sciences, Keele University, Keele, UK Conference committees: International Advisory Committee R Capelletti, Italy A V Chadwick, UK J Corish, Ireland J D Comins, South Africa H W den Hartog, The Netherlands K Funke, Germany Robert A Jackson, UK O Kanert, Germany A A Kaplyanskii, Russia A Lushchik, Estonia F Lüty, USA M Moreno, Spain P E Ngoepe, South Africa M Nikl, Czech Republic S V Nistor, Romania Ch Pedrini, France O F Schirmer, Germany J-M Spaeth, Germany A M Stoneham, UK M Suszynska, Poland I Tale, Latvia M E G Valerio, Brasil R T Williams, USA Programme Committee Robert A Jackson (Chair), University of Keele, UK R M Montereali, ENEA C.R. Frascati, Rome, Italy M Moreno, University of Cantabria, Spain Ch Pedrini, University Lyon, France Klaus W H Krambrock, UFMG, MG, Brasil Volkmar Dierolf, Lehigh University, USA Laszlo Kovács, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary M E G Valerio, UFS, SE, Brasil Local Organizing Committee M E G Valerio, UFS, SE, Brasil Sonia L Baldochi, IPEN, SP, Brasil Klaus W H Krambrock, UFMG, MG, Brasil Livio Amaral, UFRGS, RS, Brasil Ana R Blak, USP, SP, Brasil Marco Cremona, PUC-RJ, RJ, Brasil Anderson S L Gomes, UFPE, PE, Brasil Spero Penha Morato, LaserTools, SP, Brasil Alejandro Ayala, UFC, CE, Brasil ICDIM2008 Sponsors: Sponsors

Obituary: Howard H. Lanning, 1946-2007

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wade, Richard A.; MacConnell, D. Jack

2009-01-01

Howard H. Lanning died 20 December 2007 in Tucson, Arizona. He was a Software Quality Assurance Engineer for the Data Products Program at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory [NOAO] in Tucson, having returned to his native West after twenty years at the Space Telescope Science Institute [STScI] in Baltimore, Maryland. Throughout his career in roles supporting other astronomers, Howard steadily and persistently worked at his own research programs, most notably the identification and study of UV-bright sources in the Sandage Two-Color Survey of the Galactic Plane. Minor planet 2000 QJ248 has been named (61913) Lanning in recognition of his contributions. The son of James Clyde Lanning and Ethel Malan Lanning, Howard was born 26 May 1946, in Brawley, a small community near Calipatria, California. His parents worked for the local school district where his late father was Superintendent of Maintenance and Grounds and his mother was a school principal. After graduating from high school in a class of 52, Howard earned his A.A. degree at Imperial Valley Junior College, majoring in Astronomy and minoring in Mathematics. He completed his A.B. degree in Applied Arts and Sciences at San Diego State University [SDSU] in 1969 with the same major and minor. In 1974, he completed his M.S. in Astronomy at SDSU with a thesis on the period variation of the white-dwarf eclipsing binary BD +16∘516. During his time at SDSU Lanning was a Research Assistant/Observer at the former Hale Observatories, working on the optical identification of X-ray sources under the direction of Allan Sandage. His second refereed paper, the first of several finding lists of UV-bright stars arising from this work, appeared in 1973. Fellow students and faculty remember that he was a self-starter, initiating many observing projects of his own at Mount Laguna Observatory and encouraging others to do the same. For more than a decade Lanning was an observer and night assistant at Mount Wilson Observatory, operating the 1.5m and 2.5m (Hooker) telescopes and supporting users. He was one of the principal observers in the HK project, which used the 1.5m to study the variations in chromospheric activity and rotational modulation of late-type stars. He used his observing time expertly to obtain photometry and spectroscopy of close binary stars for his own research projects. Former Caltech graduate students who were fortunate to have Lanning as a night assistant marveled at his knowledge of the telescopes and instrumentation, in particular his ability to read setting circles and acquire targets by engaging the gravity-driven clock drive of the Hooker telescope at exactly the right moment. In 1985 Lanning, with his wife, Sheryl Falgout, and stepson, Mario Lanning, relocated to Baltimore, to a position with Computer Sciences Corporation at STScI. He was an Operations Astronomer and then Software Testing Engineer, providing instrument and contact support for the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. In 2005, the family moved to Tucson and NOAO. His work on the UV-bright star survey continued at both locations, with various collaborators. Lanning was active in the broader astronomical community, writing newspaper articles on astronomy for the lay person; giving talks to civic groups, school children, and amateur astronomers; and, from 2006, coordinating the Donation Archive Program of the AAS. Lanning published 26 scientific papers in major journals, along with numerous other contributions, circulars, and technical reports. His finding lists and other studies of UV-bright stars, emphasizing crowded star fields where modern surveys have not probed, remain of value today. Several stars from these lists have turned out to be cataclysmic variables. Most recently, a study of the reduced proper motions of these objects has demonstrated that the Lanning stars are a rich source of heretofore unidentified white dwarfs. Lanning is survived by his wife of 25 years, a stepson, and his mother. The authors acknowledge valuable assistance from Sheryl Falgout, Burt Nelson, and Paul Etzel.

PREFACE: XVII Congress of Bioengineering and VI Clinical Engineering Conference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rocha, Darío

2011-09-01

SABI 2009 was the XVII Biennial Congress of the Argentinean Bioengineering Society (SABI - www.sabi.org.ar), celebrated along with the VI Clinical Engineering Conference. It took place in Rosario, the second city of Argentina, located on the west bank of the Paraná, one of the world's most important rivers. This city, with its 150 year history and one million inhabitants, is characterized by a strong enterprising spirit. It is the agroindustrial leader of Argentina, with cereal ports recognized to be among the most active in the world, and its cereal stock exchange competes with Chicago's in international cereal pricing. Demographically Rosario presents a European profile, and there are seven national and private higher level universities in the area. SABI 2009 was the first time the Congress was celebrated in Rosario. Usually the Congress is organized by the Bioengineering Society in cooperation with a university with an undergraduate program, which Rosario lacks. To meet the needs of this exceptional case, a young local institution was asked to coordinate the Congress, the Rosario Technological Center (www.polotecnologico.net). This organization gathers together around 100 companies that produce technology, with a large number focused on IT, but those focused on biotechnology also stand out. The Center is also integrated with relevant public and government bodies. Traditionally, bioengineering has been related to human health applications, with less emphasis on applications significant to agrotechnology, an area in which Rosario is growing as an economic force. In order to address this oversight, the Congress formulated its main goals for integrating and synergizing bioengineering and biotechnology, particularly bioengineering and agrotechnology. This initiative has produced promising results. The importance of the Congress was reflected in the high number of participants - including researchers, professionals and students - from abroad, with participants from at least 12 different countries. In the three days of planned activities, more than 800 participants were registered and over 2000 people visited the associated expo. Several symposia and thematic meetings were held simultaneously. Around 207 works were presented, each evaluated by two referees, and 181 presentations were finally accepted. The organizers of the Congress proposed that the 14 best works be published in the Journal of Physics Conference Series. A few of the speakers deserve a special mention: James Lin, PhD, USA, Wireless noninvasive sensing and physiological signatures and vital signs; Luis Kun, PhD, USA, Biomedical Engineering and Global Health Transformation: A vision of opportunities and challenges; Mario Munich, PhD, USA, Avances en Robótica y Aplicaciones en Salud (Advances in robotics and health applications); Jose Folgueras, PhD, Cuba, Generación de productos de alto valor agregado a través del conocimiento (Generating products adding value through knowledge); Daniel Goroso, PhD, Brazil, Avanço e tecnología en Medicina Física y Rehabilitación (Advances in technology in physical medicine and rehab); Adolfo Spangenberg, PhD, Brazil, Telemedicine and Health - New perspectivas in development countries; Francisco Rojo Pérez, PhD, Spain, Propiedades del Comportamiento Mecánico y la rotura de la aorta humana (Properties of mechanical behaviour and rupture of the human aorta); and Eduardo de Forteza, PhD, Argentina, La fusión del humanismo médico y la tecnología (Fusion between medical humanism and technology), among others. We would like to thank the institutions, universities, government bodies, and private enterprises that supported and facilitated this Congress, and the members of the Organizing Commitee: Eng David Astegiano (Science and Technology State Minister), Eng Carlos Cerruti (Past President of the Rosario Tecnology Center), Eng Viviana Rotger (Past President of SABI) and MSc Guillermo Civetta (Manager of RTP). The members of the executive committee also deserve special recognition. They have made up for their lack of experience with their great effort and dedication, achieving a level of excellence: Melina Rua, Cecilia Rocha, Noelia Vergonzi, Guillermo Civetta, Ricardo Montico, Ariel Olmos, Guillermo Chavez, Marcos Vaccani, and others. Finally we thank all the presenters, speakers, exhibitors, partners and everyone who contributed to this successful Congress. The next gathering will be held in the internationally known city of Mar del Plata on 28-30 September 2011. It will undoubtedly be a continuation of this notable event which has been held annually for 30 years. Ing Darío RochaSABI and Polo Tecnologico Rosario Committees Member

NASA's Chandra Sees Brightest Supernova Ever

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2007-05-01

WASHINGTON - The brightest stellar explosion ever recorded may be a long-sought new type of supernova, according to observations by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and ground-based optical telescopes. This discovery indicates that violent explosions of extremely massive stars were relatively common in the early universe, and that a similar explosion may be ready to go off in our own galaxy. "This was a truly monstrous explosion, a hundred times more energetic than a typical supernova," said Nathan Smith of the University of California at Berkeley, who led a team of astronomers from California and the University of Texas in Austin. "That means the star that exploded might have been as massive as a star can get, about 150 times that of our sun. We've never seen that before." Chandra X-ray Image of SN 2006gy Chandra X-ray Image of SN 2006gy Astronomers think many of the first generation of stars were this massive, and this new supernova may thus provide a rare glimpse of how the first stars died. It is unprecedented, however, to find such a massive star and witness its death. The discovery of the supernova, known as SN 2006gy, provides evidence that the death of such massive stars is fundamentally different from theoretical predictions. "Of all exploding stars ever observed, this was the king," said Alex Filippenko, leader of the ground-based observations at the Lick Observatory at Mt. Hamilton, Calif., and the Keck Observatory in Mauna Kea, Hawaii. "We were astonished to see how bright it got, and how long it lasted." The Chandra observation allowed the team to rule out the most likely alternative explanation for the supernova: that a white dwarf star with a mass only slightly higher than the sun exploded into a dense, hydrogen-rich environment. In that event, SN 2006gy should have been 1,000 times brighter in X-rays than what Chandra detected. Animation of SN 2006gy Animation of SN 2006gy "This provides strong evidence that SN 2006gy was, in fact, the death of an extremely massive star," said Dave Pooley of the University of California at Berkeley, who led the Chandra observations. The star that produced SN 2006gy apparently expelled a large amount of mass prior to exploding. This large mass loss is similar to that seen from Eta Carinae, a massive star in our galaxy, raising suspicion that Eta Carinae may be poised to explode as a supernova. Although SN 2006gy is intrinsically the brightest supernova ever, it is in the galaxy NGC 1260, some 240 million light years away. However, Eta Carinae is only about 7,500 light years away in our own Milky Way galaxy. "We don't know for sure if Eta Carinae will explode soon, but we had better keep a close eye on it just in case," said Mario Livio of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, who was not involved in the research. "Eta Carinae's explosion could be the best star-show in the history of modern civilization." A New Line of Stellar Evolution A New Line of Stellar Evolution Supernovas usually occur when massive stars exhaust their fuel and collapse under their own gravity. In the case of SN 2006gy, astronomers think that a very different effect may have triggered the explosion. Under some conditions, the core of a massive star produces so much gamma ray radiation that some of the energy from the radiation converts into particle and anti-particle pairs. The resulting drop in energy causes the star to collapse under its own huge gravity. After this violent collapse, runaway thermonuclear reactions ensue and the star explodes, spewing the remains into space. The SN 2006gy data suggest that spectacular supernovas from the first stars - rather than completely collapsing to a black hole as theorized - may be more common than previously believed. "In terms of the effect on the early universe, there's a huge difference between these two possibilities," said Smith. "One pollutes the galaxy with large quantities of newly made elements and the other locks them up forever in a black hole." The results from Smith and his colleagues will appear in The Astrophysical Journal. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra program for the agency's Science Mission Directorate. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory controls science and flight operations from the Chandra X-ray Center in Cambridge, Mass. Additional information and images are available at: http://chandra.harvard.edu and http://chandra.nasa.gov

List of Participants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2007-11-01

Mohab Abou ZeidVrije Universiteit, Brussel Joke AdamKatholieke Universiteit Leuven Nikolas AkerblomMax-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Luis Fernando Alday Utrecht University Stelios Alexandris University of Patras Antonio Amariti Università di Milano-Bicocca Nicola Ambrosetti Université de Neuchâtel Pascal Anastasopoulos Università di Roma Tor Vergata Laura Andrianopoli Enrico Fermi Center Carlo Angelantonj Università di Torino Lilia Anguelova Queen Mary, University of London Daniel AreanUniversidade de Santiago de Compostela Gleb ArutyunovUtrecht University Spyros Avramis NTU Athens—University of Patras Ioannis Bakas University of Patras Subrata Bal Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies Igor Bandos Valencia University Jessica Barrett University of Iceland Marco Baumgartl Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zürich Jacopo Bechi Università di Firenze James Bedford Queen Mary, University of London Jorge Bellorin Universidad Autonoma de Madrid Francesco Benini SISSA, Trieste Eric Bergshoeff Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Groningen Gaetano BertoldiUniversity of Wales, Swansea Adel Bilal Laboratoire de Physique Théorique, École Normale Superieure, Paris Matthias Blau Université de Neuchâtel Johannes BroedelUniversität Hannover Felix Brümmer Universität Heidelberg Julio Cesar Bueno de Andrade São Paulo State University—UNESP Cliff Burgess McMaster University Agostino Butti Laboratoire de Physique Théorique, École Normale Superieure, Paris Marco Caldarelli Universitat de Barcelona Pablo G Camara Centre de Physique Théorique, École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Joan Camps Universitat de Barcelona Felipe Canoura FernandezUniversidade de Santiago de Compostela Luigi Cappiello Università di Napoli Federico II Luca Carlevaro École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Roberto Casero Centre de Physique Théorique, École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Claudio Caviezel Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Alessio Celi Universitat de Barcelona Anna Ceresole Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare and Università di Torino Kang Sin Choi University of Bonn Michele Cirafici University of Patras Andres Collinucci Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Aldo Cotrone Universitat de Barcelona Ben Craps Vrije Universiteit, Brussel Stefano Cremonesi SISSA, Trieste Gianguido Dall'Agata Padova University Sanjit Das Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur Forcella Davide SISSA, Trieste Jose A de Azcarraga Valencia University and Instituto de Fìsica Corpuscular (CSIC-UVEG), Valencia Sophie de BuylInstitut des Hautes Études Scientifiques, Bures-sur-Yvette Jean-Pierre Derendinger Université de Neuchâtel Stephane Detournay Università Degli Studi di Milano Paolo Di Vecchia NORDITA, København Oscar Dias Universitat de Barcelona Vladimir Dobrev Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia Joel Ekstrand Department of Theoretical Physics, Uppsala University Federico Elmetti Università di Milano I Diaconu Eugen University of Craiova Oleg Evnin Vrije Universiteit, Brussel Bo Feng Imperial College, London Livia Ferro Università di Torino Pau Figueras Universitat de Barcelona Raphael Flauger University of Texas at Austin Valentina Forini Università di Perugia Angelos Fotopoulos Università di Torino Denis Frank Université de Neuchâtel Lisa Freyhult Albert-Einstein-Institut, Golm Carlos Fuertes Instituto de Física Teórica, Madrid Matthias Gaberdiel Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zürich Maria Pilar Garcia del Moral Università di Torino Daniel Gerber Instituto de Física Teórica, Madrid Valentina Giangreco Marotta Puletti Uppsala University Joaquim Gomis Universitat de Barcelona Gianluca Grignani Università di Perugia Luca Griguolo Università di Parma Umut Gursoy École Polytechnique, Palaiseau and École Normale Supérieure, Paris Michael Haack Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München Troels Harmark Niels Bohr Institute, København Alexander Haupt Imperial College, London Michal Heller Jagiellonian University, Krakow Samuli Hemming University of Iceland Yasuaki Hikida DESY, Hamburg Christian Hillmann Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik, Potsdam Stephan Hoehne Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Gabriele Honecker CERN, Geneva Carlos Hoyos University of Wales, Swansea Mechthild Huebscher Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Madrid Matthias Ihl University of Texas at Austin Emiliano Imeroni University of Wales, Swansea Nikos Irges University of Crete Negru Iulian University of Craiova Matthias Kaminski Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München Stefanos Katmadas Universiteit Utrecht Shoichi Kawamoto Oxford University Christoph Keller Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zürich Arjan Keurentjes Vrije Universiteit, Brussel Sadi Khodaee Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Zanjan, Iran Michael Kiermaier Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA Elias Kiritsis Centre de Physique Théorique, École Polytechnique, Palaiseau and University of Crete Ingo KirschEidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zürich Johanna Knapp CERN, Geneva Paul Koerber Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Simon Koers Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Anatoly Konechny Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh Peter Koroteev Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP), Moscow Daniel KreflLudwig-Maximilians-Universität and Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Chethan KrishnanUniversité Libre de Bruxelles Stanislav Kuperstein Université Libre de Bruxelles Alberto Lerda Università del Piemonte Orientale, Alessandria Roman Linares Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Iztapalapa, México Maria A Lledo Universidad de Valencia Dieter Luest Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität and Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Joseph Lykken Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), Batavia, IL Carlo Maccaferri Vrije Universiteit, Brussel Oscar Macia Universidad de Valencia Tristan Maillard Centre de Physique Théorique, École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Diego Mansi Università Degli Studi di Milano Matteo Marescotti Università del Piemonte Orientale, Alessandria Alberto Mariotti Università di Milano-Bicocca Raffaele Marotta Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Napoli Alessio Marrani Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare and LNF, Firenze Luca Martucci Instituto de Física Teórica, Madrid and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven David Mateos University of California, Santa Barbara Andrea Mauri Università di Milano Liuba Mazzanti Università di Milano-Bicocca Patrick Meessen Instituto de Física Teórica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Lotta Mether Helsinki Institute of Physics Rene Meyer Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Giuseppe Milanesi SISSA, Trieste Cesar Miquel-Espanya Universitat de Valencia and Instituto de Física Corpuscular, Valencia Alexander Monin Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP), Moscow and Moscow State University (MSU) Samuel Monnier Université de Genève Sergio Montero Instituto de Física Teórica, Madrid Nicola Mori Università di Firenze Alexander Marcel Morisse University of California, Santa Cruz Sebastian Moster Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Adele Nasti Queen Mary, University of London Vasilis Niarchos École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Emil Nissimov Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy, Sofia Francesco Nitti École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Eoin O'Colgain Imperial College, London Niels Obers Niels Bohr Institute, København Rodrigo Olea Università Degli Studi di Milano Marta Orselli Niels Bohr Institute, København Enrico PajerLudwig-Maximilians-Universität, München Eran PaltiOxford University Georgios PapathanasiouBrown University, Providence, RI Angel ParedesCentre de Physique Théorique, École Polytechnique, Palaiseau Jeong-Hyuck ParkMax-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Sara PasquettiUniversità di Parma Silvia PenatiUniversità di Milano-Bicocca Igor PesandoUniversità di Torino Marios PetropoulosÉcole Polytechnique, Palaiseau Roberto PettorinoUniversità di Napoli Federico II Franco PezzellaIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Napoli Moises Picon PonceIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Padova Marco PirroneUniversità di Milano-Bicocca Erik PlauschinnMax-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Andre PloeghCentre for Theoretical Physics, University of Groningen Giuseppe PolicastroLaboratoire de Physique Théorique, École Normale Superieure, Paris Josep PonsUniversitat de Barcelona S Prem KumarUniversity of Wales, Swansea Nikolaos PrezasCERN, Geneva Carlo Alberto RattiUniversità di Milano-Bicocca Riccardo RicciImperial College, London Alejandro RiveroEscuela Universitaria Politécnica de Teruel, Universidad de Zaragoza Irene RodriguezInstituto de Física Teórica, Madrid Maria Jose RodriguezUniversitat de Barcelona Diederik RoestUniversitat de Barcelona Alberto RomagnoniLaboratoire de Physique Théorique d'Orsay, Paris Christian RomelsbergerDublin Institute for Advanced Studies Jan RosseelKatholieke Universiteit Leuven Sebastiano RossiEidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zürich Felix RustMax-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Cheol RyouPohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) Christian SaemannDublin Institute for Advanced Studies Houman Safaai SISSA, Trieste Alberto SantambrogioIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano Frank SaueressigUniversiteit Utrecht Ricardo SchiappaCERN, Geneva Cornelius Schmidt-ColinetEidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zürich Maximilian Schmidt-SommerfeldMax-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Waldemar SchulginMax-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Claudio ScruccaUniversité de Neuchâtel Nathan SeibergInstitute of Advanced Studies, Princeton, NJ Domenico SeminaraUniversità di Firenze Alexander SevrinVrije Universiteit, Brussel Konstadinos SfetsosUniversity of Patras Kostas SiamposUniversity of Patras Christoph SiegUniversità Degli Studi di Milano Vaula Silvia Instituto de Física Teórica, Madrid Aaron Sim Imperial College, London Woojoo Sim Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) Sergey Slizovskiy Department of Theoretical Physics, Uppsala University Paul Smyth Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Corneliu Sochichiu Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati Dmitri Sorokin Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Padova Kellogg Stelle Imperial College, London Piotr Surowka Jagiellonian University, Krakow Yasutoshi Takayama Niels Bohr Institute, København Laura Tamassia Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Radu Tatar University of Liverpool Larus Thorlacius University of Iceland Paavo Tiitola Helsinki Institute of Physics Diego Trancanelli Stony Brook University, NY Michele TraplettiInstitut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Heidelberg Mario Trigiante Politecnico di Torino Angel Uranga CERN, Geneva and Instituto de Física Teórica, Madrid Roberto Valandro SISSA, Trieste Dieter Van den Bleeken Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Antoine Van Proeyen Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Thomas Van Riet Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Groningen Pierre Vanhove Service de Physique Théorique, Saclay Oscar Varela Universidad de Valencia Alessandro Vichi Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa Massimiliano VinconQueen Mary, University of London John Ward Queen Mary, University of London and CERN, Geneva Brian Wecht Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA Marlene Weiss Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zürich and CERN, Geneva Sebastian Weiss Université de Neuchâtel Alexander Wijns Vrije Universiteit, Brussel Przemek Witaszczyk Jagiellonian University, Krakow Timm Wrase University of Texas at Austin Jun-Bao Wu SISSA, Trieste Amos Yarom Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München Marco Zagermann Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München Daniela Zanon Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Milano Andrea Zanzi University of Bonn Andrey Zayakin Moscow State University (MSU) and Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP), Moscow Konstantinos Zoubos Queen Mary, University of London

