The Swift view of Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients

We report here on the recent results of a monitoring campaign we have been carrying out with Swift/XRT on a sample of four Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients. The main goal of this large programme (with a net Swift/XRT exposure of 540 ks, updated to 2009, August, 31) is to address several main open issues related to this new class of High Mass X-ray Binaries hosting OB supergiant stars as companions. Here we summarize the most important results obtained between October 2007 and August 2009.Comment: Published on the Proceedings of the conference X-Ray Astronomy 2009, Present Status, multiwavelenght approach and future perspectives, September 7 - 11, 2009, Bologna, Italy. Revised version according to the referee's repor

Designing Wiimprovisation for Mediation in Group Music Therapy with Children Suffering from Behavioral Disorders

International audienceWe present qualitative experimental evidence that the "Wiimprovisation" process of using Nintendo Wiimotes as virtual instruments linked to a musical sound system within the framework of Group Music Therapy sessions can provide effective psychodynamic mediation for patients. We designed and implemented specific modalities for movement-based sound control and tested our tool in two clinical settings with children (age 7 to 12) suffering from behavioral disorders. Our preliminary results show immediate acceptance of, long term motivation for and meaningful expression through our system by patients. Future work will focus on assessing the therapeutic potential of our platform's personalization features in a controlled experiment

How do you Play with a Robotic Toy Animal? A long-term study of Pleo

Pleo is one of the more advanced interactive toys currently available for the home market, taking the form of a robotic dinosaur. We present an exploratory study of how it was interacted with and reflected upon in the homes of six families during 2 to 10 months. Our analysis emphasizes a discrepancy between the participants’ initial desires to borrow a Pleo and what they reported later on about their actual experiences. Further, the data suggests an apparent tension between participants expecting the robot to work as a ‘toy’ while making consistent comparisons with real pet animals. We end by discussing a series of implications for design of this category of toys, in order to better maintain interest and engagement over time

Typyfications of the names of Iberian accepted species of Narcissus L. (Amaryllidaceae)

Tipificación de los nombres aceptados de las especies ibéricas del género Narcissus (Amaryllidaceae). En el curso de la preparación del tratamiento taxonómico del género Narcissus para Flora Ibérica, catorce nombres de taxa aceptados han sido encontrados sin designación de tipo nomenclatural. Trece lectotipos y un neotipo han sido designados para estos taxa. Adicionalmente, cinco epitipos se han seleccionado para las especies aceptadas con ilustración como tipos y uno para un nombre de Linneo que presenta un deficiente especímen como lectotipo

Monitoring Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients with Swift. Results from the first year

Swift has allowed the possibility to give Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXTs), the new class of High Mass X-ray Binaries discovered by INTEGRAL, non serendipitous attention throughout all phases of their life. We present our results based on the first year of intense Swift monitoring of four SFXTs, IGR J16479-4514, XTE J1739-302, IGR J17544-2619 and AX J1841.0-0536. We obtain the first assessment of how long each source spends in each state using a systematic monitoring with a sensitive instrument. The duty-cycle of inactivity is 17, 28, 39, 55% (5% uncertainty), for IGR J16479-4514, AX J1841.0-0536, XTE J1739-302, and IGR J17544-2619, respectively, so that true quiescence is a rare state. This demonstrates that these transients accrete matter throughout their life at different rates. AX J1841.0-0536 is the only source which has not undergone a bright outburst during our campaign. Although individual sources behave somewhat differently, common X-ray characteristics of this class are emerging such as outburst lengths well in excess of hours, with a multiple peaked structure. A high dynamic range (including bright outbursts) of 4 orders of magnitude has been observed. We performed out-of-outburst intensity-based spectroscopy. Spectral fits with an absorbed blackbody always result in blackbody radii of a few hundred meters, consistent with being emitted from a small portion of the neutron star surface, very likely the neutron star polar caps. We also present the UVOT data of these sources. (Abridged)Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 20 pages, 9 figures, 8 table

La facilitación del trabajo en grupo. Una apuesta para la sostenibilidad de los proyectos de desarrollo rural (en Cuenca)

La propuesta de unión y trabajo colectivo es una característica frecuente en proyectos de desarrollo rural. Sin embargo, el proceso por el cual las personas asumen sus ventajas no siempre es exitoso, y al terminar el proyecto se vuelve a la situación de partida. La facilitación estimula la acción colectiva a través de la adquisición de habilidades y actitudes personales desempeñadas en un grupo de trabajo. Además de la realización de una tarea común, la facilitación pretende crear relaciones y vínculos de confianza en el grupo, que permitan a sus componentes actuar conjuntamente en la resolución de problemas. Este proceso ha sido estudiado en cuatro grupos de trabajo creados desde diferentes proyectos de la provincia de Cuenca, España. A través del análisis de los grupos, se ha identificado el papel de líder que el facilitador tiene en las fases iniciales de formación del grupo. Durante el desarrollo del trabajo en grupo, las personas afirman haber adquirido competencias necesarias para la continuidad del trabajo conjunto cuando el proyecto y el facilitador desaparecen. Sin embargo en otros casos, estas competencias no se traspasan adecuadamente dificultando la sostenibilidad del grupo