Searching for Very High Energy Emission from Pulsars Using the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory

There are currently over 160 known gamma-ray pulsars. While most of them are detected only from space, at least two are now seen also from the ground. MAGIC and VERITAS have measured the gamma ray pulsed emission of the Crab pulsar up to hundreds of GeV and more recently MAGIC has reported emission at $\sim2$ TeV. Furthermore, in the Southern Hemisphere, H.E.S.S. has detected the Vela pulsar above 30 GeV. In addition, non-pulsed TeV emission coincident with pulsars has been detected by many groups, including the Milagro Collaboration. These GeV-TeV observations open the possibility of searching for very-high-energy (VHE, > 100GeV) pulsations from gamma-rays pulsars in the HAWC field of view.Comment: Presented at the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2015), The Hague, The Netherlands. See arXiv:1508.03327 for all HAWC contribution

No measure for culture? Value in the new economy

This paper explores articulations of the value of investment in culture and the arts through a critical discourse analysis of policy documents, reports and academic commentary since 1997. It argues that in this period, discourses around the value of culture have moved from a focus on the direct economic contributions of the culture industries to their indirect economic benefits. These indirect benefits are discussed here under three main headings: creativity and innovation, employability, and social inclusion. These are in turn analysed in terms of three forms of capital: human, social and cultural. The paper concludes with an analysis of this discursive shift through the lens of autonomist Marxist concerns with the labour of social reproduction. It is our argument that, in contemporary policy discourses on culture and the arts, the government in the UK is increasingly concerned with the use of culture to form the social in the image of capital. As such, we must turn our attention beyond the walls of the factory in order to understand the contemporary capitalist production of value and resistance to it. </jats:p

Rethinking the social impacts of the arts

The paper presents a critical discussion of the current debate over the social impacts of the arts in the UK. It argues that the accepted understanding of the terms of the debate is rooted in a number of assumptions and beliefs that are rarely questioned. The paper goes on to present the interim findings of a three‐year research project, which aims to rethink the social impact of the arts, with a view to determining how these impacts might be better understood. The desirability of a historical approach is articulated, and a classification of the claims made within the Western intellectual tradition for what the arts “do” to people is presented and discussed

Determinants of impact : towards a better understanding of encounters with the arts

The article argues that current methods for assessing the impact of the arts are largely based on a fragmented and incomplete understanding of the cognitive, psychological and socio-cultural dynamics that govern the aesthetic experience. It postulates that a better grasp of the interaction between the individual and the work of art is the necessary foundation for a genuine understanding of how the arts can affect people. Through a critique of philosophical and empirical attempts to capture the main features of the aesthetic encounter, the article draws attention to the gaps in our current understanding of the responses to art. It proposes a classification and exploration of the factors—social, cultural and psychological—that contribute to shaping the aesthetic experience, thus determining the possibility of impact. The ‘determinants of impact’ identified are distinguished into three groups: those that are inherent to the individual who interacts with the artwork; those that are inherent to the artwork; and ‘environmental factors’, which are extrinsic to both the individual and the artwork. The article concludes that any meaningful attempt to assess the impact of the arts would need to take these ‘determinants of impact’ into account, in order to capture the multidimensional and subjective nature of the aesthetic experience

Urea-Doped Calcium Phosphate Nanoparticles as Sustainable Nitrogen Nanofertilizers for Viticulture: Implications on Yield and Quality of Pinot Gris Grapevines

In recent years, the application of nanotechnology for the development of new “smart fertilizers” is regarded as one of the most promising solutions for boosting a more sustainable and modern grapevine cultivation. Despite showing interesting potential benefits over conventional fertilization practices, the use of nanofertilizers in viticulture is still underexplored. In this work, we investigated the effectiveness of non-toxic calcium phosphate nanoparticles (Ca3(PO4)2∙nH2O) doped with urea (U-ACP) as a nitrogen source for grapevine fertilization. Plant tests were performed for two years (2019–2020) on potted adult Pinot gris cv. vines grown under semi-controlled conditions. Four fertilization treatments were compared: N1: commercial granular fertilization (45 kg N ha−1); N2: U-ACP applied in fertigation (36 kg N ha−1); N3: foliar application of U-ACP (36 kg N ha−1); C: control, receiving no N fertilization. Plant nitrogen status (SPAD), yield parameters as well as those of berry quality were analyzed. Results here presented clearly show the capability of vine plants to recognize and use the nitrogen supplied with U-ACP nanoparticles either when applied foliarly or to the soil. Moreover, all of the quali–quantitative parameters measured in vine plants fed with nanoparticles were perfectly comparable to those of plants grown in conventional condition, despite the restrained dosage of nitrogen applied with the nanoparticles. Therefore, these results provide both clear evidence of the efficacy of U-ACP nanoparticles as a nitrogen source and the basis for the development of alternative nitrogen fertilization strategies, optimizing the dosage/benefit ratio and being particularly interesting in a context of a more sustainable and modern viticulture.PSR 2014/2020 Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia—Misure 16.1.1, DGR 1313/2018, DC 398/AGFOR 2020—GESOVIT PROJECTFondazione Cariplo, Italy, Grant n. 2016-0648, project: Romancing the stone: size controlled HYdroxyaPATItes for sustainable Agriculture (HYPATIA