A DYING STAR IN GLOBULAR CLUSTER

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

A DYING STAR IN GLOBULAR CLUSTER M15 The globular cluster Messier 15 is shown in this color image obtained with the NASA Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2). Lying some 40,000 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Pegasus, M15 is one of nearly 150 known globular clusters that form a vast halo surrounding our Milky Way galaxy. Each of these clusters is a spherical association of hundreds of thousands of ancient stars. The image, prepared by the Hubble Heritage team, attempts to show the stars in M15 in their true colors. The brightest cluster stars are red giants, with an orange color due to surface temperatures lower than our Sun's. Most of the fainter stars are hotter, giving them a bluish-white color. If we lived in the core of M15, our sky would blaze with tens of thousands of brilliant stars both day and night! Nestled among the myriads of stars visible in the Hubble image is an astronomical oddity. The pinkish object to the upper left of the cluster's core is a gas cloud surrounding a dying star. Known as Kuestner 648, this was the first planetary nebula to be identified in a globular cluster. In 1928, F. G. Pease, working at the 100-inch telescope of California's Mount Wilson Observatory, photographed the spectrum of K 648 and discovered the telltale bright emission of a nebular gas cloud rather than a normal star. In the ensuing 70 years, only three more planetary nebulae have been discovered in globular clusters. The stars in M15 and other globular clusters are estimated to be about 12 billion years old. They were among the first generations of stars to form in the Milky Way. Our Sun, by comparison, is a youthful 4.6 billion years old. As a star like the Sun ages, it exhausts the hydrogen that fuels its nuclear fusion, and increases in size to become a red giant. Then it ejects its outer layers into space, producing a planetary nebula. The remnant star at the center of the nebula gradually dies away as a white dwarf. Planetary nebulae are so named because their shapes reminded 18th-century astronomers with small telescopes of the round disks of planets. They are actually huge clouds of gas, glowing because of ultraviolet light emitted by the stars in their centers. The surface temperature of the central star of K 648 is about 70,000 degrees Fahrenheit (40,000 degrees Celsius), and analysis of the Hubble data indicates that the star's remaining mass is only 60 percent that of our Sun. The star's outer layers were ejected some 4,000 years ago. The most massive stars use up their hydrogen first, and then less-massive stars in turn run out of fuel, become red giants, and fade away. For stars less massive than the Sun, some astronomers believe the evolutionary process to be so gradual that a visible planetary nebula will not form. At the present time, the most massive stars remaining in M15 have about 80 percent of the mass of our Sun, a fact that makes the existence of a planetary nebula like K 648 something of a mystery. The Hubble images used to make this image were taken to test the idea that the progenitor of K 648 may have 'borrowed' some mass from a nearby stellar companion. No such companion was revealed by Hubble, so the mystery remains unsolved. One possibility is that the progenitor of K 648 was two stars, which then merged together to become the single star now seen at the center of the nebula. The Hubble data on K 648 were obtained and analyzed by a team of Space Telescope Science Institute astronomers, including H. E. Bond, D. R. Alves, and M. Livio, who are interested in the origin and evolution of planetary nebulae and their central stars. Image Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) EDITORS NOTE: For additional information, please contact Dr. Mario Livio, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD 21218, (phone) 410-338-4439, (fax) 410-338-4579, (e-mail) mlivio@stsci.edu or Dr. Keith Noll, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD 21218, (phone) 410-338-1828, (fax) 410-338-4579), (e-mail) noll@stsci.edu. Electronic files are available on the Internet at: http://heritage.stsci.edu http://hubble.stsci.edu/go/news http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/2000/25 and via links in http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/latest.html and http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pictures.html. STScI press releases and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to public-request@stsci.edu. Leave the subject line blank. In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type the word 'subscribe' (don't use quotes). The system will respond with a confirmation of the subscription, and users will receive new press releases as they are issued. Please subscribe using the email account with which you would like to receive list messages. To unsubscribe, send mail to public-request@stsci.edu. Leave the subject line blank. Type 'unsubscribe' (don't use quotes) in the body of the message. Please unsubscribe using the email account that you used to subscribe to the list.

Introduction to the 30th volume of Inverse Problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Louis, Alfred K.

2014-01-01

The field of inverse problems is a fast-developing domain of research originating from the practical demands of finding the cause when a result is observed. The woodpecker, searching for insects, is probing a tree using sound waves: the information searched for is whether there is an insect or not, hence a 0-1 decision. When the result has to contain more information, ad hoc solutions are not at hand and more sophisticated methods have to be developed. Right from its first appearance, the field of inverse problems has been characterized by an interdisciplinary nature: the interpretation of measured data, reinforced by mathematical models serving the analyzing questions of observability, stability and resolution, developing efficient, stable and accurate algorithms to gain as much information as possible from the input and to feedback to the questions of optimal measurement configuration. As is typical for a new area of research, facets of it are separated and studied independently. Hence, fields such as the theory of inverse scattering, tomography in general and regularization methods have developed. However, all aspects have to be reassembled to arrive at the best possible solution to the problem at hand. This development is reflected by the first and still leading journal in the field, Inverse Problems. Founded by pioneers Roy Pike from London and Pierre Sabatier from Montpellier, who enjoyably describes the journal's nascence in his book Rêves et Combats d'un Enseignant-Chercheur, Retour Inverse [1], the journal has developed successfully over the last few decades. Neither the Editors-in-Chief, formerly called Honorary Editors, nor the board or authors could have set the path to success alone. Their fruitful interplay, complemented by the efficient and highly competent publishing team at IOP Publishing, has been fundamental. As such it is my honor and pleasure to follow my renowned colleagues Pierre Sabatier, Mario Bertero, Frank Natterer, Alberto Grünbaum and Bill Symes in their big footsteps, and I consider it a privilege to thank all that have contributed to the success of the journal. In its 30 years of existence, the journal has evolved from a trimestral to monthly print publication, now paralleled by an electronic version that has led to publication speeds unheard of when the journal began. This timely publication is especially important for younger researchers, but equally for experienced ones, who in that respect still feel young. In addition, the scope has changed to focus more precisely on the core of inverse problems, characterized, for example, by data errors, incomplete information and so on. In the beginning, fields where questions were considered to lead to inverse problems were listed in the journal's scope to make it clear that the problems being discussed were inverse problems in character. With the development of the solution methods, we now see that inverse problems are fundamental to almost all areas of research. The journal now hosts a number of additional features. With Insights we provide a platform for authors to introduce themselves and their work group, and present their scientific results in a popular and non-specialist form. Insights are made freely available on the journal website to ensure that they are seen by a wider community, beyond the immediate readership of the journal. Special issues are devoted to fields that have matured in such a way that the readers of our journal can profit from their presentation when the time for writing text books has not yet come. In addition, the different approaches taken by different contributors to a special issue disclose the multiple aspects of that field. With Topical reviews we aim to present the new ideas and areas that are stimulating future research. We are thankful that highly acclaimed authors take the time to present the research at the forefront of their respective fields. It is always very enlightening to read these articles as they introduce challenging research domains in condensed form. The diversity of the different topics is especially impressive. The 25th anniversary of Inverse Problems was celebrated with a service to the community, the publication of an issue of topical reviews selected by board members, which presented the achievements and state-of-the-art of the field. The 30th birthday of the journal is now approaching and we found it appropriate to include in the celebration the scientific community that supports the journal by their submissions. A conference, IPTA 2014: Inverse Problems - From Theory to Application (http://ipta2014.iopconfs.org/home), will be held in the home town of our publisher, IOP Publishing, in Bristol on 26-28 August 2014. The conference brings together top researchers, both from academia and industry, and will look at the scientific future of the field. Presentations by keynote speakers, which summarize what the board considers to be new trends, are complemented by contributions submitted by specialists and younger researchers in several minisymposia. To build a bridge to the future generation of researchers, a scientist at the beginning of their career will be giving a lecture. Let me finish with cordial thanks to all of our authors, referees, the members of the Editorial Board and International Advisory Panel, and the publishing team. I wish all of you a successful and healthy New Year and hope to meet many of you in August in Bristol. References [1] Sabatier P C 2012 Rêves et Combats d'un Enseignant-Chercheur, Retour Inverse (Paris: L'Harmattan)

Physics in one dimension

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Houselt, A.; Schäfer, J.; Zandvliet, H. J. W.; Claessen, R.

2013-01-01

With modern microelectronics moving towards smaller and smaller length scales on the (sub-) nm scale, quantum effects (apart from band structure and band gaps) have begun to play an increasingly important role. This especially concerns dimensional confinement to 2D (high electron mobility transistors and integer/fractional quantum Hall effect physics, graphene and topological insulators) and 1D (with electrical connections eventually reaching the quantum limit). Recent developments in the above-mentioned areas have revealed that the properties of electron systems become increasingly exotic as one progresses from the 3D case into lower dimensions. As compared to 2D electron systems, much less experimental progress has been achieved in the field of 1D electron systems. The main reason for the lack of experimental results in this field is related to the difficulty of realizing 1D electron systems. Atom chains created in quantum mechanical break junction set-ups are too short to exhibit the typically 1D signatures. As an alternative, atomic chains can be produced on crystal surfaces, either via assembling them one-by-one using a scanning tunnelling microscope or via self-assembly. The drawback of the latter systems is that the atomic chains are not truly 1D since they are coupled to the underlying crystal and sometimes even to the neighbouring chains. In retrospect, this coupling turns out to be an absolute necessity in the experiment since true 1D systems are disordered at any non-zero temperature [1]. The coupling to the crystal and/or neighbouring chains shifts the phase transition, for example, a Peierls instability, to a non-zero temperature and thus allows experiments to be performed in the ordered state. Here, we want to emphasize that the electronic properties of the 1D electron system are fundamentally different from its 2D and 3D counterparts. The Fermi liquid theory, which is applicable to 2D and 3D electron systems, breaks down spectacularly in the 1D case and should be replaced by the Luttinger liquid theory [2, 3]. In 1D electron systems electron-electron interactions play a very prominent role, and one of the most exciting predictions is that the electron loses its identity and separates into two collective excitations of the quantum mechanical many body system: a spinon that carries spin without charge, and a holon that carries the positive charge of a hole without its spin. In this special section, we have attempted to collect a series of papers that gives an impression of the current status of this rapidly evolving field. The first article is a comprehensive review by Kurt Schönhammer that provides the reader with an introduction into the exciting theory of the 1D electron system as well as its mathematical formalism. Acknowledgments We would like to thank the editorial staff of Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter for their help in producing this special section. We hope that it conveys some of the excitement and significance of this rapidly emerging field. References [1]Mermin N D and Wagner H 1966 Phys. Rev. Lett. 17 1133 [2]Haldane F D M 1981 J. Phys. C: Solid State Phys. 14 2585 [3]Voit J 1995 Rep. Prog. Phys. 58 977 Physics in one dimension contents Physics in one dimensionA van Houselt, J Schäfer, H J W Zandvliet and R Claessen Physics in one dimension: theoretical concepts for quantum many-body systemsK Schönhammer Local density of states of the one-dimensional spinless fermion modelE Jeckelmann Local spectral properties of Luttinger liquids: scaling versus nonuniversal energy scalesD Schuricht, S Andergassen and V Meden Spin ladders and quantum simulators for Tomonaga-Luttinger liquidsS Ward, P Bouillot, H Ryll, K Kiefer, K W Krämer, Ch Rüegg, C Kollath and T Giamarchi Peierls to superfluid crossover in the one-dimensional, quarter-filled Holstein modelM Hohenadler and F F Assaad Pressure-dependent structural and electronic properties of quasi-one-dimensional (TMTTF)2PF6E Rose, C Loose, J Kortus, A Pashkin, C A Kuntscher, S G Ebbinghaus, M Hanfland, F Lissner, Th Schleid and M Dressel Photoemission spectroscopy and the unusually robust one-dimensional physics of lithium purple bronzeL Dudy, J D Denlinger, J W Allen, F Wang, J He, D Hitchcock, A Sekiyama and S Suga Luttinger liquid behaviour of Li0.9Mo6O17 studied by scanning tunnelling microscopyT Podlich, M Klinke, B Nansseu, M Waelsch, R Bienert, J He, R Jin, D Mandrus and R Matzdorf Mn-silicide nanostructures aligned on massively parallel silicon nano-ribbonsPaola De Padova, Carlo Ottaviani, Fabio Ronci, Stefano Colonna, Bruno Olivieri, Claudio Quaresima, Antonio Cricenti, Maria E Dávila, Franz Hennies, Annette Pietzsch, Nina Shariati and Guy Le Lay Iridium silicide nanowires on Si(001) surfacesNuri Oncel and Dylan Nicholls Structure and growth of quasi-one-dimensional YSi2 nanophases on Si(100)V Iancu, P R C Kent, S Hus, H Hu, C G Zeng and H H Weitering Metallic rare-earth silicide nanowires on silicon surfacesMario Dähne and Martina Wanke One-dimensional collective excitations in Ag atomic wires grown on Si(557)U Krieg, C Brand, C Tegenkamp and H Pfnür Interfering Bloch waves in a 1D electron systemR Heimbuch, A van Houselt, M Farmanbar, G Brocks and H J W Zandvliet Au-induced quantum chains on Ge(001)—symmetries, long-range order and the conduction pathC Blumenstein, S Meyer, S Mietke, J Schäfer, A Bostwick, E Rotenberg, R Matzdorf and R Claessen

Hipparcos reveals that the Milky Way is changing shape

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1998-04-01

Our home Galaxy, the Milky Way, is roughly flat, with a bulge in the middle. As inhabitants of the disk we see it edge-on as the band of light across the night sky which gives the Galaxy its name, and which comes from billions of distant stars lying in the disk. Astronomers have known for many years that the disk is slightly warped. What surprises them now is that distant stars are travelling in directions that, if continued, will change the warped shape. Richard Smart of Turin Observatory, who is the lead author of the Nature paper, recounted, "Our results surprised us, but the extraordinary accuracy of Hipparos convinces us that distant stars have altered course. If we knew why, we'd be a lot wiser about the unseen hand of gravity at work in our Galaxy and others." Tilted orbits and contradictory tracks The Hipparcos satellite measured the positions and motions of stars far more precisely than ever before. Even before ESA's publication last year of the Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues, of 118,000 and a million stars respectively, the Turin-Oxford group of astronomers had privileged access to some of the more exact Hipparcos Catalogue data. They obtained positions and motions of 2422 very luminous blue stars spread half-way around the sky, selecting stars that turned out to be lying more than 1600 light-years away, towards the outskirts of the Galaxy. Like the billions of other stars inhabiting the disk of the Milky Way, the Sun slowly orbits around the centre of the Galaxy, taking 220 million years to make one circuit. Inside the Sun's orbit, astronomers see no warp in the disk of the Milky Way. But outlying stars in the direction of the Cygnus constellation lie north of, or above, the plane of the Sun's orbit. Those in the opposite direction, in the Vela constellation, are displaced southward, below their expected positions if the Milky Way were truly flat. The first use made of the Hipparcos data by the Turin-Oxford group was to check the precise shape of the warped disk of the Galaxy. Before Hipparcos, observations of stellar positions indicated that the warp started outside Sun's orbit and had general upward and downward turns. The very precise star-fixing by Hipparcos showed the warp starting inside the Sun's orbit, with the more distant outlying parts of the Galaxy slanting more than the nearer parts do. As a result, the disk has an elegantly curved shape, like the brim of a hat. If this shape of the warped disk were long-lasting, astronomers would expect the stars to follow corresponding orbits. Thus outlying stars in the Taurus constellation, midway between Vela and Cygnus, should be climbing "uphill" if they are to replace the stars lying high in Cygnus at present. The appropriate track for each star can be calculated, on the assumption that the warp will persist. Before they could accurately compare the calculated motions with those detected by Hipparcos, Richard Smart and his colleagues had to take into account the Sun's own vertical motion. Like many stars, the Sun jumps and swoops like a dolphin as it proceeds in its orbit around the centre of the Galaxy. Hipparcos data show that the Sun is at present rising at 7 kilometres per second, relative to the disk of the Milky Way. Outlying stars also show dolphin-like behaviour, so a statistical approach is needed, to gauge their average vertical motion. At a distance of 6000 light-years, in the direction of Taurus, the stars should on average be climbing northwards, relative to the Sun's orbit, at about 8 kilometres per second. The amazing conclusion by the Turin- Oxford group is that stars at that distance are on average descending southwards at 7 kilometres per second. They cannot replace the present stars in the Milky Way in Cygnus. Instead they will go to positions shifted southwards in relation to the disk of the Milky Way -- unless some new disturbance makes the stars change course again. What warps galaxies? The Milky Way is not the only galaxy to show deformations of its disk. About half of all other disk galaxies are seen to be misshapen. This remarkably high proportion may mean that galaxies are so rigid that any warp, once established, lasts for billions of years. Alternatively, galaxies may be very floppy, with new warps being created all the time. The Hipparcos result on the Milky Way may favour the latter, more dynamic interpretation. The riddle of what warps galaxies has puzzled astronomers for decades. Explanations on offer range from intergalactic winds to magnetic contortions. A popular theory blames the warp in the Milky Way on the gravitational pull of invisible dark matter in the halo of the Galaxy. This would imply that the present warp should be a long-lived phenomenon. As the warp may now be only temporary, other explanations will be favoured. Mario Lattanzi, of the Turin group, puts it this way: "As is often the case in experimental science, better experimental data challenge our current understanding of how the Milky Way works." Prominent among the rival proposals about the warping of galaxies is the gravitational (tidal) effect of other galaxies passing close by. In the case of the Milky Way, the Magellanic Clouds and the recently discovered Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy are candidates as warping agents. But Smart and his colleagues confess themselves to be baffled. "We are obliged to conclude," they write, "that there is currently no convincing interpretation of the implications of Hipparcos data for the dynamics of the warp in the Galactic disk." The reference to the "Nature" paper is: Vol. 392, pp. 471-473. The authors are R.L. Smart,R. Drimmel, M.G. Lattanzi (Osservatorio Astronomico di Torino, Pino Torinese, TO 10025, Italy) and J.J. Binney (Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3NP, UK).

First light with ISO and its instruments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1995-12-01

On 28 November, the first infrared images were taken with the ISOCAM instrument. The target was the beautiful spiral galaxy, M51, also known as the Whirlpool Galaxy. Images were taken in two infrared colours, at wavelengths of 7 and 15 microns, and at two resolutions, namely 3 and 6 arc seconds. Figure 1 shows the 7 micron ISOCAM image with a spatial resolution of 6 arc seconds. Spiral structure in galaxies was first discovered by observations of M51 taken in 1845 by the third Earl of Rosse in Ireland. At a distance of 20 million light years, M51 is not one of our nearest neighbors in space but it is one of the most spectacular, as it presents its spiral structure face-on to us. M51 is smaller and - at a mass of 50000 million suns - less massive than our galaxy. However, due to intense recent star formation, it is much brighter. While very detailed images have been available for some time in the optical and radio wavelength range, infrared data in the ISO range has been very limited. Figure 2 shows the data from the previous infrared satellite - the American/Dutch/British satellite IRAS; where, in a similar wavelength range, there is not even a hint of the spiral structure. For ISOCAM, with its higher spatial resolution and greater sensitivity, not only the spiral structure but also details within are easily visible, even in a raw first light image. Images from ISOCAM data will be compared with maps at other wavelengths to reveal information about the star formation processes in galaxies. First light for the ISOPHOT instrument was obtained on 29 November 1995 from the star Gamma Draconis. A huge signal was measured in a narrow band filter at 3.29 microns (figure 3). The optical axis of the instrument was found by this observation to be as close as 15 arc seconds to the predicted position. The next target was the interacting galaxy, NGC6090, which was clearly detected for the first time at the longest wavelengths, 120 - 240 microns, exclusively available on ISO. This galaxy is about 320 million light years away from us and has already been detected at shorter wavelengths by IRAS. The newly discovered far-infrared emission arises from cold dust (-250 degrees C) in the galaxies warmed up by recently born stars. The rate of star formation is thought to be increased by the close encounter between the two galaxies. Based on previous measurements, about 50 stars per year are estimated to be born in NGC6090. The new measurements have determined the luminosity much more precisely by including a so far invisible region. This will lead to an accurate calculation of the star formation rate and will give an insight into the secrets of "star bursts" seen in many external galaxies. ISOPHOT will be used in larger programmes to study interacting galaxies from the distant passage of objects via close encounters to finally merging galaxies (cosmic "cannibalism"). The Long-Wavelength Spectrometer made its first astronomical observation on 30 November. It measured the infrared spectrum of a region of dust, gas and newly-formed stars known as S106. Lines from Nitrogen, Carbon and Oxygen are clearly visible in the raw unprocessed spectrum. Intense ultraviolet light from the stars heats up the surrounding dust, which re-radiates this energy in the infrared. It also excites atoms in the gas, causing them to emit radiation at precise infrared wavelengths. Unlike visible light, these infrared rays can emerge from deep within the clouds. Measurements like these will allow astronomers to discover the composition, density and temperature of the material and help us to understand the complex processes by which stars and their planetary systems form. The LWS wavelength range, is completely inaccessible from the ground due to atmospheric absorption and, thus, the LWS provides a unique opportunity of studying star-formation. For the Short-Wavelength Spectrometer, first light was obtained on 1 December, during a measurement to determine the focal plane geometry (i.e. the position of the instrument's entrance slit with respect to the telescope) with the star Gamma Draconis as the target. This detection was achieved with an 11 x 11 point raster map and with the spectrometer set at a wavelength of 3.08 microns. The measured flux appears to be within 10% of pre-launch predictions. Spectral scans of internal wavelength calibrators made during the first check-out show good performance of all scanner mechanisms. For reasons of ISO schedule constraints, SWS - unlike the other instruments - has not yet had the opportunity to make spectral observations of astronomical sources. This will start in the next few days and all indications are that they will be successful. Following these very successful detections of first light in the instruments, work is continuing on the detailed calibration and performance verification of ISO and its four scientific instruments. It is planned to organise a Press Conference around the end of January 1996 to present initial results. Note to Editors: Colour pictures are available upon request. Please send a fax to ESA Public Relations, Paris (+33.1.53.69.76.90) making reference to this press release. The four instruments on-board ISO were built by international consortia of scientific institutes and industry, with each consortium being led by a single Principal Investigator. The Principal Investigators are : Catherine Cesarsky (CEA, Saclay, France) for ISOCAM; Peter Clegg (QMW, London, United Kingdom) for LWS; Thijs de Graauw (SRON, Groningen, the Netherlands) for SWS; and Dietrich Lemke (MPIA, Heidelberg, Germany) for ISOPHOT. Note: ESA press releases can be received automatically by sending an electronic mail message via Internet to "LISTSERV@esoc.esa.de" (do not type the quotes). The body of the message (not the subject line) should just contain one line with the words "subscribe ESAPRESS first_name last_name" (do not type the quotes) where "first_name" and "last_name" is your personal name, i.e. "subscribe ESAPRESS Mario Rossi". The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription.

PREFACE: Introduction to the proceedings of Dynamics Days South America 2010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macau, Elbert E. N.; Pereira, Tiago; Prado, Antonio F. B. A.; Turci, Luiz F. R.; Winter, Othon C.

2011-03-01

This proceedings presents selected contributions from the participants of South America Dynamics Days 2011, which was hosted by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Brazil, in July 2010. Dynamics Days was founded in 1980 and is the longest standing and most respected international series of meetings devoted to the field of dynamics and nonlinearity. Traditionally it has brought together researchers from a wide range of backgrounds - including physics, biology, engineering, chemistry and mathematics - for interdisciplinary research into nonlinear science. Dynamics Days South America 2010 marked the beginning of the South American branch of Dynamics Days. It brought together, for the first time in South America, researchers from a wide range of backgrounds who share a common interest in the theory and applications of nonlinear dynamics. Thus, South American researchers had a forum to promote regional as well as international scientific and technological exchange and collaboration especially, but not exclusively, on problems that are particularly relevant for the development of science and technology in the South American region. Furthermore, the conference also brought together prominent scientists from around the world to review recent developments in nonlinear science. This conference comprised plenary invited talks, minisymposia, contributed talks and poster sessions. The articles that are compiled here were chosen from among the works that were presented as contributed talks and posters. They represent a good selection which allows one to put issues that were discussed during the conference into perspective. It is possible to evaluate the success of an initiative by using several indices. In relation to attendees, the conference had 311 participants from 22 countries, who presented 341 works. About 86% of the participants came from South American countries. These figures allow one to classify this Dynamics Days conference as that with the greatest number of attendees ever. Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to all the participants for their presentations, discussions, and remarkable interactions with one another. The tireless work undertaken by all the members of the International Advisory Committee and the Organizing Committee must also be recognized. We also wish to express our deep appreciation for the Scientific Societies and Research Support Agencies which supported the conference and provided all the resources which were necessary to make this idea of a South American Dynamics Days come true. Elbert E N Macau, Tiago Pereira, Antonio F B A Prado, Luiz F R Turci, and Othon C WinterEditors Conference photograph Conference photograph Conference photograph Conference photograph International Advisory Committee Adilson E MotterNorthwestern UniversityEvanston - IL - USA Alfredo OzorioCentro Brasileiro de Pesquisas FísicasRio de Janeiro - RJ - Brazil Celso Grebogi (Chair)University of AberdeenAberdeen - UK Ed OttUniversity of MarylandCollege Park - MD - USA Epaminondas Rosa JrIllinois State UniversityNormal - IL - USA Hans Ingo WeberPontifícia Universidade CatólicaRio de Janeiro - RJ - Brazil Holger KantzMax Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex SystemsDresden - Germany Jason Gallas (Co-chair)Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do SulPorto Alegre - RS - Brazil José Roberto Rios LeiteUniv. Federal de PernanbucoRecife - PE - Brazil Jürgen KurthsPotsdam Institute for climate Impact ResearchHumboldt University, Berlin - Germany Kenneth ShowalterWest Virginia UniversityMorgantown - WV - USA Lou PecoraNaval Research LabWashington - DC - USA Luis Antonio AguirreUniversidade Federal de Minas GeraisBelo Horizonte - MG - Brazil Marcelo VianaIMPA - Instituto Nacional de Matemática Pura e AplicadaRio de Janeiro - RJ - Brazil Miguel A F SanjuánUniversidad Rey Juan CarlosMadrid - Spain Paulo Roberto de Souza MendesPontifícia Universidade CatólicaRio de Janeiro - RJ - Brazil Roland KorbeleUniversidade de São PauloSão Carlos - SP - Brazil Rubens SampaioPontifícia Universidade CatólicaRio de Janeiro - RJ - Brazil Ruedi StoopSwiss Federal Institute of TechnologyUZH/ETHZ Zurich - Switzerland Sylvio Ferraz MelloUniversidade de São PauloSão Paulo - SP - Brazil Takashi YoneyamaITA - Instituto Tecnológico de AeronáuticaSão José dos Campos - SP - Brazil Ying-Cheng LaiArizona State UniversityTempe - AZ - USA Organizing Committee Antonio Carlos Roque da SilvaUSP - Universidade de São PauloRibeirão Preto - SP - Brazil Antonio F Bertachini de Almeida Prado (Co-chair)INPE - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas EspaciaisSão José dos Campos - SP - Brazil Arturo C MartiFacultad de CienciaMontevideo - Uruguai Carlos Leopoldo Pando LambruschiniBenemérita Universidad Autónoma de PueblaPuebla - Mexico Edson Denis LeonelUNESP - "Júlio de Mesquisa Filho"Rio Claro - SP - Brazil Elbert E N Macau (Chair)INPE - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas EspaciaisSão José dos Campos - SP - Brazil Gerard Olivar TostUniversidad National de ColombiaManizales - Colombia Hamilton VarelaUSP - Universidade de São PauloSão Carlos - SP - Brazil Hilda Cerdeira (Co-chair)IFT - Instituto de Física TeóricaSão Paulo - SP - Brazil Iberê Luiz CaldasUSP - Universidade de São PauloSão Paulo - SP - Brazil José Manoel BalthazarUNESP - "Júlio de Mesquisa Filho"Rio Claro - SP - Brazil José Roberto Castilho PiqueiraUSP - Universidade de São PauloSão Paulo - SP - Brazil Luciano da Fontoura CostaUSP - Universidade de São PauloSão Carlos - SP - Brazil Luiz de Siqueira Martins FilhoUFABC - Universidade Federal do ABCSanto André - SP - Brazil Marcel G ClercUniversidad de ChileSantiago - Chile Miguel VizcardoUniversidad de ArequipaArequipa - Peru Gonzalo Marcelo Ramirez ÁvilaUniversidad Mayor de San AndrésLa Paz - Bolivia Marco Aurélio Pires IdiartUniversidade Federal do Rio Grande do SulPorto Alegre - RS - Brazil Marcus de AguiarUNICAMPCampinas - SP - Brazil Mario CosenzaUniversidad de Los AndesMerida - Venezuela Othon Cabo WinterUNESP - "Júlio de Mesquisa Filho"Guaratinguetá - SP - Brazil Ricardo Luiz VianaUniversidade Federal do ParanáCuritiba - PA - Brazil Silvina Ponce DawsonUniversidad de Buenos AiresBuenos Aires - Argentina Vivian M GomesINPE - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas EspaciaisSão José dos Campos - SP - Brazil Realization INPE logo Promotion ABCM logo   SBA logo SBF logo   SBMAC logo Sponsorship CAPES logo   CNPq logo FAPESP logo   ICTP logo Claf logo   SOARD AFOSR logo TAM logo

PREFACE: Preface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Zela, Francisco

2011-01-01

RIAO-OPTILAS, one of the most important Iberoamerican conferences for optics, was held on 20-24 September, at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru (PUCP) in Lima. The conference, which is held every three years, gathered around 400 attendees from different countries, some of them coming from beyond the Iberoamerican region. The conference traditionally covers topics which range from optical design to optoelectronics and technological applications, including fundamental as well as applied areas of the optical sciences. A remarkable feature of the present conference was the increased attendance of people working in quantum optics. This area had not been strongly represented in former meetings of RIAO-OPTILAS, something that appears to have now changed, according to the comments of people in the field. Indeed, they realized the advantages of participating in a conference that offers the opportunity to meet researchers from several different areas. Merging expertise with open questions, and delineating new trends and goals; all this becomes possible when direct contact happens, and this has been always the main goal of RIAO-OPTILAS. The first plenary session began with a presentation by Duncan Moore (Rochester) about gradient-index materials, followed by Aristide Dogariu (Central Florida) who talked about variable coherence sensing. The plenary sessions of the following days included James C Wyant (Arizona) who presented precision interferometric measurements in non-ideal environments, and Daniel Malacara (CIO, Mexico) who discussed the design of optical systems with off-axis spherical mirrors. Wolfgang Dultz (Frankfurt, Germany) talked about the transfer of spin angular momentum from photons to birefringent particles, while Ulrik Lund Andersen (Technical University of Denmark) showed how to manipulate continuous variables of light. Halina Rubinzstein (Queensland, Australia) approached the subject of angular momentum of light from the viewpoint of optical tweezers, and Pierre Meystre (Tucson, Arizona) addressed the exciting field of cavity optomechanics. Celebrating 50 years of the laser, Mario Bertolloti (La Sapienza, Rome) revealed the hidden history of the laser and Sune Svanberg (Lund, Sweden) paid homage to the laser from the perspective of its applications in environmental and medical research. Focusing more tightly on cancer diagnosis and therapy, Katarina Svanberg (Lund, Sweden) discussed the application of optical tools in her work as an oncologist. Applications in technology was the chosen subject of Mitsuteru Inoue (Toyohashi University of Technology, Japan), who addressed magneto and multiferroic photonics as applied to spatial light modulators. In a closing plenary session, Luis Jaime Castillo (PUCP, Peru) presented his archeological findings related to ancient Peruvian cultures, something that was not directly related to optics but provided the attendees with the background to better appreciate what they could see during their tourist excursions. Besides the plenary talks, there were also oral and poster sessions that covered a wide range of topics in optics and photonics. Prompted by the fact that several attendees were prestigious authors of books in the optical sciences, a book exhibition was organized giving readers - especially students - the opportunity to meet the authors. In the weeks following the conference and in response to a call for papers, around 170 contributions were submitted for publication in Journal of Physics: Conference Series. RIAO-OPTILAS was partially sponsored by several agencies and organizations: OSA, SPIE, ICO, JPCS, Quantel, and CIO. At the end of the conference four cash awards were granted to students for the best poster presentations. Three awards were sponsored by SPIE. Recipients were Pablo Solano, from Universidad de Concepción, Chile, Dulce-María González-Utrera, from Universidad Autónoma de México, Mexico, and Job Mendoza, from Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Mexico. The OSA award went to Facundo Orte, from ANPCyT and Ceilap (Citefa-Conicet), Argentina. For the first time, RIAO-OPTILAS was preceded by the Andean School for Optics: OPTOANDINA. The School was organized with the aim of boosting the development of optics and photonics in the Andean countries, which are among the less developed ones in the Iberoamerican region. A welcome sign for the effectiveness of such an initiative was given by the increased participation of Bolivia in the present edition of RIAO-OPTILAS. Over one hundred participants attended OPTOANDINA, of which 65 were students and 30 were lecturers, while 6 facilitators were ready to help during the hands-on sessions. RIAO-OPTILAS has traditionally been organized by the host institution. Though this will remain the case for future gatherings of the conference, its increased importance and growing magnitude - in both number of participants and represented areas - has made it necessary to provide the conference with a permanent organizational umbrella. With such an aim, a network called RIAO (Red Iberoamericana de Óptica) - was officially established during RIAO-OPTILAS. One of its main tasks will be to delineate a general framework and guidelines for future sessions of RIAO-OPTILAS. The two next hosts have already been chosen: Portugal in 2013, and Chile in 2016. The contributions contained in the present issue of Journal of Physics: Conference Series cover a wide range of subjects in the optical sciences. They reflect the growing scientific production from the Iberoamerican region and provide the reader - or so we hope - with valuable information on what is being developed by several representative research groups of that region. Finally, I would like to gratefully acknowledge the valuable contribution of the Editorial Committee: Guillermo Baldwin (Chairman of RIAO-OPTILAS 2010)Departamento de Ciencias, Sección Física,Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú Enrique J GalvezDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Colgate University Miguel LevyMichigan Technological University José Benito VázquezDepartamento de Fisica Aplicada, Universidade de Vigo Román CastañedaPhysics School, Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Medellin Miguel AsmadDepartamento de Ciencias, Sección FísicaPontificia Universidad Católica del Perú Miguel V AndrésDepartamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Valencia Francisco De Zela

EVALSO: A New High-speed Data Link to Chilean Observatories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2010-11-01

Stretching 100 kilometres through Chile's harsh Atacama Desert, a newly inaugurated data cable is creating new opportunities at ESO's Paranal Observatory and the Observatorio Cerro Armazones. Connecting these facilities to the main Latin American scientific data backbone completes the last gap in the high-speed link between the observatories and Europe. This new cable is part of the EVALSO (Enabling Virtual Access to Latin American Southern Observatories) project [1], a European Commission FP7 [2] co-funded programme co-ordinated by the University of Trieste that includes ESO, Observatorio Cerro Armazones (OCA, part of Ruhr-Universität Bochum), the Chilean academic network REUNA and other organisations. As well as the cable itself, the EVALSO project involves buying capacity on existing infrastructure to complete a high-bandwidth connection from the Paranal area to ESO's headquarters near Munich, Germany. Project co-ordinator Fernando Liello said: "This project has been an excellent collaboration between the consortium members. As well as giving a fast connection to the two observatories, it brings wider benefits to the academic communities both in Europe and Latin America." The sites of Paranal and Armazones are ideal for astronomical observation due to their high altitude, clear skies and remoteness from light pollution. But their location means they are far from any pre-existing communications infrastructure, which until now has left them dependent on a microwave link to send scientific data back to a base station near Antofagasta. Telescopes at ESO's Paranal observatory produce well over 100 gigabytes of data per night, equivalent to more than 20 DVDs, even after compressing the files. While the existing link is sufficient to carry the data from the current generation of instruments at the Very Large Telescope (VLT), it does not have the bandwidth to handle data from the VISTA telescope (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy, see eso0949), or for the new generation of VLT instruments coming online in the next few years. This means that for much of the data coming from Paranal, the only practical way to send it to ESO Headquarters has been to save it onto hard drives and send these by airmail. This can mean a wait of days or even weeks before observations from VISTA are ready for analysis. Even with this careful rationing of the connection and sophisticated data management to use the connection as efficiently as possible, the link can get saturated at peak times. While this causes no major problems at present, it indicates that the link is reaching capacity. ESO Director General Tim de Zeeuw said: "ESO's observatory at Paranal is growing, with new telescopes and instruments coming online. Our world-class scientific observatories need state-of-the-art infrastructure." In the place of the existing connection, which has a limit of 16 megabit/s (similar to home ADSL broadband), EVALSO will provide a much faster 10 gigabit/s link - a speed fast enough to transfer an entire DVD movie in a matter of seconds [3]. Mario Campolargo, Director, Emerging Technologies and Infrastructures at the European Commission, said: "It is strategically important that the community of astronomers of Europe gets the best access possible to the ESO observatories: this is one of the reasons why the European Union supports the deployment of regional e-infrastructures for science in Latin America and interlinks them with GÉANT [4] and other EU e-infrastructures." The dramatic increase in bandwidth will allow increased use of Paranal's data from a distance, in real-time. It will allow easier monitoring of the VISTA telescope's performance, and quicker access to VLT data, increasing the responsiveness of quality control. And with the expanded bandwidth, new opportunities will open up, such as astronomers and technicians taking part in meetings via high-definition videoconferencing without having to travel to Chile. Moreover, looking forward, the new link will provide enough bandwidth to keep up with the ever-growing volumes of information from Paranal and Armazones in future years, as new and bandwidth-intensive instruments come into use. Immediate remote access to data at a distant location is not just about saving money and making the observatory's work more efficient. For unexpected and unpredictable events, such as gamma-ray bursts, there is often not enough time for astronomers to travel to observatories, and EVALSO will give experts a chance to work remotely on these events almost as if they were at the observatory. Notes [1] EVALSO is funded under the European Commission FP7 and is a partnership among Universita degli Studi di Trieste (Italy), ESO, Ruhr-Universität Bochum (Germany), Consortium GARR (Gestione Ampliamento Rete Ricerca) (Italy), Universiteit Leiden (Netherlands), Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (Italy), Queen Mary, University of London (UK), Cooperacion LatinoAmericana de Redes Avanzasas (CLARA) (Uruguay), and Red Universitaria Nacional (REUNA) (Chile). [2] FP7 (the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technical Development) is the European Union's main instrument for funding research. Its aim is to make, or keep, the EU as a world leader in its priority areas in science and technology. [3] The newly laid cable has a bandwidth of 10 gigabit/s. The entire network infrastructure between Paranal to ESO HQ in Germany is theoretically capable of transferring data at a maximum of 1 gigabit/s. [4] GÉANT is a pan-European data network dedicated to the research and education community. It connects 40 million users across 40 countries. More information ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and VISTA, the world's largest survey telescope. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 42-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".