The unacknowledged legacy

This paper presents a critical discussion of the treatment of mimetic art, and particularly poetry and the theatre, in the work of the Athenian philosopher Plato (427-347 BC). It centres on Plato's discussion of the corrupting powers of the arts in the Republic, and the implications that his fierce attack on poetry and theatre have for his construction of the ideal polity. The legacy of Platonic ideas in later elaborations of the corrupting power of the arts is discussed. Furthermore, the paper investigates the relationship between current debates on cultural policy and the Platonic idea that the transformative powers of the arts ought to be harnessed by the state to promote a just society. The conclusion thus reached is that “instrumental cultural policy”, rather then being a modern invention, was in fact first theorized precisely in Plato's Republic

MUSE AO spectroscopy confirms five dual AGNs and two strongly lensed QSOs at sub-arcsec separation

The novel Gaia Multi Peak (GMP) technique has proven to be able to successfully select dual and lensed AGN candidates at sub-arcsec separations. Both populations are important because dual AGNs represent one of the central, still largely untested, predictions of lamdaCDM cosmology, and compact lensed quasars allow to probe the central regions of the lensing galaxies. In this work, we present high spatial resolution spectroscopy of twelve GMP-selected systems. We use the the adaptive-optics assisted integral-field spectrograph MUSE at VLT to resolve each system and study the nature of each component. All the targets reveal the presence of two components confirming the GMP selection. We classify five targets as dual AGNs, two as lensed systems, and five as a chance alignment of a star and and AGN. Having separations between 0.30" and 0.86", these dual and lensed systems are, to date, among the most compact ever discovered at z >0.3. This is the largest sample of distant dual AGNs with sub-arcsec separations ever presented in a single paper.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure

A preliminary study for quantitative assessment with HFUS (High-frequency ultrasound) of nodular skin melanoma breslow thickness in adults before surgery: Interdisciplinary team experience

Background: Cutaneous melanoma is one of the most severe skin diseases. Nodular melanoma is the second melanoma subtype in order of frequency. The prognosis of skin melanoma depends on the vertical growth of the tumor (Breslow index). For this measurement, excisional biopsy is strongly recommended. This is, however, an invasive procedure and may cause damage to the lymphatic drainage system. The HFUS system,, can be extremely useful for determining tumor thickness in the preoperative phase, given its high resolution capacity. The aim of this preliminary study is to define the role of HFUS for the nodular skin melanoma Breslow thickness in adults before surgery by making a comparison with histological features. Methods: In this study, 14 melanocytic lesions (8 male and 6 female) were evaluated with derma-toscopic clinical features strongly indicative of nodular melanoma. Out of these, excisional biopsy of 7 lesions was requested. The ultrasounds were performed preoperatively. The images were acquired through the first ultrasound scanner with ultra-high frequency probes (range from 50MHz to 70 MHz) available on the market under the EEC mark (Vevo "MD, FUJIFILM Visual Sonics, Amsterdam, the Netherlands) equipped with a linear probe of 50-70 MHz. Results: From the ultrasonographic analysis of 14 nodular melanoma thickness was determined for the presence of two hyperechogenic laminae, separated by a hypo / anechoic space. The twelve lesions were in situ while the other two lesions showed ultrasonography for example; the satellite lesions (less than two centimeters from the primary lesion) and in transit (localizable to more than two centimeters from the primary lesion). Four of these lesions were ulcerated. A comparsion was made the 7 lesions on between the thickness calculated with this method, and that obtained on the bioptic piece. The presence of a positive concordance has been evident in all of the cases. Conclusion: If further studies are needed to support its widespread clinical use, its is believed that, in expert hands and with an interdisciplinary team, HFUS is already capable to reliably calculate a Breslow index in a large majority of patients with cutaneous melanoma