VLBA Reveals Formation Region of Giant Cosmic Jet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1999-10-01

Astronomers have gained their first glimpse of the mysterious region near a black hole at the heart of a distant galaxy, where a powerful stream of subatomic particles spewing outward at nearly the speed of light is formed into a beam, or jet, that then goes nearly straight for thousands of light-years. The astronomers used radio telescopes in Europe and the U.S., including the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) to make the most detailed images ever of the center of the galaxy M87, some 50 million light-years away. "This is the first time anyone has seen the region in which a cosmic jet is formed into a narrow beam," said Bill Junor of the University of New Mexico, in Albuquerque. "We had always speculated that the jet had to be made by some mechanism relatively near the black hole, but as we looked closer and closer to the center, we kept seeing an already-formed beam. That was becoming embarrassing, because we were running out of places to put the formation mechanism that we knew had to be there." Junor, along with John Biretta and Mario Livio of the Space Telescope Science Institute, in Baltimore, MD, now have shown that M87's jet is formed within a few tenths of a light-year of the galaxy's core, presumed to be a black hole three billion times more massive than the sun. In the formation region, the jet is seen opening widely, at an angle of about 60 degrees, nearest the black hole, but is squeezed down to only 6 degrees a few light-years away. "The 60-degree angle of the inner part of M87's jet is the widest such angle yet seen in any jet in the universe," said Junor. "We found this by being able to see the jet to within a few hundredths of a light-year of the galaxy's core -- an unprecedented level of detail." The scientists reported their findings in the October 28 issue of the journal Nature. At the center of M87, material being drawn inward by the strong gravitation of the black hole is formed into a rapidly-spinning flat disk, called an accretion disk. The subatomic particles are thought to be pushed outward from the poles of this disk. The scientists believe that magnetic fields in the disk are twisted tightly as the disk spins and then channel the electrically-charged particles into a pair of narrow jets. "Our new image of M87 supports this idea of magnetic fields doing the work of forming the stream of particles into a narrow jet," said Biretta. Jets such as the one in M87 are seen emerging from numerous galaxies throughout the universe. "What we learn about how M87's jet is formed and shaped can be applied to others," said Livio. "These jets coming from radio galaxies and quasars are among the greatest 'particle accelerators' in the universe, but we don't fully understand how they work. This new information will help scientists decipher the physics of these powerful 'engines,'" he added. "We can see such jets very far away, even at distances of billions of light-years," said Junor. "They are fascinating to us because they show how nature is somehow using the accretion disk and the jet to tap into the enormous gravitational energy of a black hole and use that energy to 'light up' the outer regions of the galaxy." "We have never thought these jets are created fully-formed," said Biretta. "They need some space in which to reach the stable configuration we see at larger scales. We now have seen that space for the first time, and this will help show which theoretical models might be right." He added that "magnetic fields are almost certainly involved," and said that future radio-telescope observations will attempt to find evidence of the magnetic fields. The astronomers studied M87 because it is one of the nearest jet- emitting galaxies and its strong radio emission made it an excellent target for radio telescopes. In addition to the VLBA, a continent-wide radio-telescope system, they used the NSF's Very Large Array, a radio telescope near Socorro, NM, and radio telescopes in Germany, Italy, Finland, Sweden and Spain. The signals from all the telescopes were combined to produce an image with extremely great resolution, or ability to discern fine detail. The combination of radio telescopes formed, in effect, a telescope the size of the Earth. In addition to using NSF's VLBA, Junor received financial support for his research from the NSF. Biretta and Livio received support from NASA. Both radio observations with the VLBA and optical observations with the Hubble Space Telescope have measured the motions of concentrations of material in M87's jets, and have shown the material to be moving at apparent speeds greater than that of light. This "superluminal" motion is a geometric illusion created by material moving nearly, but under, the speed of light, but in a direction somewhat toward the Earth. M87 also is known by radio astronomers as Virgo A, the strongest emitter of radio waves in the constellation Virgo. The galaxy was discovered by the French astronomer Charles Messier in 1781. The jet was first seen in 1918 by Lick Observatory astronomer Heber Curtis, who described it as "a curious straight ray." The galaxy's radio emission was first observed by Australian astronomers in 1948/49. M87 is the largest of thousands of galaxies in the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. The Local Group of galaxies, of which our own Milky Way is a member, is in the outskirts of the Virgo Cluster. The VLA and VLBA are instruments of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. The Space Telescope Science Institute is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. for NASA, under contract with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. ### CAPTION for Radio Images: Radio images of the galaxy M87 at different scales show, top left, giant, bubble-like structures where radio emission is thought to be powered by the jets from the galaxy's central black hole; top right, the jets of subatomic particles coming from the core; and bottom, the new VLBA image of the region close to the core, where the jet is formed into a narrow beam. The scales of the images are shown by white bars in each image: 10 kpc (kiloparsecs) is equal to 32,600 light-years; 1 kpc equals 3,260 light-years; and 0.01 pc equals 0.0326 light- years, or 2,062 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun. The small circle labeled 6Rs shows six times the Schwarzschild Radius, (radius of the event horizon) for the galaxy's black hole. That length corresponds to slightly more than 9 times the distance from the Sun to Pluto. The top two images are from the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope; the lower one from the NSF's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). Credit: National Radio Astronomy Observatory/Associated Universities, Inc. CAPTION for Graphic: Artist's conception of the formation region of M87's jet. Accretion disk (red-yellow) surrounds the black hole, and its magnetic field lines twist tightly to channel the outpouring subatomic particles into a narrow jet. The jet opens widely near the black hole, then is shaped into a narrower beam within a light- year of the black hole. Credit: Space Telescope Science Institute.

Magnetic Strips Preserve Record of Ancient Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

This image is a map of Martian magnetic fields in the southern highlands near the Terra Cimmeria and Terra Sirenum regions, centered around 180 degrees longitude from the equator to the pole. It is where magnetic stripes possibly resulting from crustal movement are most prominent. The bands are oriented approximately east - west and are about 100 miles wide and 600 miles long, although the longest band stretches more than 1200 miles. The false blue and red colors represent invisible magnetic fields in the Martian crust that point in opposite directions. The magnetic fields appear to be organized in bands, with adjacent bands pointing in opposite directions, giving these stripes a striking similarity to patterns seen in the Earth's crust at the mid-oceanic ridges.

NASA's Mars Global Surveyor has discovered surprising new evidence of past movement of the Martian crust, suggesting that ancient Mars was a more dynamic, Earth-like planet than it is today.

Scientists using the spacecraft's magnetometer have found banded patterns of magnetic fields on the Martian surface. The adjacent magnetic bands point in opposite directions, giving these invisible stripes a striking similarity to patterns seen in the crust of Earth's sea floors.

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] (P50330,MRPS94769)

Above: An artist's concept comparing the present day magnetic fields on Earth and Mars. Earth's magnetic field is generated by an active dynamo - a hot core of molten metal. The magnetic field surrounds Earth and is considered global (left). The various Martian magnetic fields (right) do not encompass the entire planet and are local. The Martian dynamo is extinct, and its magnetic fields are 'fossil' remnants of its ancient, global magnetic field. I

On the Earth, the sea floor spreads apart slowly at mid-oceanic ridges as new crust flows up from Earth's hot interior. Meanwhile, the direction of Earth's magnetic field reverses occasionally, resulting in alternating stripes in the new crust that carry a fossil record of the past hundreds of million years of Earth's magnetic history, a finding that validated the once-controversial theory of plate tectonics.

'The discovery of this pattern on Mars could revolutionize current thinking of the red planet's evolution,' said Dr. Jack Connerney of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, an investigator on the Global Surveyor's magnetometer team. 'If the bands on Mars are an imprint of crustal spreading, they are a relic of an early era of plate tectonics on Mars. However, unlike on Earth, the implied plate tectonic activity on Mars is most likely extinct.'

Alternate explanations for the banded structure may involve the fracturing and breakup of an ancient, uniformly magnetized crust due to volcanic activity or tectonic stresses from the rise and fall of neighboring terrain.

'Imagine a thin coat of dried paint on a balloon, where the paint is the crust of Mars,' explained Dr. Mario Acuna of Goddard, principal investigator on the Global Surveyor magnetometer. 'If we inflate the balloon further, cracks can develop in the paint, and the edges of the cracks will automatically have opposite polarities, because nature does not allow there to be a positive pole without a negative counterpart.'

Peer-reviewed research based on the observations will be published in the April 30 issue of the journal Science.

The observations of the so-called magnetic stripes were made possible because of Mars Global Surveyor's special aerobraking orbit. This process of dipping into the upper atmosphere of Mars to gradually shape the probe's orbit into a circle was extended due to a problem with a solar panel on the spacecraft. The lowest point of each elliptically shaped orbit curved below the planet's ionosphere, allowing the magnetometer to obtain better-than-planned regional measurements of Mars.

'At its nominal orbit more than 200 miles high, the instruments face too much magnetic interference, and they do not have the resolution to detect these features,' Acuna noted. 'We began with misfortune, and ended up winning the lottery.'

The bands of magnetized crust apparently formed in the distant past when Mars had an active dynamo, or hot core of molten metal, which generated a global magnetic field. Mars was geologically active, with molten rock rising from below cooling at the surface and forming new crust. As the new crust solidified, the magnetic field that permeated the rock was 'frozen' in the crust. Periodically, conditions in the dynamo changed and the global magnetic field reversed direction. The oppositely directed magnetic field was then frozen into newer crust.

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] (P50331,MRPS94770)

Above: These images are an artist's concept of the process that may have generated magnetic stripes in the crust of ancient Mars. In the left image, the blue arrows and compass needle indicate the direction of the magnetic field. The yellow-orange shape represents a pool of molten rock (magma)upwelling beneath the Martian crust. The red and blue bands are magnetized crust on either side of a spreading center, or rift.

'Like a Martian tape recorder, the crust has preserved a fossil record of the magnetic field directions that prevailed at different times in the ancient past,' Connerney said. When the planet's hot core cooled, the dynamo ceased and the global magnetic field of Mars vanished. However, a record of the magnetic field was preserved in the crust and detected by the Global Surveyor instrument.

The mission's map of Martian magnetic regions may help solve another mystery -- the origin of a striking difference in appearance between the smooth, sparsely cratered northern lowlands of Mars and the heavily cratered southern highlands. The map reveals that the northern regions are largely free of magnetism, indicating the northern crust formed after the dynamo died. 'The dynamo likely died a few hundred million years after Mars' formation. One possibility is that later asteroid impacts followed by volcanic activity heated and shocked large areas of the northern crust, obliterating any local magnetic fields and smoothing the terrain,' Acuna said. 'When the crust cooled, there was no longer a global magnetic field to become frozen in again.'

The map also identifies an area in the southern highlands as the oldest surviving unmodified crust on Mars. This area on Marsis where the magnetic stripes are most prominent. The bands are oriented approximately east-to-west and are about 100 miles wide and 600 miles long, although the longest band stretches more than 1,200 miles.

'The bands are wider than those on Earth, perhaps for a couple of reasons,' Connerney said. 'The Martian crust could have been generated at a greater rate, causing a given magnetic field to be imprinted over a wider area before it reversed direction. Second, the Martian magnetic field may have reversed direction less frequently, which would have given more time for anyone field direction to imprint itself in the steadily moving crust, resulting in wider bands.

In order to call this pattern a crustal spreading center like that observed in the mid-oceanic ridges on Earth, we need to find a point of symmetry, where the pattern on one side matches the pattern on the other. We have not yet found evidence of this type of symmetry,' Connerney added.

NEWS: AAPT Summer Meeting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mellema, Steve

2000-11-01

The 2000 Summer Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) was held from 28~July-2~August at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. Despite somewhat rainy weather throughout the week, the annual gathering was an enjoyable one, filled with interesting talks on the state of physics education in North America. Using a new scheduling format for the summer meeting, all of the paid workshops and tutorials were held on Saturday and Sunday 29-30 July. The invited and contributed papers for the main AAPT meeting were then presented on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. As had been done in 1999 in San Antonio, a two-day tandem meeting dedicated to Physics Education Research (PER) was held on Wednesday and Thursday 2-3 August, immediately after the main AAPT meeting. Over the three days of the main meeting, 60 sessions were held under the sponsorship of various AAPT committees. These included sessions (numbers in parentheses) organized by the committees on Apparatus (1), Astronomy Education (3), Awards (2), Computers (5), Graduate Education (2), High Schools (1), History and Philosophy (1), Instructional Media (3), International Education (1), Laboratories (2), Pre-High School Education (2), Programs (4), Professional Concerns (6), Research in Physics Education (8), Science Education for the Public (2), Two-Year Colleges (5), Undergraduate Education (7) and Women in Physics (4). Figure 1. Guelph Church of Our Lady. The main meeting opened on Sunday evening with an invited lecture by Dr John J Simpson from the host institution, the University of Guelph, describing the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory. At the ceremonial session that began the activities on Monday morning, recognition was given to Clifford Swartz for his almost 30 years of service as Editor of the AAPT journal, The Physics Teacher. This was followed by an invited talk by Jim Nelson from Seminole County Public School in Florida, who received the Excellence in Pre-College Teaching Award. The session concluded with the talk by this year's award winner for Excellence in Introductory College teaching, Dr Dwight Neuenschwander from Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma. Dwight's talk, invoking both Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, was memorable for clarifying both the connections and the differences between physics and physics teaching. At a second ceremonial session on Tuesday, Terrence Walker of The Ohio State University gave the Klopsteg Memorial Lecture, entitled The Big Bang: Seeing Back to the Beginning. This was followed by the presentation of the Robert A Millikan Award Lecture - Beauty in Physics and the Arts, by Thomas Rossing of Northern Illinois University. Over the years Tom has made many contributions to the teaching of the physics of sound and music, and his lecture made wonderful connections between physics and the arts. At the first plenary session on Monday, Dr Elaine Seymour, a sociologist from the University of Colorado, gave a talk entitled: We Know Science Majors Are Lost Because of Poor Teaching, But Why Do They Resist Our Efforts To Improve Their Learning Experience? She described students' responses and resistance to the implementation of active-learning methods. The talk was thought-provoking, particularly when so many other talks at this meeting described new attempts to incorporate such methods in different educational settings. At the second plenary session on Wednesday, Eric Poisson from the University of Guelph gave a very interesting talk about Gravitational Wave Astronomy and the LIGO and VIRGO projects, including their theoretical motivation and expected experimental results. On Tuesday evening there was a very special show of physics demonstrations by the `Third Eye' group from China. Their presentations embody a very interesting philosophy. Each demonstration is designed to illustrate one or more basic concepts in physics in a way that will be both memorable and thought-provoking. Often these presentations have evolved, and at each stage their goal is to be able to accomplish the same demonstration with ever-simpler equipment. Given that we all live under financial constraints, the `third eye' refers to the ability to look around and find a useful piece of a demonstration apparatus amongst what others might perceive to be junk. All in all, it was a very stimulating and interesting presentation, and one can easily see why this group tours China to the rave reviews of the students there. As is true every year, the wealth of interesting and valuable work shared in the parallel sessions of contributed papers was astounding. As always, I found myself running from building to building in an attempt to hear as many talks as I could possibly attend. Often a colleague and I would split up to hear different talks, and then share what we'd learned over a meal later in the day. What follows are a few highlights of what we heard and saw in some of those sessions. As one would expect given the trend of recent years, there were many interesting talks about the incorporation of computers and instructional media in introductory physics teaching. Paris Naik from the University of Illinois presented a paper on their web-based Interactive Examples. These are very well thought-out homework problems that provide interactive help in the spirit of a Socratic dialogue. They can be viewed at webug.physics.uiuc.edu/courses/ie.html. Mario Belloni and Wolfgang Christian, both from Davidson College, each gave a talk on the use of Physlets, scriptable Java-based interactive physics problems. These can be sampled at webphysics.davidson.edu/physletprob. Ruth Chabay from Carnegie Mellon University presented the Visual Python real-time, three-dimensional graphics environment in which their first-year students are programming their own visualization of physical phenomena. Its power, ease of use and freeware usage make it a must-see at cil.andrew.cmu.edu/projects/visual. David Sokoloff (University of Oregon) and Priscilla Laws (Dickinson College) led a discussion session on the Interactive Lecture Demonstrations that they have been developing to promote active learning in the classroom. Loren Winters of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics showed some very fine work done with digital video cameras, both in producing motion videos for frame-by-frame analysis and in producing still images of high-speed phenomena. Finally, Patrick Tam of Humboldt State University in California talked about the Multimedia Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT), a project to organize and review the proliferation of internet-based teaching materials that are rapidly becoming available. Their purpose is to make it easier for teachers like us to sift through the plethora of new innovations, to locate those that are potentially useful in our teaching, and finally to implement them effectively. You can check out the project on the web at www.merlot.org. As is evident from the number of sessions of contributed papers and the tandem conference, the quality and quantity of physics education research into new curricula and teaching methods continue to increase. A number of interesting areas were discussed including interactive lecture techniques, studio-classroom approaches combining lectures and labs, assessment techniques, and identifying and correcting student misconceptions. In addition to the plenary talks on current research topics in physics mentioned above, there were sessions on Space Physics and Hot Topics in Physics. There were sessions on professional and career concerns including Preparing Future Physics Faculty, New Faculty Experiences and Concerns, Balancing Career and Family, How Physics Topics Support the Job Market and Recruiting and Retaining Women in Physics. Whether one was a high school teacher or a university professor, this was an enjoyable and educational meeting. We all look forward to the Winter 2001 meeting from 6-11 January in San Diego, and to next summer's meeting from 21-25 July in Rochester, New York.

Countdown for the Cluster quartet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2000-07-01

Following the successful completion of the Cluster II Flight Readiness Review on 23 June, final launch preparations are progressing smoothly and combined operations with the Soyuz-Fregat launch vehicle are now under way. The dual launches, each involving two Cluster spacecraft built under the prime contractorship of Astrium (former Dornier Satellitensysteme GmbH, Germany), are currently scheduled for 15 July with a launch window opening at 14:40 CEST, 12:40 GMT and lasting 6 minutes, and 9 August from Baikonur Space Centre in Kazakhstan. A number of press events have been organised in various countries to coincide with both launches. The main press centre for the first launch will be located at ESA's European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) at Darmstadt in Germany. Local press centres are also being set up in the other ESA establishments: ESRIN (Italy), ESTEC (The Netherlands), and VILSPA (Spain). See attachment for more detailed information and reply form to register at the various sites. Details of the second launch press event, which will be held in London (UK), will be available at a later date. Cluster II Competition Attracts Record Entries. A highlight of the first launch event at ESOC will be the announcement of the overall winner of ESA's "Name the Cluster quartet" competition and the chosen names of the four Cluster II satellites. Last February, members of the public in all of ESA's 15 member states were asked to suggest the most suitable names for the Cluster II spacecraft. The satellites are currently known as flight models (FM) 5, 6, 7 and 8. Competitors were asked to propose a set of four names (places, people, or things from history, mythology, or fiction, but not living persons) and explain in a few sentences the reasons for their choice. After sifting through more than 5,000 entries from all over Europe and debating at length the merits of the various suggestions, the multinational jury eventually produced a list of 15 national prize winners - one from each ESA member state. These finalists and their families have all won a 3-day trip to attend a special Cluster II launch event in one of these ESA establishments: * ESRIN (near Rome, Italy): winners from France, Ireland, Belgium. * VILSPA (near Madrid, Spain): winners from The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland. * ESTEC (near Amsterdam, The Netherlands): winners from Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria. * ESOC (in the Rhine Valley, Germany): winners from Italy, Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom. The Lucky 15. The lucky national winners are: Austria: VENTO, NUBO, FULMO, PLUVO entered by Andreas Rosenstingl (Vienna, A). Belgium: ALBATROS, EAGLE, FALCON, HAWK entered by André Borremans (Lembeek, B). Denmark: ORIENTÁLIS, OCCIDENTÁLIS, AQUILÓNIUS, AUSTRÁLIS entered by Mia Stampe (Copenhagen, DK). Finland: UKKO, ILMATAR, KOKKO, LOUHI entered by Ismo Hirvonen (Tampere, FI) France: ADAGIO, ALLEGRO, LARGO, VIVACE entered by Daniel Lellouch (c/o Rehovot, Israel) Germany: TRISTAN & ISOLDE, ROMEO & JULIA entered by Manuela Saal (Köln, D) Ireland: IMBOLC, BELTAINE, LUGHNASA, SAMHAIN entered by Grainne Duncan (Dublin, IR). Italy: GEA, URANO, TETI, CRONO entered by Paola Benna (Avigliana-To, I). Netherlands: KIN, UINAL, TUN, KATUN entered by Ben Jasper Fayer (Hoogeven, NL). Norway: CHLOROS, ERYTHROS, AUREUS, LUTEUS entered by Joar Vatnaland (c/o Leeds, UK). Portugal: IXCHELL, ITZAMNA, MAUINA, RAINBOW entered by Carlos Fernando Carvalhido Oliveira (Porto, P). Spain: DIVEE, BEEDY, EEROT, BROT entered by Sergi Porter (Barcelona, E). Sweden: FLUTE, VIOLIN, CELLO, PIANO entered by Ola Carlström (Huddige, SW). Switzerland: SOLÉA, LUNÉA, EOLIA, ONDÉA entered by Luciana Favre (Riddes, CH). United Kingdom: TANGO, RUMBA, SALSA, SAMBA entered by Raymond Cotton (Bristol, UK). One of these lucky finalists will go on to gain a special grand prize when the winning names for the four spacecraft are announced at the ESOC event to mark the first Cluster II launch. These names will then become the official designations of the satellites. Where to witness the first launch in Europe. On 15 July media representatives are invited to cover the launch from various sites in Europe. ESA will broadcast the launch live, with images from Baikonur and ESA's Operations Centre ESOC in Darmstadt, Germany. ESA programme officials and spokespersons will be on hand at each site for interviews. European Press Centre, Germany: Location: ESA/ ESOC Address: Robert-Bosch Strasse 5, Darmstadt, Germany Opening hours: 13:30 -17:30 Contact point: Jocelyne Landeau-Constantin Tel. + 49 6151 90 2696/ 2459 Fax. + 49 6151 90 2961 France Location: ESA Headquarters Address: 8-10 rue Mario Nikis, 75015 Paris, France Opening hours: 13:30- 17:30 Contact point: Anne-Marie Rémondin Tel. + 33 1 5369 7155 Fax. + 33 1 5369 7690 The Netherlands Location: Noordwijk Space Expo Address: Keplerlaan 3, Noordwijk, The Netherlands Opening hours: 13:30 - 17:30 Contact point: Heidi Graf Tel. (till 14/07): + 31 71 565 3006 on launch date at Noordwijk Space Expo, tel.: + 31 71 364 6446 Fax.: + 31 71 565 5728 Italy Location: ESA/ESRIN Address: Via G. Galilei, Frascati (Rome), Italy Opening hours: 13:30- 17:30 Contact point: Franca Morgia Tel. + 39 06 9418 0951 Fax. +39 06 9418 0952 Spain: Location ESA/VILSPA Satellite Station Address: Villafranca del Castillo, Madrid Opening hours: 13:30-17:30 Contact point: Fany Peña Tel + 34 91 813 1211 Fax. +34 91 813 1212 Media representatives wishing to attend the launch event from any of the sites, are kindly requested to fill out the attached reply form and fax it back to the contact point at the site they have chosen. The live launch video transmission will be available in analogue (PAL) and digital (MPEG-2) format, via satellite. There will be different language versions plus clean, international audio. The exact times of the transmission and the satellite parameters will be posted as from 10 July on the Internet at http://television.esa.int. The launch of the first pair of Clusters on 15 July will be covered live also on the Internet by ESA at http://clusterlaunch.esa.int and also by Spaceflight Now at http://spaceflightnow.com Note for editors. ESA's Cluster II mission will study the complex interaction between the Sun and Earth in unprecedented detail. For the first time, four satellites will fly in close formation above the Earth's poles, studying the magnetic field around our planet and its continual battle with the energetic particles of the solar wind. This groundbreaking mission to explore the magnetosphere and provide the first small-scale, three-dimensional 'map' of near-Earth space is one of the key Cornerstones in ESA's Horizons 2000 long term science programme. For more information on the winning entries, visit the ESA Science Website at: http://sci.esa.int/cluster/competition For interviews with the winners up to 10 July, 2000, please contact: Martine Caparros, tel:+31 71 565 3183, fax: +31 71 565 4101, E-mail: mcaparro@estec.esa.nl Further information on the Cluster II mission - including regular updates from Baikonur - can be found on the Internet at: http://sci.esa.int/cluster/ ESA Communication Department, Media Relations Office Tel: +33(0)1. 53.69.7155 Fax: +33(0)1.53.69 7690 Further information on ESA at http://www.esa.int

News and Announcements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1999-02-01

News from Journal House Conceptual Questions and Challenge Problems Many readers are trying to modify the way they teach and in so doing are trying to write new types of questions and problems. The Journal has a new online resource, the JCE Internet Conceptual Questions and Challenge Problems Web site, http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/JCEWWW/Resources/CQandChP/index.html . The site is a source of questions and problems that can be used in teaching and assessing conceptual understanding and problem solving in chemistry. Here you can find a library of free-response and multiple-choice conceptual questions and challenge problems, tips for writing these questions and problems, and a discussion of types of concept questions. This site is intended to be a means of sharing conceptual questions and challenge problems among chemical educators. It will be as inclusive as possible, and to achieve this readers need to share their questions and alert the authors to references or Web sites. The screen captures shown below should provide a feeling for what you will find when you visit the site. The authors, William R. Robinson and Susan C. Nurrenbern, welcome additions to the library of conceptual questions or other comments or suggestions. Contact them by email, fax, or regular mail. William R. Robinson and Susan C. Nurrenbern, Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1393. Bill: phone: 765/494-5453; fax: 765/494-0239; email: wrrobin@purdue.edu. Sue: phone: 765/494-0823; fax: 765/494-0239; email: nurrenbe@purdue.edu. fax: 765/494-0239. 1998 Ford Foundation Fellowships The National Research Council has announced the recipients of the 1998 fellowships for minority scholars. Three categories of fellowships were awarded: 50 to beginning graduate students, 33 to students writing their dissertations, and 28 to recent Ph.D. recipients. There were about 1,000 applicants. For information about the next competition contact the Fellowship Office of the National Research Council, 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20418, via email at infofell@nas.edu, or at http://fellowships.nas.edu. 1998 Pre-Doctoral Fellows Rafael Alcala, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Chemical Engineering Diego J. Díaz, Cornell University, Analytical Chemistry Kanya Lynn Henderson, Colorado State University, Biochemistry Félix Mario Rivas, State University of New York, Buffalo, Organic Chemistry 1998 Dissertation Fellows Kristala Lanett Jones, Arizona State University, Chemical Engineering 1998 Postdoctoral Fellows Edgardo Tabión Farinas, Yale University, Interdisciplinary Chemistry Data Base of Online Courses TeleEducation NB, a province-wide distributed distance learning network in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, has implemented an international online course database of more than 9,000 courses. The database includes public and private courses at all levels from more than 15 countries and includes only those courses that can be completed fully online. Courses vary from graduate-level engineering offerings to simple "How to" courses. The database provides access to courses and programs leading to accredited degrees, diplomas, and certificates. Professional development and personal interest courses are also included. Students can access course information by browsing subject areas or by searching specific fields. Hotlinks connect students directly to the delivering institutions. In the past year, there has been an exponential rise in the number of courses being offered online, from fewer than 2,000 in January 1998 to more than 10,000 in December 1998. It is expected that there will be more than 40,000 online courses by the year 2000. The TeleCampus Online Course Database provides students with a means of finding information on courses that meet their needs. The database can be accessed from TeleCampus at http://telecampus.edu. Change in the Introductory Chemistry Course, an Online Course An online conference, Proposals for Change in the Introductory Chemistry Course, will take place from March 29 to April 10, 1999. The conference will be chaired by James N. Spencer, Chemistry Department, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA 17604; j_spencer@acad.fandm.edu. While both process and content need to be considered in making changes, this conference will be limited to a discussion of content. It will take the approach that if we begin to examine the current content and how and why certain topics came to be considered as essential for the course, we may be able to approach a common curriculum so that the process of how to best to implement it may then be developed. Stephen J. Hawkes of Oregon State University compiled suggestions for the content of general chemistry and served as leader of the Zero Base Course discussion group for the Task Force on the General Chemistry Curriculum. The goal of the zero base approach is a detailed curriculum in which topics are developed so that students understand the phenomena considered necessary for the course. This analysis requires that the principles that should be in the course be identified, that those not necessary be removed, and perhaps additional principles be added. This online conference will list more than 100 proposals compiled from many viewpoints. Proposals are worded as debatable propositions to engender serious discussion. After discussion, amendment, deletion, extension, and some consensus, the proposals will be distributed to the chemistry community in various forms. Future discussions are also planned. The CONFCHEM World Wide Web site has the URL http://www.chem.vt.edu/confchem/. The March and April session is free to all Internet users. To subscribe to the CONFCHEM Listserv send the message: SUBSCRIBE CONFCHEM your-first-and-last-name to LISTSERV@CLVM.CLARKSON.EDU X-ray Structure Solution Manual Allen Hunter announces the release of the second edition of his lab manual for introductory diffraction methods courses. It was written as a step-by-step guide to solving routine crystal structures for crystallographic novices and is entitled "Allen Hunter's Youngstown State University X-ray Structure Analysis Lab Manual: A Beginner's Introduction". The manual has been developed in an undergraduate course that enrolls a broad mixture of chemists, engineers, geologists, and biologists. It is optimized for use with the SHELXTL suite of programs but should prove useful to those using other structure solution packages as well. This edition has been reviewed at twelve sites and will be available for general use in January 1999. The lab manual is available without charge as a .pdf file to academic users, provided that each copy is registered and users inform the author about how it is used in their teaching. Those interested in obtaining a copy should contact the author at adhunter@cc.ysu.edu. Proposal Deadlines National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE)

• Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) June 7, 1999
• NSF Collaboratives for Excellence in Teacher Preparation (CETP)
• Preliminary proposals, Track 1 May 1, 1999
• Formal proposals, Track 1 September 1, 1999

• Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program: November 16, 1998
• Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program: July 1, 1999
• New Faculty Awards Program: May 14, 1999
• Faculty Start-up Grants for Undergraduate Institutions: May 14, 1999
• Scholar/Fellow Program for Undergraduate Institutions: July 1, 1999
• Special Grant Program in the Chemical Sciences: July 15, 1999
• Postdoctoral Program in Environmental Chemistry: February 26, 1999

• Cottrell College Science Awards: May 15 and November 15
• Cottrell Scholars: First regular business day in September
• Partners in Science: December 1 (the final year for this program is summer 1999)
• Research Opportunity Awards: May 1 and October 1
• Research Innovation Awards: May 1

PREFACE: Fourth Meeting on Constrained Dynamics and Quantum Gravity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cadoni, Mariano; Cavaglia, Marco; Nelson, Jeanette E.

2006-04-01

The formulation of a quantum theory of gravity seems to be the unavoidable endpoint of modern theoretical physics. Yet the quantum description of the gravitational field remains elusive. The year 2005 marks the tenth anniversary of the First Meeting on Constrained Dynamics and Quantum Gravity, held in Dubna (Russia) due to the efforts of Alexandre T. Filippov (JINR, Dubna) and Vittorio de Alfaro (University of Torino, Italy). At the heart of this initiative was the desire for an international forum where the status and perspectives of research in quantum gravity could be discussed from the broader viewpoint of modern gauge field theories. Since the Dubna meeting, an increasing number of scientists has joined this quest. Progress was reported in two other conferences in this series: in Santa Margherita Ligure (Italy) in 1996 and in Villasimius (Sardinia, Italy) in 1999. After a few years of ``working silence'' the time was now mature for a new gathering. The Fourth Meeting on Constrained Dynamics and Quantum Gravity (QG05) was held in Cala Gonone (Sardinia, Italy) from Monday 12th to Friday 16th September 2005. Surrounded by beautiful scenery, 100 scientists from 23 countries working in field theory, general relativity and related areas discussed the latest developments in the quantum treatment of gravitational systems. The QG05 edition covered many of the issues that had been addressed in the previous meetings and new interesting developments in the field, such as brane world models, large extra dimensions, analogue models of gravity, non-commutative techniques etc. The format of the meeting was similar to the previous ones. The programme consisted of invited plenary talks and parallel sessions on cosmology, quantum gravity, strings and phenomenology, gauge theories and quantisation and black holes. A major goal was to bring together senior scientists and younger people at the beginning of their scientific career. We were able to give financial support to both groups. In particular, help was provided to students and scientists from non-EU countries. It is our great pleasure to thank those people and institutions whose help and support was crucial to the success of the meeting. We appreciate the enthusiastic support of our colleagues of the academic community, especially those from the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare and the Universities of Cagliari, Pisa, Torino and Mississippi. Financial support was provided by the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, the Universities of Cagliari, Torino, Pisa and Mississippi. This was used largely to support participants, especially younger people. Special thanks go to Pietro Menotti (University of Pisa) and Stefano Sciuto (University of Torino) for their friendship and their universities' financial contributions. It is also a pleasure to acknowledge financial support from the Regione Autonoma della Sardegna and from Tiscali, the communications and Internet company, for providing free telephone cards. Technical support and local organisation was provided by the Sezione di Cagliari of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare. Warmest thanks go to our administrative and technical staff - Maria Assunta Lecca and Simona Renieri, for their untiring assistance, and to Palmasera Village and Hotel Smeraldo for their splendid hospitality. And finally, our gratitude goes to all the participants and especially the many experienced scientists. Their contributions highlighted the meeting and were largely without support. The success of the meeting is due to them and to the enthusiasm of the younger participants. The Editors January 2006 COMMITTEES Organising Committee Mariano Cadoni (Università and INFN Cagliari) Marco Cavaglià (University of Mississippi) Jeanette E. Nelson (Università and INFN Torino) Advisory Committee Orfeu Bertolami (IST Lisboa, Portugal) Luca Bombelli (Univ. Mississippi) Steve Carlip (UC Davis, USA) Alessandro D'Adda (INFN Torino, Italy) Stanley Deser (Brandeis, USA) Georgi Dvali (NYU, USA) Sergio Ferrara (CERN) Gian Francesco Giudice (CERN) Roman Jackiw (MIT, USA) Edward W. Kolb (Fermilab, USA) Luca Lusanna (INFN Firenze, Italy) Roy Maartens (Univ. Portsmouth, UK) Hermann Nicolai (AEI, Potsdam, Germany) Tullio Regge (Politecnico di Torino, Italy) Augusto Sagnotti (Univ. Roma Tor Vergata, Italy) Kellogg S. Stelle (Imperial College London, UK) Ruth Williams (DAMTP, Cambridge, UK) SPONSORS Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Università di Cagliari Università di Torino University of Mississippi Università di Pisa Regione autonoma della Sardegna Tiscali LIST OF PARTICIPANTS Eun-Joo Ahn (University of Chicago, USA) David Alba (Università di Firenze, Italy) Stanislav Alexeyev (Lomonosov Moscow State U., Russia) Damiano Anselmi (Università di Pisa, Italy) Ignatios Antoniadis (CERN, Geneva, Switzerland) Maria Da Conceicao Bento (Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisboa, Portugal) Orfeu Bertolami (Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisboa, Portugal) Massimo Bianchi (Università di Roma Tor Vergata, Italy) Mariam Bouhmadi-Lopez (University of Portsmouth, UK) Raphael Bousso (University of California at Berkeley, USA) Mariano Cadoni (Università di Cagliari, Italy) Steven Carlip (University of California at Davis, USA) Roberto Casadio (Università di Bologna, Italy) Marco Cavaglià (University of Mississippi, USA) Demian Cho (Raman Research Institute, Bangalore, India) Theodosios Christodoulakis (University of Athens, Greece) Chryssomalis Chryssomalakos (Inst. de Ciencias Nucleares - UNAM, Mexico) Diego Julio Cirilo-Lombardo (JINR, Dubna, Russia) Denis Comelli INFN, Sezione di Ferrara, Italy ) Ruben Cordero-Elizalde (Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Mexico) Lorenzo Cornalba (Università di Roma Tor Vergata, Italy) Branislav Cvetkovic (Institute of Physics, Belgrade, Serbia ) Maro Cvitan (University of Zagreb, Croatia) Alessandro D'Adda (Università di Torino, Italy) Claudio Dappiaggi (Università di Pavia, Italy) Roberto De Leo (Università di Cagliari, Italy) Roberto De Pietri (Università di Parma, Italy) Giuseppe De Risi (Università di Bari, Italy) Hans-Thomas Elze (Univ. Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil) Alessandro Fabbri (Università di Bologna, Italy) Sergey Fadeev (VNIIMS, Moscow, Russia) Serena Fagnocchi (Università di Bologna, Italy) Sara Farese (Universidad de Valencia, Spain) Alessandra Feo (Università di Parma, Italy) Dario Francia (Università di Roma Tor Vergata, Italy) Francesco Fucito (Università di Roma Tor Vergata, Italy) Dmitri Fursaev (JINR, Dubna, Russia) Daniel Galehouse (University of Akron, Ohio, USA) Remo Garattini (Università di Bergamo, Italy) Florian Girelli (Perimeter Institute, Waterloo, Canada) Luca Griguolo (Università di Parma, Italy) Daniel Grumiller (Universität Leipzig, Germany) Shinichi Horata (Hayama Center of Advanced Research, Japan) Giorgio Immirzi (Università di Perugia, Italy) Roman Jackiw (MIT, Cambridge, USA) Matyas Karadi (DAMTP, University of Cambridge, UK) Mikhail Katanaev (Steklov Mathematical Institute, Moscow, Russia) Claus Kiefer (Universität Koln, Germany) John Klauder (University of Florida, Gainesville, USA) Pavel Klepac (Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic) Jen-Chi Lee (National Chiao-Tung University, Taiwan) Carlos Leiva (Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile) Stefano Liberati (SISSA/ISAS, Trieste, Italy) Jorma Louko (University of Nottingham, UK) Luca Lusanna (INFN, Sezione di Firenze, Italy) Roy Maartens (University of Portsmouth, UK) Fotini Markopoulou (Perimeter Institute, Waterloo, Canada) Annalisa Marzuoli (Università di Pavia, Italy) Evangelos Melas (QMW, University of London, UK) Maurizio Melis (Università di Cagliary, Italy) Vitaly Melnikov (VNIIMS, Moscow, Russia) Guillermo A. Mena Marugan (CSIC, Madrid, Spain) Pietro Menotti (Università di Pisa, Italy) Salvatore Mignemi (Università di Cagliari, Italy) Aleksandar Mikovic (Universidade Lusófona, Lisboa, Portugal) Leonardo Modesto (Université de la Mediterranée, Marseille, France) Michael Mueller (Sardinien.com, Cagliari, Italy) Mario Nadalini (Università di Trento, Italy) José Navarro-Salas (Universidad de Valencia, Spain) Jeanette E. Nelson (Università di Torino, Italy) Alexander Nesterov (Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico) Hermann Nicolai (Albert-Einstein-Institut, Golm, Germany) Daniele Oriti (DAMTP, University of Cambridge, UK) Marcello Ortaggio (Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic) Silvio Pallua (University of Zagreb, Croatia) Matej Pavsic (Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia) Wlodzimierz Piechocki (Soltan Inst. for Nuclear Studies, Warsaw, Poland) Nicola Pinamonti (Università di Trento, Italy) J. Brian Pitts (University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA) Vojtech Pravda (Academy of Sciences, Praha, Czech Rep.) Gianpaolo Procopio (DAMTP, University of Cambridge, UK) Alice Rogers (King's College London, UK) Efrain Rojas (Universidad Veracruzana, Mexico) James Ryan (DAMTP, University of Cambridge, UK) Augusto Sagnotti (Università di Roma Tor Vergata, Italy) Wenceslao Santiago-German (University of California at Davis, USA) Stefano Sciuto (Università di Torino, Italy) Domenico Seminara (Università di Firenze, Italy) Lorenzo Sindoni (Università di Udine, Italy) Kellogg S. Stelle (Imperial College, London, UK) Cosimo Stornaiolo (INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Italy) Ward Struyve (Perimeter Institute, Waterloo, Canada) Makoto Tanabe (Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan) Daniel Terno (Perimeter Institute, Waterloo, Canada) Charles Wang (Lancaster University, UK) Silke Weinfurtner (Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand) Hans Westman (Perimeter Institute, Waterloo, Canada) Ruth Williams (DAMTP, University of Cambridge, UK) Tetsuyuki Yukawa (Graduate U. for Adv. Studies, Kanagawa, Japan) Jorge Zanelli (CECS, Santiago, Chile)

EDITORIAL: Student undergraduate laboratory and project work

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schumacher, Dieter

2007-05-01

During the last decade 'labwork' courses at university level have changed significantly. The beginning of this development was indicated and partly initiated by the EU-project 'Labwork in Science Education' funded by the European Community (1999-2001). The present special issue of the European Journal of Physics focuses on a multitude of different aspects of this process. The aim of this publication is to improve the exchange of experience and to promote this important trend. In physics research labs a silent revolution has taken place. Today the personal computer is omnipresent. It controls the experiment via stepping motors, piezo-microdrives etc, it monitors all parameters and collects the experimental data with the help of smart sensors. In particular, computer-based modern scanning and imaging techniques open the possibility of creating really new types of experiments. The computer allows data storage and processing on the one hand and simulation and modelling on the other. These processes occur in parallel or may even be interwoven. The web plays an important role in modern science for inquiry, communication, cooperation and publication. Traditional labwork courses do not prepare students for the many resulting demands. Therefore it is necessary to redefine the learning targets and to reconsider the learning methods. Two contributions show exemplarily how modern experimental devices could find their way into students' labs. In the article 'Infrared thermal imaging as a tool in university physics education' by Klaus-Peter Möllmann and Michael Vollmer we can see that infrared thermal imaging is a valuable tool in physics education at university level. It can help to visualize and thereby enhance understanding of physical phenomena of mechanics, thermal physics, electromagnetism, optics and radiation physics. The contribution 'Using Peltier cells to study solid-liquid-vapor transitions and supercooling' by Giacomo Torzo, Isabella Soletta and Mario Branca proves that new experiments which illustrate both fundamental physics and modern technology can be realized even with a small budget. Traditional labwork courses often provide a catalogue of well known experiments. The students must first learn the theoretical background. They then assemble the setup from specified equipment, collect the data and perform the default data processing. However, there is no way to learn to swim without water. In order to achieve a constructivist access to learning, 'project labs' are needed. In a project labwork course a small group of students works as a team on a mini research project. The students have to specify the question of research, develop a suitable experimental setup, conduct the experiment and find a suitable way to evaluate the data. Finally they must present their results e.g. in the framework of a public poster session. Three contributions refer to this approach, however they focus on different aspects: 'Project laboratory for first-year students' by Gorazd Planinšič, 'RealTime Physics: active learning laboratories' by David Sokoloff et al and 'Labs outside labs: miniprojects at a spring camp for future physics teachers' by Leos Dvorák. Is it possible to prepare the students specifically for project labwork? This question is answered by the contribution 'A new labwork course for physics students: devices, methods and research projects' by Knut Neumann and Manuela Welzel. The two main parts of the labwork course cover first experimental devices (e.g. multimeters, oscilloscopes, different sensors, operational amplifiers, step motors, AD/DA-converters). Then subjects such as data processing, consideration of measurement uncertainties, keeping records or using tools like LABVIEW etc are focused on. Another concrete proposal for a new curriculum is provided by James Sharp et al, in 'Computer based learning in an undergraduate physics laboratory: interfacing and instrument control using MATLAB'. One can well imagine that project labs will be the typical learning environment for physics students in the future. However, the details of this change should be based on a better understanding of the learning process in a students' lab. A deeper insight is given by the contribution of Claudia von Aufschnaiter and Stefan von Aufschnaiter in 'University students' activities, thinking and learning during laboratory work'. A second important alteration has taken place in physics education during the last decade. The so-called new media have changed the world of learning and teaching to an unprecedented extent. Learning with new media is often much more related to physics labwork than to traditional lectures or seminars (e.g. small learning groups, problem based learning, a high level of interactivity). We need to take these new tools into consideration as suitable amendment (blended learning) or substitution (e-learning, distance learning) of labwork courses. The developments with presumably the highest impact on physics education are modelling tools, interactive screen experiments and remote labs. Under 'modelling tools', all computer programs are summarized which enable the simulation of a physical process based on an explicit or implicit given formula. Many commercial program packages are available. The application of modelling tools in labwork courses permits a tight binding of theory and experiment. This is particularly valid and necessary in the case of project work. An interactive screen experiment (ISE) is a computer assisted representation of a physical experiment. When watching a video clip of an experiment students are forced to be passive observers. In the case of an ISE they can manipulate the setup on the screen with the help of a hand-like mouse pointer and the computer will show the appropriate result. The ISE consists of a large number of digital photos taken from the real experiment. From an epistemological point of view an ISE has the character of an experiment and can be used to discover or to prove a physical law. Many more details and an overview of possible applications can be found in the contribution 'Multimedia representation of experiments in physics' by Juergen Kirstein and Volkhard Nordmeier. A remotely controlled lab (RCL) or 'remote lab' (RL) is a physical experiment which can be remotely controlled via web-interface (server) and client-PC. During recent years a lot of RLs have appeared and also disappeared on the web. At first sight it seems fascinating to use a rare and sophisticated experiment from any PC which is connected to the web. However, in order to provide such a high level experiment continuously and to manage the schedule for sequential access, an enormous amount of manpower is necessary. Sebastian Gröber et al describe their efforts to provide a number of useful RCLs in the contribution 'Experimenting from a distance—remotely controlled laboratory (RCL)'. At many universities, physics labwork courses are also provided for students of other disciplines. Usually these groups are significantly larger than the group of physics students. Labwork courses for these groups must account for the specific objectives and students' learning conditions (previous knowledge, motivation). Heike Theyßen describes a targeted labwork course especially designed for medical students: 'Towards targeted labwork in physics as a subsidiary subject: enhancing the learning efficiency by new didactical concepts and media'. The term 'targeted' refers to the specific choice of content and methods regarding the students' learning conditions as well as the objectives of the labwork course. These differ significantly from those of labwork courses for physics students. In this case two targeted learning environments were developed, implemented and evaluated by means of several comparative studies. Both learning environments differ from traditional physics labwork courses in their objectives, didactical concept, content and experimental setups. One of them is a hypermedia learning environment, in which the real experiments are represented by ISEs. We are just at the beginning of the process of developing new labwork courses. Students' labs are often provided for large learning groups. Therefore the development of new methods as well as the acquisition of new equipment demands a large amount of investment. Using the paths of communication and cooperation established in science, we can optimize the process of renewal in order to spare manpower and financial means. Robert Lambourne exemplarily presented the cooperation project piCETL in his article 'Laboratory-based teaching and the Physics Innovations Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning'. The articles show that the renewal process has many different facets. New concepts are in demand as well as new experimental setups; the new media as well as the recent progress in didactic research have a strong influence on the trends. All aspects are closely linked, which can be seen by the number of mutual citations in the contributions. In order to give the reader an orientation we have structured the content of this special issue along the following lines: • successful new ideas for student labs and projects • new roles of student labs and project work • information and communication technology in laboratory and project work. This special issue provides an overview and examples of best practice as well as general concepts and personal contacts as stimuli for an enhancement of the renewal of labwork courses at university level.

PREFACE: XVth International Conference on Calorimetry in High Energy Physics (CALOR2012)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akchurin, Nural

2012-12-01

The XVth International Conference on Calorimetry in High Energy Physics, CALOR2012, was held in Santa Fe, New Mexico from 4-8 June 2012. The series of conferences on calorimetry started in 1990 at Fermilab, and they have been the premier event for calorimeter aficionados, a trend that CALOR2012 upheld. This year, several presentations focused on the status of the major calorimeter systems, especially at the LHC. Discussions on new and developing techniques in calorimetry took a full day. Excellent updates on uses of calorimeters or about ideas that are deeply rooted in particle physics calorimetry in astrophysics and neutrino physics were followed by talks on algorithms and special triggers that rely on calorimeters. Finally, discussions of promising current developments and ongoing R&D work for future calorimeters capped the conference. The field of calorimetry is alive and well, as evidenced by the more than 100 attendees and the excellent quality of over 80 presentations. You will find the written contributions in this volume. The presentations can be found at calor2012.ttu.edu. The first day of the conference was dedicated to the LHC. In two invited talks, Guillaume Unal (CERN) and Tommaso Tabarelli de Fatis (Universita' & INFN Milano Bicocca) discussed the critical role electromagnetic calorimeters play in the hunt for the Standard Model Higgs boson in ATLAS and CMS, respectively. The enhanced sensitivity for light Higgs in the two-gamma decay channel renders electromagnetic calorimeters indispensible. Much of the higher mass region was already excluded for the SM Higgs by the time of this conference, and after less than a month, on 4 July, CERN announced the discovery of a new boson at 125 GeV, a particle that seems consistent with the Higgs particle so far. Once again, without the electromagnetic calorimeters, this would not have been possible. Professor Geoffrey West from the Santa Fe Institute gave the keynote address. His talk, 'Universal Scaling Laws from Cells to Cities - a Physicist's Search for Quantitative, Unified Theories of Biological and Social Structure and Dynamics,' inspired many interesting questions from the audience both after the talk and throughout the week during informal conversations. Calorimetry is extremely diverse: many different techniques may be employed in building the detector and also in extracting information from it. The topics of the Calorimeter Techniques sessions included high-rate liquid argon calorimeters, SiPM sensors, highly granular digital calorimeters, new crystals, and beam test and simulation results. In these pages, you will find exciting and sometimes contradicting points of view expressed, for example about fully sampling hadronic calorimeters. A rare astronomical event, the Venus transit, coincided with the second day of the conference. The participants enjoyed viewing Venus' trail across the sun with a solar telescope (H-alpha line at 656 nm). In Santa Fe, the interior ingress was at 16:23:04 and reached center at 19:27:04. The last transit occurred in 2004, and the next one will happen in 2117. In 1627, Johannes Kepler published data about the planetary orbits that predicted that Venus would pass directly between earth and the sun in 1631. Unfortunately Kepler died in 1630 and apparently nobody recorded the 1631 transit. The first recorded observation of a transit was in 1638, which Kepler had not predicted. Later, Jeremiah Horracks, an English astronomer, realized Kepler had made an error in his calculations. It was not until the Venus transit observations of 1769 that scientists measured the distance from the earth to the sun to be 95 million miles (actually 93 million miles or 149.7 million kilometers) based on the 1716 triangulation suggestion from Edmund Halley (of comet fame). It's interesting to remember that before the 18th century, one of the most vexing scientific puzzles, not unlike today's Higgs boson quest, was 'How far away is the Sun?' Although natural media such as Mediterranean water (ANTARES), Arctic ice (ARA, ARIANNA, ANITA, and others) or Utah air (TA) would hardly be choice absorbers in accelerator-based experiments, they are nevertheless successfully exploited in searches for new phenomena, as discussed by the members of these collaborations in several talks. Philippe Bruel (LLR, Ecole Polytechnique) gave an overview of the gamma-ray sky above 20 MeV using the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and the role of the hodoscopic array of CsI(Tl) calorimeter in an invited talk. In a second invited presentation, Sylvie Rosier-Lees (LAPP-Annecy) described the ECAL design (Pb/scintillating fiber sandwich) of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) that has been operating in the International Space Station since May 2011 and has collected over 15 billion events. The environs of Santa Fe have long been considered sacred by the first nation Americans and have been a source of inspiration for generations of artists, writers, and scientists. Robert Oppenheimer's love of this area played no small role in establishing what is now the nearby Los Alamos National Laboratory during the Second World War. On the third conference day, some participants visited the lab after an awe-inspiring trip to the Bandelier National Monument, where beautiful canyons and mesas show evidence of a human presence for over 11,000 years. Petroglyphs, dwellings carved into the soft rock cliffs, and standing masonry walls in the park mark the early days of a culture that still persists in surrounding communities. We are grateful to the International Advisory Committee for allowing us the opportunity to hold this Conference in these enchanted lands. In addition to making advances in calorimeter design, hardware, and front-end electronics, we in particle physics increasingly find ourselves inventing new algorithms to reconstruct physics objects that use the detector information to its maximum capacity. Several presentations provided details of the reconstruction and trigger of jets, missing transverse energy, electrons, photons, and taus. Pile-up, anomalous signals, and noise mitigation techniques were also discussed in the conference. On the last day, several future R&D initiatives were presented: highly granular CALICE with different technology options and plans for the dual-readout DREAM projects were the main topics. Although these approaches are quite different conceptually, future experiments will certainly benefit from their innovations. Concluding remarks by the chair of the organizing committee, Nural Akchurin (TTU), summarized the highlights of the conference and invited proposals to host the CALOR2014 conference in Europe, as the conference venue rotates between the Americas, Europe, and Asia every two years. We strived hard to keep the cost of this conference as low as possible without sacrificing the scientific mission. I am delighted to report that we were able to provide support for six junior colleagues to participate in this conference. I am also grateful to the institutions, industrial partners, and agencies that provided the support that made a lot possible: Texas Tech University, the University of New Mexico, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the US Department of Energy, CAEN, and the Wiener Plein & Baus, Corp. I also would like to thank the session conveners who organized sessions and reviewed the papers. The members of the local organizing committee were instrumental to the success of this conference: their experience and attention to detail were invaluable. Most of all, I extend my appreciation to the conference participants and to all my other colleagues who continue to enrich the field of calorimetry through their hard work and creativity. The future is bright. Nural Akchurin Chair of the Organizing Committee International Advisory Committee: Mikhail Danilov, ITEP Moscow Marcella Diemoz, INFN Roma I Antonio Ereditato, Univ. of Bern Franco L. Fabbri, INFN Frascati Tomio Kobayashi, ICEPP Tokyo Michele Livan, Pavia Univ. & INFN Pasquale Lubrano, INFN Perugia Steve Magill, ANL Amelia Maio, LIPP Lisbon Horst Oberlack, MPI Munich Adam Para, FNAL Klaus Pretzl, Univ. of Bern Yifang Wang, IHEP Beijing Richard Wigmans, TTU Ren-Yuan Zhu, Caltech Local Organizing Committee: Nural Akchurin, TTU Debra Boyce, TTU (Secretary) Xiadong Jiang, LANL Jon Kapustinsky, LANL Sung-Won Lee, TTU Sally Seidel, UNM Igor Volobouev, TTU Session Conveners: LHC I-III: David Barney (CERN) Ana Henriques (CERN) Sally Seidel (UNM) Calorimetry Techniques I-II: Francesca Tedaldi (ETH-Zurich) Tao Hu (IHEP-Beijing) Calorimetry Techniques III-IV: Craig Woody (BNL) Tohru Takeshita (Shinshu) Astrophysics and Neutrinos: Don Groom (LBNL) Steve Magill (ANL) Operating Calorimeters: Jordan Damgov (TTU) Gabriella Gaudio (INFN-Pavia) Frank Chlebana (FNAL) Algorithms and Simulations: Artur Apresyan (Caltech) Igor Volobouev (TTU) Front-end and Trigger: Chris Tully (Princeton) Kejun Zhu (IHEP-Beijing) Future Calorimetry: Michele Livan (Pavia Univ.) Frank Simon (MPI) Vishnu Zutshi (NICADD) List of Participants: ABOUZEID, Hass University of Toronto AKCHURIN, Nural Texas Tech University ANDEEN, Timothy Columbia University ANDERSON, Jake Fermilab APRESYAN, Artur California Institute of Technology AUFFRAY, Etiennette CERN BARILLARI, Teresa Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Physik BARNEY, David CERN BESSON, Dave University of Kansas BOYCE, Debra Texas Tech University BRUEL, Philippe LLR, Ecole Polytechnique, CNRS/IN2P3 BUCHANAN, Norm Colorado State University CARLOGANU, Cristina LPC Clermont Ferrand / IN2P3 / CNRS CHEFDEVILLE, Maximilien CNRS/IN2P3/LAPP CHLEBANA, Frank Fermilab CLARK, Jonathan Texas Tech University CONDE MUINO, Patricia LIP-Lisboa COWDEN, Christopher Texas Tech University DA SILVA, Cesar Luiz Los Alamos National Lab DAMGOV, Jordan Texas Tech University DAVYGORA, Yuriy University of Heidelberg DEMERS, Sarah Yale University EIGEN, Gerald University of Bergen EUSEBI, Ricardo Texas A&M University FERRI, Federico CEA/Saclay Irfu/SPP FRANCAVILLA, Paolo IFAE Barcelona GATAULLIN, Marat California Institute of Technology GATTO, Corrado INFN-Napoli GAUDIO, Gabriella INFN-Pavia GERMANI, Stefano INFN-Perugia Goldenzweig, Pablo University of Rochester GRAF, Norman SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory GROOM, Don Lawrence Berkeley Lab GUARDINCERRI, Elena Los Alamos National Laboratory HAUPTMAN, John Iowa State University HENRIQUES, Ana CERN HUANG, Jin Los Alamos National Laboratory HU, Tao IHEP-Beijing, CAS JIANG, Xiaodong Los Alamos National Laboratory JUI, Charles University of Utah KAPUSTINSKY, Jon Los Alamos National Laboratory KIBILKO, Mark SE Technical Sales, Inc. KIRSCHENMANN, Henning University of Hamburg KISTENEV, Edouard Brookhaven National Laboratory KLIMEK, Pawel Stockholm Universitet KROEGER, Robert University of Mississippi LECOQ, Paul CERN LEE, Sehwook Texas Tech University LEE, Sung-Won Texas Tech University LIVAN, Michele Pavia University LUTZ, Benjamin DESY MAGILL, Stephen Argonne National Laboratory MATHIS, Mark College of William and Mary MATTHEWS, John University of Utah MENKE, Sven Max-Planck-Institut fuer Physik MOULSON, Matthew INFN-Frascati NAGEL, Martin Max-Planck-Institut fuer Physik NAKAMURA, Isamu KEK NEMECEK, Stanislav FZU AVCR Praha NESSI-TEDALDI, Francesca ETH Zurich NOVOTNY, Rainer 2nd Physics Institute, University Giessen OREGLIA, Mark University of Chicago PERLOFF, Alexx Texas A&M University PETYT, David Rutherford Appleton Laboratory RAHMAT, Rahmat University of Mississippi RAMILLI, Marco Hamburg Universitaet ROSIER LEES, Sylvie LAPP- IN2P3-CNRS RUTHERFOORD, John University of Arizona SAKUMA, Tai Texas A&M University SANTIAGO CERQUEIRA, Augusto Federal University of Juiz de Fora SARRA, Ivano INFN-Frascati SEIDEL, Sally University of New Mexico SEIFERT, Frank TU Dresden, Germany SHAMIM, Mansoora University of Oregon SIMON, Frank Max-Planck-Institute for Physics STAFFAN, Paul Wiener Plein and Baus, Corp Dr. STAROVOITOV, Pavel DESY TABARELLI DE FATIS, Tommaso Universita' & INFN Milano-Bicocca TADEVOSYAN, Vardan AANL TAKESHITA, Tohru Shinshu University TALAGA, Richard Argonne National Laboratory TAPAN, Ilhan Uludag University TERWORT, Mark DESY TSAI, Oleg UCLA TULLY, Christopher Princeton University UNAL, Guillaume CERN VICHOU, Eirini University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign VILASIS-CARDONA, Xavier La Salle - Universitat Ramon Llull VOLOBOUEV, Igor Texas Tech University VOLPI, Matteo The University of Melbourne WANG, Zhigang IHEP-Beijing, CAS WENZEL, Hans Fermilab WHITE, Andy University of Texas at Arlington WIGMANS, Richard Texas Tech University WINN, David Fairfield University WOODY, Craig Brookhaven National Lab YANG, Fan California Institute of Technology ZABI, Alexandre LLR-Ecole Polytechnique ZHANG, Liyuan California Institute of Technoogy ZHAO, Zhiwen University of Virginia ZHU, Kejun IHEP-Beijing, CAS ZHU, Ren-Yuan California Institute of Technology ZUTSHI, Vishnu Northern Illinois University

Fourth Light at Paranal!

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2000-09-01

VLT YEPUN Joins ANTU, KUEYEN and MELIPAL It was a historical moment last night (September 3 - 4, 2000) in the VLT Control Room at the Paranal Observatory , after nearly 15 years of hard work. Finally, four teams of astronomers and engineers were sitting at the terminals - and each team with access to an 8.2-m telescope! From now on, the powerful "Paranal Quartet" will be observing night after night, with a combined mirror surface of more than 210 m 2. And beginning next year, some of them will be linked to form part of the unique VLT Interferometer with unparalleled sensitivity and image sharpness. YEPUN "First Light" Early in the evening, the fourth 8.2-m Unit Telescope, YEPUN , was pointed to the sky for the first time and successfully achieved "First Light". Following a few technical exposures, a series of "first light" photos was made of several astronomical objects with the VLT Test Camera. This instrument was also used for the three previous "First Light" events for ANTU ( May 1998 ), KUEYEN ( March 1999 ) and MELIPAL ( January 2000 ). These images served to evaluate provisionally the performance of the new telescope, mainly in terms of mechanical and optical quality. The ESO staff were very pleased with the results and pronounced YEPUN fit for the subsequent commissioning phase. When the name YEPUN was first given to the fourth VLT Unit Telescope, it was supposed to mean "Sirius" in the Mapuche language. However, doubts have since arisen about this translation and a detailed investigation now indicates that the correct meaning is "Venus" (as the Evening Star). For a detailed explanation, please consult the essay On the Meaning of "YEPUN" , now available at the ESO website. The first images At 21:39 hrs local time (01:39 UT), YEPUN was turned to point in the direction of a dense Milky Way field, near the border between the constellations Sagitta (The Arrow) and Aquila (The Eagle). A guide star was acquired and the active optics system quickly optimized the mirror system. At 21:44 hrs (01:44 UT), the Test Camera at the Cassegrain focus within the M1 mirror cell was opened for 30 seconds, with the planetary nebula Hen 2-428 in the field. The resulting "First Light" image was immediately read out and appeared on the computer screen at 21:45:53 hrs (01:45:53 UT). "Not bad! - "Very nice!" were the first, "business-as-usual"-like comments in the room. The zenith distance during this observation was 44° and the image quality was measured as 0.9 arcsec, exactly the same as that registered by the Seeing Monitoring Telescope outside the telescope building. There was some wind. ESO PR Photo 22a/00 ESO PR Photo 22a/00 [Preview - JPEG: 374 x 400 pix - 128k] [Normal - JPEG: 978 x 1046 pix - 728k] Caption : ESO PR Photo 22a/00 shows a colour composite of some of the first astronomical exposures obtained by YEPUN . The object is the planetary nebula Hen 2-428 that is located at a distance of 6,000-8,000 light-years and seen in a dense sky field, only 2° from the main plane of the Milky Way. As other planetary nebulae, it is caused by a dying star (the bluish object at the centre) that shreds its outer layers. The image is based on exposures through three optical filtres: B(lue) (10 min exposure, seeing 0.9 arcsec; here rendered as blue), V(isual) (5 min; 0.9 arcsec; green) and R(ed) (3 min; 0.9 arcsec; red). The field measures 88 x 78 arcsec 2 (1 pixel = 0.09 arcsec). North is to the lower right and East is to the lower left. The 5-day old Moon was about 90° away in the sky that was accordingly bright. The zenith angle was 44°. The ESO staff then proceeded to take a series of three photos with longer exposures through three different optical filtres. They have been combined to produce the image shown in ESO PR Photo 22a/00 . More astronomical images were obtained in sequence, first of the dwarf galaxy NGC 6822 in the Local Group (see PR Photo 22f/00 below) and then of the spiral galaxy NGC 7793 . All 8.2-m telescopes now in operation at Paranal The ESO Director General, Catherine Cesarsky , who was present on Paranal during this event, congratulated the ESO staff to the great achievement, herewith bringing a major phase of the VLT project to a successful end. She was particularly impressed by the excellent optical quality that was achieved at this early moment of the commissioning tests. A measurement showed that already now, 80% of the light is concentrated within 0.22 arcsec. The manager of the VLT project, Massimo Tarenghi , was very happy to reach this crucial project milestone, after nearly fifteen years of hard work. He also remarked that with the M2 mirror already now "in the active optics loop", the telescope was correctly compensating for the somewhat mediocre atmospheric conditions on this night. The next major step will be the "first light" for the VLT Interferometer (VLTI) , when the light from two Unit Telescopes is combined. This event is expected in the middle of next year. Impressions from the YEPUN "First Light" event First Light for YEPUN - ESO PR VC 06/00 ESO PR Video Clip 06/00 "First Light for YEPUN" (5650 frames/3:46 min) [MPEG Video+Audio; 160x120 pix; 7.7Mb] [MPEG Video+Audio; 320x240 pix; 25.7 Mb] [RealMedia; streaming; 34kps] [RealMedia; streaming; 200kps] ESO Video Clip 06/00 shows sequences from the Control Room at the Paranal Observatory, recorded with a fixed TV-camera in the evening of September 3 at about 23:00 hrs local time (03:00 UT), i.e., soon after the moment of "First Light" for YEPUN . The video sequences were transmitted via ESO's dedicated satellite communication link to the Headquarters in Garching for production of the clip. It begins at the moment a guide star is acquired to perform an automatic "active optics" correction of the mirrors; the associated explanation is given by Massimo Tarenghi (VLT Project Manager). The first astronomical observation is performed and the first image of the planetary nebula Hen 2-428 is discussed by the ESO Director General, Catherine Cesarsky . The next image, of the nearby dwarf galaxy NGC 6822 , arrives and is shown and commented on by the ESO Director General. Finally, Massimo Tarenghi talks about the next major step of the VLT Project. The combination of the lightbeams from two 8.2-m Unit Telescopes, planned for the summer of 2001, will mark the beginning of the VLT Interferometer. ESO Press Photo 22b/00 ESO Press Photo 22b/00 [Preview; JPEG: 400 x 300; 88k] [Full size; JPEG: 1600 x 1200; 408k] The enclosure for the fourth VLT 8.2-m Unit Telescope, YEPUN , photographed at sunset on September 3, 2000, immediately before "First Light" was successfully achieved. The upper part of the mostly subterranean Interferometric Laboratory for the VLTI is seen in front. (Digital Photo). ESO Press Photo 22c/00 ESO Press Photo 22c/00 [Preview; JPEG: 400 x 300; 112k] [Full size; JPEG: 1280 x 960; 184k] The initial tuning of the YEPUN optical system took place in the early evening of September 3, 2000, from the "observing hut" on the floor of the telescope enclosure. From left to right: Krister Wirenstrand who is responsible for the VLT Control Software, Jason Spyromilio - Head of the Commissioning Team, and Massimo Tarenghi , VLT Manager. (Digital Photo). ESO Press Photo 22d/00 ESO Press Photo 22d/00 [Preview; JPEG: 400 x 300; 112k] [Full size; JPEG: 1280 x 960; 184k] "Mission Accomplished" - The ESO Director General, Catherine Cesarsky , and the Paranal Director, Roberto Gilmozzi , face the VLT Manager, Massimo Tarenghi at the YEPUN Control Station, right after successful "First Light" for this telescope. (Digital Photo). An aerial image of YEPUN in its enclosure is available as ESO PR Photo 43a/99. The mechanical structure of YEPUN was first pre-assembled at the Ansaldo factory in Milan (Italy) where it served for tests while the other telescopes were erected at Paranal. An early photo ( ESO PR Photo 37/95 ) is available that was obtained during the visit of the ESO Council to Milan in December 1995, cf. ESO PR 18/95. Paranal at sunset ESO Press Photo 22e/00 ESO Press Photo 22e/00 [Preview; JPEG: 400 x 200; 14kb] [Normal; JPEG: 800 x 400; 84kb] [High-Res; JPEG: 4000 x 2000; 4.0Mb] Wide-angle view of the Paranal Observatory at sunset. The last rays of the sun illuminate the telescope enclosures at the top of the mountain and some of the buildings at the Base Camp. The new "residencia" that will provide living space for the Paranal staff and visitors from next year is being constructed to the left. The "First Light" observations with YEPUN began soon after sunset. This photo was obtained in March 2000. Additional photos (September 6, 2000) ESO PR Photo 22f/00 ESO PR Photo 22f/00 [Preview - JPEG: 400 x 487 pix - 224k] [Normal - JPEG: 992 x 1208 pix - 1.3Mb] Caption : ESO PR Photo 22f/00 shows a colour composite of three exposures of a field in the dwarf galaxy NGC 6822 , a member of the Local Group of Galaxies at a distance of about 2 million light-years. They were obtained by YEPUN and the VLT Test Camera at about 23:00 hrs local time on September 3 (03:00 UT on September 4), 2000. The image is based on exposures through three optical filtres: B(lue) (10 min exposure; here rendered as blue), V(isual) (5 min; green) and R(ed) (5 min; red); the seeing was 0.9 - 1.0 arcsec. Individual stars of many different colours (temperatures) are seen. The field measures about 1.5 x 1.5 arcmin 2. Another image of this galaxy was obtained earlier with ANTU and FORS1 , cf. PR Photo 10b/99. ESO Press Photo 22g/00 ESO Press Photo 22g/00 [Preview; JPEG: 400 x 300; 136k] [Full size; JPEG: 1280 x 960; 224k] Most of the crew that put together YEPUN is here photographed after the installation of the M1 mirror cell at the bottom of the mechanical structure (on July 30, 2000). Back row (left to right): Erich Bugueno (Mechanical Supervisor), Erito Flores (Maintenance Technician); front row (left to right) Peter Gray (Mechanical Engineer), German Ehrenfeld (Mechanical Engineer), Mario Tapia (Mechanical Engineer), Christian Juica (kneeling - Mechanical Technician), Nelson Montano (Maintenance Engineer), Hansel Sepulveda (Mechanical Technican) and Roberto Tamai (Mechanical Engineer). (Digital Photo). ESO PR Photos may be reproduced, if credit is given to the European Southern Observatory. The ESO PR Video Clips service to visitors to the ESO website provides "animated" illustrations of the ongoing work and events at the European Southern Observatory. The most recent clip was: ESO PR Video Clip 05/00 ("Portugal to Accede to ESO (27 June 2000). Information is also available on the web about other ESO videos.

Chandra and the VLT Jointly Investigate the Cosmic X-Ray Background

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2001-03-01

Summary Important scientific advances often happen when complementary investigational techniques are brought together . In the present case, X-ray and optical/infrared observations with some of the world's foremost telescopes have provided the crucial information needed to solve a 40-year old cosmological riddle. Very detailed observations of a small field in the southern sky have recently been carried out, with the space-based NASA Chandra X-Ray Observatory as well as with several ground-based ESO telescopes, including the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the Paranal Observatory (Chile). Together, they have provided the "deepest" combined view at X-ray and visual/infrared wavelengths ever obtained into the distant Universe. The concerted observational effort has already yielded significant scientific results. This is primarily due to the possibility to 'identify' most of the X-ray emitting objects detected by the Chandra X-ray Observatory on ground-based optical/infrared images and then to determine their nature and distance by means of detailed (spectral) observations with the VLT . In particular, there is now little doubt that the so-called 'X-ray background' , a seemingly diffuse short-wave radiation first detected in 1962, in fact originates in a vast number of powerful black holes residing in active nuclei of distant galaxies . Moreover, the present investigation has permitted to identify and study in some detail a prime example of a hitherto little known type of object, a distant, so-called 'Type II Quasar' , in which the central black hole is deeply embedded in surrounding gas and dust. These achievements are just the beginning of a most fruitful collaboration between "space" and "ground". It is yet another impressive demonstration of the rapid progress of modern astrophysics, due to the recent emergence of a new generation of extremely powerful instruments. PR Photo 09a/01 : Images of a small part of the Chandra Deep Field South , obtained with ESO telescopes in three different wavebands. PR Photo 09b/01 : A VLT/FORS1 spectrum of a 'Type II Quasar' discovered during this programme. The 'Chandra Deep Field South' and the X-Ray Background ESO PR Photo 09a/01 ESO PR Photo 09a/01 [Preview - JPEG: 400 x 183 pix - 76k] [Normal - JPEG: 800 x 366 pix - 208k] [Hires - JPEG: 3000 x 1453 pix - 1.4M] Caption : PR Photo 09a/01 shows optical/infrared images in three wavebands ('Blue', 'Red', 'Infrared') from ESO telescopes of the Type II Quasar CXOCDFS J033229.9 -275106 (at the centre), one of the distant X-ray sources identified in the Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS) area during the present study. Technical information about these photos is available below. The 'Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS)' is a small sky area in the southern constellation Fornax (The Oven). It measures about 16 arcmin across, or roughly half the diameter of the full moon. There is unusually little gas and dust within the Milky Way in this direction and observations towards the distant Universe within this field thus profit from an particularly clear view. That is exactly why this sky area was selected by an international team of astronomers [1] to carry out an ultra-deep survey of X-ray sources with the orbiting Chandra X-Ray Observatory . In order to detect the faintest possible sources, NASA's satellite telescope looked in this direction during an unprecedented total of almost 1 million seconds of exposure time (11.5 days). The main scientific goal of this survey is to understand the nature and evolution of the elusive sources that make up the 'X-ray background' . This diffuse glare in the X-ray sky was discovered by Riccardo Giacconi and his collaborators during a pioneering rocket experiment in 1962. The excellent imaging quality of Chandra (the angular resolution is about 1 arcsec) makes it possible to do extremely deep exposures without encountering problems introduced by the "confusion effect". This refers to the overlapping of images of sources that are seen close to each other in the sky and thus are difficult to study individually. Previous X-ray satellites were not able to obtain sufficiently sharp X-ray images and the earlier deep X-ray surveys therefore suffered severely from this effect. Moreover, Chandra has much better sensitivity at shorter wavelengths (higher energies) which are less affected by obscuration effects. It can therefore better detect faint sources that emit very energetic ("hard") X-rays. X-ray and optical surveys in the Chandra Deep Field South The one-million second Chandra observations were completed in December 2000. In parallel, a group of astronomers based at institutes in Europe and the USA (the CFDS-team [1]) has been collecting deep images and extensive spectroscopic data with the VLT during the past 2 years (cf. PR Photo 09a/01 ). Their aim was to 'identify' the Chandra X-ray sources, i.e., to unveil their nature and measure their distances. For the identification of these sources, the team has also made extensive use of the observations that were carried out as a part of the comprehensive ESO Imaging Survey Project (EIS). More than 300 X-ray sources were detected in the CDFS by Chandra . A significant fraction of these objects shine so faintly in the optical and near-infrared wavebands that only long-exposure observations with the VLT have been able to detect them. During five observing nights with the FORS1 multi-mode instrument at the 8.2-m VLT ANTU telescope in October and November 2000, the CDFS team was able to identify and obtain spectra of more than one hundred of the X-ray sources registered by Chandra . Nature of the X-ray sources The first results from this study have now confirmed that the 'hard' X-ray background is mainly due to Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) . The observations also reveal that a large fraction of them are of comparatively low brightness (referred to as 'low-luminosity AGN'), heavily enshrouded by dust and located at distances of 8,000 - 9,000 million light-years (corresponding to a redshift of about 1 and a look-back time of 57% of the age of the Universe [2]) . It is generally believed that all these sources are powered by massive black holes at their centres. Previous X-ray surveys missed most of these objects because they were too faint to be observed by the telescopes then available, in particular at short X-ray wavelengths ('hard X-ray photons') where more radiation from the highly active centres is able to pass through the surrounding, heavily absorbing gas and dust clouds. Other types of well-known X-ray sources, e.g., QSOs ('quasars' = high-luminosity AGN) as well as clusters or groups of galaxies were also detected during these observations. Studies of all classes of objects in the CDFS are also being carried out by several other European groups. This sky field, already a standard reference in the southern hemisphere, will be the subject of several multi-wavelength investigations for many years to come. A prime example will be the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS) which will be carried out by the NASA SIRTF infrared satellite in 2003. Discovery of a distant Type II Quasar ESO PR Photo 09b/01 ESO PR Photo 09b/01 [Preview - JPEG: 400 x 352 pix - 56k] [Normal - JPEG: 800 x 703 pix - 128k] Caption : PR Photo 09b/01 displays the optical spectrum of the distant Type II Quasar CXOCDFS J033229.9 -275106 in the Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS), obtained with the FORS1 multi-mode instrument at VLT ANTU. Strong, redshifted emission lines of Hydrogen and ionised Helium, Oxygen, Nitrogen and Carbon are marked. Technical information about this photo is available below. One particular X-ray source that was identified with the VLT during the present investigation has attracted much attention - it is the discovery of a dust-enshrouded quasar (QSO) at very high redshift ( z = 3.7, corresponding to a distance of about 12,000 million light-years; [2]), cf. PR Photo 09a/01 and PR Photo 09b/01 . It is the first very distant representative of this elusive class of objects (referred to as ' Type II Quasars ') which are believed to account for approximately 90% of the black-hole-powered quasars in the distant Universe. The 'sum' of the identified Chandra X-ray sources in the CDFS was found to match both the intensity and the spectral properties of the observed X-ray background. This important result is a significant step forward towards the definitive resolution of this long-standing cosmological problem. Naturally, ESO astronomer Piero Rosati and his colleagues are thrilled: " It is clearly the combination of the new and detailed Chandra X-ray observations and the enormous light-gathering power of the VLT that has been instrumental to this success. " However, he says, " the identification of the remaining Chandra X-ray sources will be the next challenge for the VLT since they are extremely faint. This is because they are either heavily obscured by dust or because they are extremely distant ". More Information This Press Release is issued simultaneously with a NASA Press Release (see also the Harvard site ). Some of the first results are described in a research paper ("First Results from the X-ray and Optical Survey of the Chandra Deep Field South" available on the web at astro-ph/0007240. More information about science results from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory may be found at: http://asc.harvard.edu/. The optical survey of CDFS at ESO with the Wide-Field Imager is described in connection with PR Photos 46a-b/99 ('100,000 galaxies at a glance'). An image of the Chandra Deep Field South is available at the ESO website on the EIS Image Gallery webpage. . Notes [1]: The Chandra Team is lead by Riccardo Giacconi (Association of Universities Inc. [AUI], Washington, USA) and includes: Piero Rosati , Jacqueline Bergeron , Roberto Gilmozzi , Vincenzo Mainieri , Peter Shaver (European Southern Observatory [ESO]), Paolo Tozzi , Mario Nonino , Stefano Borgani (Osservatorio Astronomico, Trieste, Italy), Guenther Hasinger , Gyula Szokoly (Astrophysical Institute Potsdam [AIP], Germany), Colin Norman , Roberto Gilli , Lisa Kewley , Wei Zheng , Andrew Zirm , JungXian Wang (Johns Hopkins University [JHU], Baltimore, USA), Ken Kellerman (National Radio Astronomy Observatory [NRAO], Charlottesville, USA), Ethan Schreier , Anton Koekemoer and Norman Grogin (Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), Baltimore, USA). [2] In astronomy, the redshift denotes the fraction by which the lines in the spectrum of an object are shifted towards longer wavelengths. The observed redshift of a distant galaxy or quasar gives a direct estimate of the apparent recession velocity as caused by the universal expansion. Since the expansion rate increases with the distance, the velocity is itself a function (the Hubble relation) of the distance to the object. Redshifts of 1 and 3.7 correspond to when the Universe was about 43% and 12% of its present age. The distances indicated in this Press Release depend on the cosmological model chosen and are based on an age of 19,000 million years. Technical information about the photos PR Photo 09a/01 shows B-, R- and I-band images of a 20 x 20 arcsec 2 area within the CDFS, centred on the Type II Quasar CXOCDFS J033229.9 -275106 . They were obtained with the MPG/ESO 2.2-m telescope and the Wide-Field Imager (WFI) at La Silla (B-band; 8 hrs exposure time) and the 8.2-m VLT ANTU telescope with the FORS1 multi-mode instrument at Paranal (R- and I-bands; each 2 hrs exposure). The measured magnitudes are R=23.5 and I=22.7. The overlaid contours show the associated Chandra X-ray source (smoothed with a sigma = 1 arcsec gaussian profile). North is up and East is left. The spectrum shown in PR Photo 09b/01 was obtained on November 25, 2000, with VLT ANTU and FORS1 in the multislit mode (150-I grism, 1.2 arcsec slit). The exposure time was 3 hours.

Beyond the Hubble Constant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1995-08-01

International Astronomer Team Witnesses Very Ancient Stellar Explosion A few months ago, a violent stellar explosion -- a supernova -- was discovered in an extremely distant galaxy by an international team of astronomers [1]. This is the very promising first result of a recently initiated, dedicated search for such objects. Subsequent spectral observations have shown this to be the most distant supernova ever observed. Although it is very faint, it has been possible to classify it as a supernova of Type Ia, a kind that is particularly well suited for cosmological distance determinations. A Very Efficient Supernova Search Programme The present discovery was made during the team's first observations with the 4-metre telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. This telescope is equipped with a wide-field camera at its prime focus that enables the simultaneous recording of the images of even very faint objects in a 15-arcminute field. Hundreds of distant galaxies are located in a field of this size and this observational method is therefore very well suited for a search of faint and transient supernovae in such galaxies. With a carefully planned observing sequence, it is possible to image up to 55 sky fields per night. A comparison with earlier exposures makes it possible to detect suddenly appearing supernovae as faint points of light near the galaxy in which the exploding star is located (the parent galaxy). A crucial feature of the new programme is the possibility to perform follow-up spectroscopic observations, whenever a new supernova is discovered. For this, the team has obtained access to several other large telescopes, including the ESO 3.5-metre New Technology Telescope (NTT), the 3.9-metre Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) and the Multi-Mirror Telescope (MMT) in Arizona, U.S.A.. The Spectrum of the Supernova The present supernova was first detected at Tololo on March 30, 1995. It was given the official designation SN 1995K, and its spectrum was observed a few nights later with the EMMI instrument at the ESO NTT at La Silla. Further direct images were taken with EMMI and also with the high-resolution NTT SUSI camera, three of which are shown on the photo with text accompanying this Press Release. The supernova is located only 1 arcsecond from the centre of the parent galaxy. As the supernova was very faint (its magnitude was about 22.7, or about 5 million times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye), an exposure of 2.5 hours was necessary to collect enough photons to allow a classification of its spectrum. Because of the very small angular distance, the light from the supernova was heavily contaminated with that of the parent galaxy, but the excellent angular resolution of the NTT optics made it possible to overcome this problem. It was also possible to measure the redshift [2] of the galaxy (and thereby of the supernova) as 0.478. This demonstrates that SN 1995K is the most distant supernova (indeed, the most distant star!) ever observed [3]. The spectrum clearly showed SN 1995K to be of Type Ia. This is evident by a comparison with that of a ``standard'' Type Ia supernova (SN 1989B), cf. the graph with explanatory text attached to this Press Release. When the redshift of SN 1995K is taken into account, the two spectra are very similar. The current belief is that supernovae of this type are due to the explosions of white dwarf stars in compact binary systems which are triggered by the successive accretion of stellar material from the other component. As the sequence of NTT images shows, SN 1995K quickly faded and in late May 1995, it could no longer be observed. The rate of change (the ``light-curve'') also closely matched that of a normal Type Ia supernova. Why Are Type Ia Supernovae So Important? While supernovae are important astrophysical objects by themselves, Type Ia supernovae are also of great interest to cosmologists. The main reason is that they provide independent information about the distances to galaxies and thereby about the expansion rate of the Universe. A simple way to determine the distance to a remote galaxy is by measuring its redshift, calculate its velocity from the redshift and divide this by the Hubble constant, H0. For instance, the measured redshift of the parent galaxy of SN 1995K (0.478) yields a velocity of 116,000 km/sec, somewhat more than one-third of the speed of light (300,000 km/sec). From the universal expansion rate, described by the Hubble constant (H0 = 20 km/sec per million lightyears as found by some studies), this velocity would indicate a distance to the supernova and its parent galaxy of about 5,800 million lightyears. The explosion of the supernova would thus have taken place 5,800 million years ago, i.e. about 1,000 million years before the solar system was formed. However, such a simple calculation works only for relatively ``nearby'' objects, perhaps out to some hundred million lightyears. When we look much further into space, we also look far back in time and it is not excluded that the universal expansion rate, i.e. the Hubble constant, may have been different at earlier epochs. This means that unless we know the change of the Hubble constant with time, we cannot determine reliable distances of distant galaxies from their measured redshifts and velocities. At the same time, knowledge about such change or lack of the same will provide unique information about the time elapsed since the Universe began to expand (the ``Big Bang''), that is, the age of the Universe and also its ultimate fate. The Deceleration Parameter q0 Cosmologists are therefore eager to determine not only the current expansion rate (i.e., the Hubble constant, H0) but also its possible change with time (known as the deceleration parameter, q0). Although a highly accurate value of H0 has still not become available, increasing attention is now given to the observational determination of the second parameter, cf. also the Appendix at the end of this Press Release. For such studies, independent, reliable distances to very distant objects are needed. This is exactly what may be obtained from careful observations of Type Ia supernovae and this is why they are so important for cosmology. It has been found that all supernovae of Type Ia radiate the same luminous energy at the moment of maximum light (within an uncertainty of 15 - 20 percent or less). If all such supernovae were located at the same distance, they would appear equally bright to us. This is of course not the case and the difference in observed brightness between individual Type Ia supernovae is therefore a direct measure of their relative distances. A supernova that is located at twice the distance of another will appear four times fainter. The distances to a few nearby objects of this type have now been measured, thus fixing the zero-point (that is, the absolute brightness of a Type Ia supernova [4]). At least in principle, this then allows to measure the accurate distances to all others, including SN 1995K. Towards a Measurement of q0 The crucial ingredients for the use of a high-redshift supernova like SN 1995K to measure the distance are its correct classification and the establishment of an accurate light-curve. The above method only works if we can be sure that it is of Type Ia and we can deduce the apparent brightness at maximum light. The current classification scheme of supernovae is based on spectra obtained near the maximum brightness of the event. For a meaningful and secure distance determination, it is therefore of paramount importance to classify the supernova by obtaining a spectrum. Since a supernova at redshift 0.4 reaches a peak brightness of about magnitude 22.3-23.3 (depending on the value of q0 [5]), this is not a simple task. It is also a major organisational problem to obtain the necessary, significant amount of observing time at large telescopes at short notice. Preliminary photometry indicates a peak (red) magnitude of SN 1995K of about 22.7, but the uncertainty of this value is still so large that this measurement alone cannot be used to determine the value of q0. This will require many more observations of supernovae at least as distant as the present one, a daunting task that may nevertheless be possible within this broad, international programme. It is estimated that a reliable measurement of q0 may become possible when about 20 Type Ia supernovae with accurate peak magnitudes have been measured. According to the discovery predictions, this could be possible within the next couple of years. In this connection, it is of some importance that for this investigation, it is in principle not necessary to know the correct value of the Hubble constant H0 in advance; q0 may still be determined by comparing the relative distance scale of distant supernovae with that of nearby ones. This research is described in more detail in a forthcoming article in the September 1995 issue of the ESO Messenger. Notes: [1] Brian P. Schmidt (Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories, Australia), Bruno Leibundgut, Jason Spyromilio, Jeremy Walsh (ESO), Mark M. Phillips, Nicholas B. Suntzeff, Mario Hamuy, Robert A. Schommer (Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory), Roberto Aviles (formerly Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory; now at ESO), Robert P. Kirshner, Adam Riess, Peter Challis, Peter Garnavich (Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachussetts, U.S.A.), Christopher Stubbs, Craig Hogan (University of Washington, Seattle, U.S.A.), Alan Dressler (Carnegie Observatories, U.S.A.) and Robin Ciardullo (Pennsylvania State University, U.S.A.) [2] In astronomy, the redshift denotes the fraction by which the lines in the spectrum of an object are shifted towards longer wavelengths. The observed redshift of a distant galaxy gives a direct estimate of the apparent recession velocity as caused by the universal expansion. Since the expansion rate increases with the distance, the velocity is itself a function (the Hubble relation) of the distance to the object. [3] A supernova at redshift 0.3 was found some years ago at ESO during an earlier search programme (Noergaard-Nielsen et al., Nature, Vol. 339, page 523, 1989) and before now the most distant known supernova was located in a galaxy at redshift 0.458 (Perlmutter et al., Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 440, Page L41, 1995) [4] For comparison, a Type Ia supernova at maximum brightness emits nearly 6,000 million times more light than the Sun. [5] The brighter the supernova at a given redshift is at maximum, the larger is q0. APPENDIX: Messages From the Deceleration Parameter q0 A determination of the deceleration parameter q0 by means of astronomical observations is important because it will allow us to choose between the various current theories of the evolution of the Universe, or at least to eliminate some of them as impossible. If the value turns of to be small, e.g. q0 ~ 0, then there has been only a small decrease (deceleration) of the universal expansion in the past. In this case, a galaxy's velocity does not change much with time and the actual distance is very nearly as indicated from the Hubble relation. Should, however, the value of q0 be significantly larger, then a galaxy's velocity would have been larger in the past than it is now. The velocity we now measure would therefore be ``too high'' (since it refers to the time the light was emitted from the galaxy), and the distance obtained by dividing with the Hubble constant will be too large. The value of q0 is proportional to the total amount of matter in the Universe. A measurement of q0 will establish limits for the amount of ``missing matter'', i.e. the ``invisible'' matter which cannot be directly observed with current observational techniques and which is believed to be the dominant mass component. If q0 is near 0, the expansion of the Universe will continue unabated (the Universe is ``open''). If, however, q0 is larger than 0.5, then the expansion will ultimately stop and be followed by a future contraction (the Universe is ``closed''). How to obtain ESO Press Information ESO Press Information is made available on the World-Wide Web (URL: http://www.eso.org ). ESO Press Photos may be reproduced, if credit is given to the European Southern Observatory.

News & Announcements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2000-02-01

News from Journal House

• Guy Anderson
• Jim Becvar
• Jerry Bell
• Jim Birk
• Diane Bunce
• Ann Cartwright
• Thomas Clark
• Jane Crosby
• Maria Dean
• Art Ellis
• Donald Elswick
• Tommy Franklin
• Babu George
• Paul Heath
• Angela Hoffman
• Lynn Hogue
• J. J. Lagowski
• Frank Lambert
• Dorothy Lehmkuhl
• George Lelevre
• Scott Luaders
• Jane McMullen
• Marci Merritt
• Carl Minnier
• Richard Narske
• Ron Perkins
• Gabriel Pinto
• Dick Potts
• Herb Retcofsky
• Jerry Sarquis
• Elke Schoffers
• Sara Selfe
• Uni Susskind
• J. Mark Tolman
• John Varine
• Dawn Wakeley
• Marla White

Awards Announced

Award Deadlines

Courses, Seminars, Meetings, Opportunities

• Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) June 5, 2000 (anticipated)
• NSF Computer Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Scholarships Program (CSEMS) TBA
• Advanced Techological Education (ATE) Preliminary April 13, 2000 (anticipated) Formal Oct. 13, 2000 (anticipated)
• NSF Graduate Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) TBA (anticipated late spring 2000)
• Online DUE forms available at http://www.ehr.nsf.gov/EHR/DUE/documents/general/forms/forms.htm
• NSF Documents Online available at http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/pubsys/browser/odbrowse.pl

• Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program: November 15, 2000
• Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program: June 30, 2000
• New Faculty Awards Program: May 15, 2000
• Faculty Start-up Grants for Undergraduate Institutions: May 15, 2000
• Scholar/Fellow Program for Undergraduate Institutions: June 30, 2000
• Special Grant Program in the Chemical Sciences: Preliminary Proposals: June 15, 2000 Complete Proposals: September 1, 2000
• Postdoctoral Program in Environmental Chemistry: March 1, 2000
• Senior Scientist Mentor: September 1, 2000

• Cottrell College Science Awards: May 15 and November 15
• Cottrell Scholars: First regular business day in September
• Research Opportunity Awards: May 1 and October 1
• Research Innovation Awards: May 1

First Results from the UT1 Science Verification Programme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1998-11-01

Performance verification is a step which has regularly been employed in space missions to assess and qualify the scientific capabilities of an instrument. Within this framework, it was the goal of the Science Verification program to submit the VLT Unit Telescope No. 1 (UT1) to the scrutiny that can only be achieved in an actual attempt to produce scientifically valuable results. To this end, an attractive and diversified set of observations were planned in advance to be executed at the VLT. These Science Verification observations at VLT UT1 took place as planned in the period from August 17 to September 1, 1998, cf. the September issue of the ESO Messenger ( No. 93, p. 1 ) and ESO PR 12/98 for all details. Although the meteorological conditions on Paranal were definitely below average, the telescope worked with spectacular efficiency and performance throughout the entire period, and very valuable data were gathered. After completion of all observations, the Science Verification Team started to prepare all of the datasets for the public release that took place on October 2, 1998. The data related to the Hubble Deep Field South (now extensively observed by the Hubble Space Telescope) were made public world-wide, while the release of other data was restricted to ESO member states. With this public release ESO intended to achieve two specific goals: offer to the scientific community an early opportunity to work on valuable VLT data, and in the meantime submit the VLT to the widest possible scrutiny. With the public release, many scientists started to analyse scientifically the VLT data, and the following few examples of research programmes are meant to give a sample of the work that has been carried out on the Science Verification data during the past two months. They represent typical investigations that will be carried out in the future with the VLT. Many of these will be directed towards the distant universe, in order to gather insight on the formation and evolution of galaxies, galaxy clusters, and large scale structure. Others will concentrate on more nearby objects, including stars and nebulae in the Milky Way galaxy, and some will attempt to study our own solar system. The following six research programmes were presented at the Press Conference that took place at the ESO Headquarters in Garching (Germany) today. Deep Galaxy Counts and Photometric Redshifts in the HDF-S NIC3 Field The goal of this programme was to verify the capability of the VLT by obtaining the deepest possible ground-based images and using multicolour information to derive the redshifts (and hence the distances) of the faintest galaxies. The space distribution, luminosity and colour of these extreme objects may provide crucial information on the initial phases of the evolution of the universe. The method is known as photometric redshift determination . The VLT Test Camera was used to collect CCD images for a total of 16.6 hours in five spectral filters (U, B, V, R and I) in the so-called HDF-S NIC3 field. This is a small area (about 1 arcmin square) of the southern sky where very deep observations in the infrared bands J, H and K (1.1, 1.6 and 2.2µm, respectively) have been obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The observations were combined and analyzed by a team of astronomers at ESO and the Observatory of Rome (Italy). Galaxies were detected in the field down to magnitude ~ 27-28. In most colours, the planned limiting values of the fluxes were successfully reached. ESO PR Photo 48a/98 ESO PR Photo 48a/98 [Preview - JPEG: 800 x 856 pix - 144k] [High-Res - JPEG: 3000 x 3210 pix - 728k] PR Photo 48a/98 shows some examples of photometric redshift determination for faint galaxies in the HDF-S NIC3 field. The filled points are the fluxes measured in the five colors observed with the VLT Test Camera (U, B, V, R and I) and in the infrared H spectral band with the NICMOS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. The curves constitute the best fit to the points obtained from a library of more than 400,000 synthetic spectra of galaxies at various redshifts (Fontana et al., in preparation). For most of these very faint sources, it is not possible to collect enough photons to measure the recession velocity (the redshift) by spectroscopy, even with an 8-m telescope. The redshifts and the main galaxy properties are then determined by comparing the colour observations with synthetic spectra (see PR Photo 48a/98 ). This has been done for more than one hundred galaxies in the field brighter than magnitude 26.5. Around 20 are found to be at redshifts larger than 2. The brighter ones are excellent candidates for future detailed studies with the UT1 instruments FORS1 and ISAAC. The scientists involved in this study are: Sandro D'Odorico, Richard Hook, Alvio Renzini, Piero Rosati, Rodolfo Viezzer (ESO) and Adriano Fontana, Emanuele Giallongo, Francesco Poli (Rome Observatory, Italy). A Gravitational Einstein Ring Because the gravitational pull of matter bends the path of light rays, astronomical objects - stars, galaxies and galaxy clusters - can act like lenses, which magnify and severely distort the images of galaxies behind them, producing weird pictures as in a hall of mirrors. In the most extreme case, where the foreground lensing galaxy and the background galaxy are perfectly lined up, the image of the background galaxy is stretched into a ring. Such an image is known as an Einstein ring , because the correct formula for the bending of light was first described by the famous phycisist Albert Einstein . ESO PR Photo 48b/98 ESO PR Photo 48b/98 [Preview - JPEG: 800 x 1106 pix - 952k] [High-Res - JPEG: 3000 x 4148 pix - 5.4Mb] ESO PR Photo 48c/98 ESO PR Photo 48c/98 [Preview - JPEG: 800 x 977 pix - 272k] [High-Res - JPEG: 3000 x 3664 pix - 1.4Mb] PR Photo 48b/98 (left) shows a new, true colour image of an Einstein ring (upper centre of photo), first discovered at ESO in 1995. The ring, which is the stretched image of a galaxy far out in the Universe, stands out clearly in green, and the red galaxy inside the ring is the lens. The discovery image was very faint, but this new picture, taken with the VLT during the Science Verification Programme allows a much clearer view of the ring because of the great light-gathering capacity of the telescope and, not least, because of the superb image quality. In Photo 48c/98 (right), four images illustrate the deduced model of the lensing effect. In the upper left, the observed ring has been enlarged and the image of the lensing galaxy removed by image processing. Below it is a model of the gravitational field (potential) around this galaxy along with the "true" image of the background galaxy shown. At the lower right is the resulting gravitationally magnified and distorted image of the background galaxy, which to the upper right has been de-sharpened to the same image quality as the observed image. The similarity between the two is most convincing. The picture shows a new, true colour image of an Einstein ring, first discovered at ESO in 1995. The ring, which is the stretched image of a galaxy far out in the Universe, stands out clearly in green, and the red galaxy inside the ring is the lens. The discovery image was very faint, but this new picture, taken with the VLT during the Science Verification Programme allows a much clearer view of the ring because of the great light-gathering capacity the telescope and, not least, because of the superb image quality. Gravitational lensing provides a very useful tool with which to study the Universe. As "weighing scales", it provides a measure of the mass within the lensing body, and as a "magnifying glass", it allows us to see details in objects which would otherwise be beyond the reach of current telescopes. This new detailed picture has allowed a much more accurate measurement of the mass of the lensing galaxy, revealing the presence of vast quantities of "unseen" matter, five times more than if just the light from the galaxy is taken into account. This additional material represents some of the Universe's dark matter . The gravitational lens action is also magnifying the background object by a factor of ten, providing an unparalleled view of this very distant galaxy which is in a stage of active star-formation. The scientists involved in this study are : Palle Møller (ESO), Stephen J. Warren (Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, UK), Paul C. Hewett (Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UK) and Geraint F. Lewis (Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, Canada). An Extremely Red Galaxy One of the main goals of modern cosmology is to understand when and how the galaxies formed. In the very last years, many high-redshift (i.e. very distant) galaxies have been found, suggesting that some galaxies were already assembled, when the Universe was much younger than now. None of these high-redshift galaxies have ever been found to be a bona-fide red elliptical galaxy . The VLT, however, with its very good capabilities for infrared observations, is an ideal instrument to investigate when and how the red elliptical galaxies formed. The VLT Science Verification images have provided unique multicolour information about an extremely red galaxy that was originally (Treu et al., 1998, A&A Letters, Vol. 340, p. 10) identified on the Hubble Deep Field South (HDF-S) Test Image. This galaxy is shown in PR Photo 48d/98 that is an enlargment from ESO PR Photo 35b/98. It was detected on Near-IR images and also on images obtained in the optical part of the spectrum, at the very faint limit of magnitude B ~ 29 in the blue. However, this galaxy has not been detected in the near-ultraviolet band. ESO PR Photo 48d/98 ESO PR Photo 48d/98 [Preview - JPEG: 800 x 594 pix - 264k] [High-Res - JPEG: 3000 x 2229 pix - 1.8Mb] ESO PR Photo 48e/98 ESO PR Photo 48e/98 [Preview - JPEG: 800 x 942 pix - 96k] [High-Res - JPEG: 3000 x 3533 pix - 576k] PR Photo 48d/98 (left) shows the very red galaxy (at the arrow) in the Hubble Deep Field South , discussed here. Photo 48e/98 (right) is the spectrum of a typical elliptical galaxy, redshifted to z = 1.8 and compared with the brightness of the galaxy in different wavebands (crosses), as measured during the VLT SV programme and the Hubble Deep Field South Test Program (the cross to the right). The arrow indicates the upper limit by the VLT SV in the ultraviolet band. It can be seen that these observations are fully consistent with the object being an old, elliptical galaxy at the high redshift of z=1.8 , i.e. at an epoch, when the Universe was much younger than now. The new ISAAC instrument at VLT UT1 will be able to obtain an infrared spectrum of this galaxy and thus to affirm or refute this provisional conclusion. The colours measured at the VLT and on the HST Test Image are very well matched by those of an old elliptical galaxy at redshift z ~ 1.8 ; see Photo 48e/98 . All the available evidence is thus consistent with this object being an elliptical galaxy with the highest-known redshift for this galaxy type. A preliminary analysis of Hubble Deep Field South data, just released, seems to support this hypothesis. If these conclusions are confirmed by direct measurement of its spectrum, this galaxy must already have been "old" (i.e. significantly evolved) when the Universe had an age of only about one fifth of its present value. A spectroscopic confirmation is still outstanding, but is now possible with the ISAAC instrument at VLT UT1. A positive result would demonstrate that elliptical galaxies can form very early in the history of the Universe. The scientists involved in this study are: Massimo Stiavelli, Tommaso Treu (also Scuola Normale Superiore, Italy), Stefano Casertano, Mark Dickinson, Henry Ferguson, Andrew Fruchter, Crystal Martin (STSci, Baltimore, USA), Piero Rosati and Rodolfo Viezzer (ESO), Marcella Carollo (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA) and Henry Tieplitz (NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, USA). Lyman-alpha Companions and Extended Nebulosity around a Quasar at Redshift z=2.2 In current theories of galaxy formation, luminous galaxies we see to-day were built up through repeated merging of smaller protogalactic clumps. Quasars, prodigious sources pouring out 100 to 1000 times as much light as an entire galaxy, have been used as markers of galaxy formation activity and have guided astronomers in their hunting of primeval galaxies and large-scale structures at high redshift. A supermassive black-hole, swallowing stars, gas and dust, is thought to be the engine powering a quasar and the interaction of the galaxy hosting the black-hole with neighboring galaxies is expected to play a key role in "feeding the monster". At intermediate redshift, a large fraction of radio-loud quasars and radio galaxies inhabit rich clusters of galaxies, whereas radio-quiet quasars are rarely found in very rich environments. Furthermore, tidal interaction between quasars and their nearby companions is also the favoured explanation for the presence of large gaseous nebulosities associated with radio-loud quasars and radio galaxies. At high redshift, searches for Lyman-alpha quasar companions and emission-line nebulosities show strong similarities with those seen at lower redshift, although the detection rate is lower. ESO PR Photo 48f/98 ESO PR Photo 48f/98 [Preview - JPEG: 800 x 977 pix - 184k] [High-Res - JPEG: 3000 x 3662 pix - 1.1Mb] ESO PR Photo 48g/98 ESO PR Photo 48g/98 [Preview - JPEG: 800 x 966 pix - 328k] [High-Res - JPEG: 3000 x 3621 pix - 1.8Mb] PR Photo 48f/98 (left) is a false-colour reproduction of a B-band image of the field around the radio-weak quasar J2233-606 in the Hubble Deep Field South (HDF-S) . Photo 48g/98 (right) represents emission from the same direction at a wavelength that corresponds to Lyman-alpha emission at the redshift ( z = 2.2 ) of the quasar. Three Lyman-alpha candidate companions are indicated with arrows. Note also the extended nebulosity around the quasar. A search for Lyman-alpha companions to the radio-weak quasar J2233-606 in the Hubble Deep Field South (HDF-S) was conducted during the VLT UT1 SV programme in a small field of 1.2 x 1.3 arcmin 2 , centered on the quasar. Candidate Lyman-alpha companions were identified by subtracting a broad-band B (blue) image, that traces the galaxy stellar populations, from a narrow-band image, spectrally centered on the redshifted, narrow Lyman-alpha emission line of the quasar ( z = 2.2 ). Three Lyman-alpha candidate companions were discovered at angular distances of 15 to 23 arcsec, or 200 to 300 kpc (650,000 to 1,000,000 light-years) at the distance corresponding to the quasar redshift. The emission lines are very strong, relative to the continuum emission of the galaxies - this could be a consequence of the strong ionizing radiation field of the quasar. These companions to the quasar may trace a large-scale structure which would extend over larger distances beyond the observed, small field. Even more striking is the presence of a very extended nebulosity whose size (120 kpc x 160 kpc) and Lyman-alpha luminosity (3 x 10 44 erg/cm 2 /s) are among the largest observed around radio galaxies and radio-loud quasars, but rarely seen around a radio-weak quasar. Tidal interaction between the northern, very nearby companion and the quasar is clearly present: the companion is embedded in the quasar nebulosity, most of its gas has been stripped and lies in a tail westwards of the galaxy. The scientists involved in this study are: Jacqueline Bergeron (ESO), Stefano Cristiani, Stephane Arnouts, Gianni Fasano (Padova, Italy) and Patrick Petitjean (Institut d'Astrophysique, Paris, France). Very Distant Galaxy Clusters During the past years, it has become possible to detect and subsequently study progressively more distant clusters of galaxies. For this research programme, UT1 Science Verification data were used, in combination with data obtained with the SOFI instrument at the ESO New Technology Telescope (NTT) at La Silla, to confirm the existence of two very distant galaxy clusters at redshift z ~ 1 , that had originally been detected in the ESO Imaging Survey. This redshift corresponds to an epoch when the age of the Universe was only two-thirds of the present. ESO PR Photo 48h/98 ESO PR Photo 48h/98 [Preview - JPEG: 800 x 917 pix - 896k] [High-Res - JPEG: 3000 x 3438 pix - 6.0Mb] PR Photo 48h/98 (left) is a colour composite that shows the now confirmed cluster EIS0046-2930 . The image has been produced by combining the V (green-yellow), R (red) and I (Near-IR) exposures with the Test Camera obtained during the VLT-UT1 Science Verification. The yellow-orange galaxies are the cluster members and the bluer objects are galaxies belonging to the general field population. The cluster center is at the location of the largest (yellow-orange) cluster galaxy to the left of the center of the image. The field measures 90 x 90 arcsec. This was achieved by the detection of a spatial excess density of galaxies, with measured colour equal to that of elliptical galaxies at this redshift, as established by counts in the respective sky areas. The field of one these clusters is shown in PR Photo 48h/98 . These new data show that the VLT will most certainly play a major role in the studies of the cluster galaxy population in such distant systems. This will contribute to shed important new light on the evolution of galaxies. Furthermore, the VLT clearly has the potential to identify and confirm the reality of many more such clusters and thereby to increase considerably the number of known objects. This will be important in order to determine more accurate values of the basic cosmological constants, and thus for our understanding of the evolution of the Universe as a whole. The presentation was made by Lisbeth Fogh Olsen (Copenhagen Observatory, Denmark, and ESO) on behalf of the scientists involved in this study. Icy Planets in the Outer Solar System Observations with large optical telescopes during the past years have begun to cast more light on the still very little known, distant icy planets in the outer solar system. Until November 1998, about 70 of these have been discovered outside the orbit of Neptune (between 30 and 50 AU, or 4,500 to 7,500 million km, from the Sun). They are accordingly referred to as Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) . Those found so far are believed to represent the "tip of the iceberg" of a large population of such objects belonging to the so-called Kuiper Belt . This is a roughly disk-shaped region between about 50 and 120 AU (about 7,500 to 18,000 million km) from the Sun, in which remnant bodies from the formation of the solar system are thought to be present. From their measured brightness and the distance, it is found that most known TNOs have diameters of the order of a few hundred kilometres. About half of those known move in elongated Pluto-like orbits, the others move somewhat further out in stable, circular orbits. During the two-week Science Verification programme, approximately 200 minutes were spent on a small observing programme aimed at obtaining images of some TNOs in different wavebands (B, V, R and I). Since this programme was primarily designed as a back-up to be executed during less favourable atmospheric conditions, some of the observations could not be used. However, images of three faint TNOs were recorded during an excellent series of 1-10 min exposures. From these data, it was possible to measure quite accurate magnitudes (and thus approximate sizes) and to determine their colours. One of them, 1996 TL66, was among the bluest TNOs ever observed. It is believed that this is because its surface has undergone recent transformation, possibly due to collisions with other objects or the breaking-off of small pieces from the surface, in both cases revealing "fresh" layers below. The combination of all available exposures made it possible to look for faint and tenous atmospheres around these TNOs, but none were found. These results show that it is possible, with little effort and even under quite unfavourable observing conditions, to obtain valuable information with the VLT about icy objects in the outer solar system. Of even greater interest will be future spectroscopic observations with FORS and ISAAC that will allow to study the surface composition in some detail, with the potential of providing direct information about (nearly?) pristine material from the early phases of the solar system. The scientists involved in this study are: Olivier Hainaut, Hermann Boehnhardt, Catherine Delahodde and Richard West (ESO) and Karen Meech (Institute of Astronomy, Hawaii, USA). How to obtain ESO Press Information ESO Press Information is made available on the World-Wide Web (URL: http://www.eso.org ). ESO Press Photos may be reproduced, if credit is given to the European Southern Observatory.