4,097 research outputs found
Étude des populations de deux espèces de <i>Veleronia</i> (décapodes, Pontoniinae) associées aux Gorgonacea (Cnidaria, Octocorallia) de l'Archipel des Galapagos
V. laevifrons and V. serratifrons are associated to Gorgonacea in the Galapagos Archipelago. The morphological adaptations of the shrimps to their hosts are observed (oral appendages, first pereiopods, reduction of exoskeleton's spines or processes, ambulatory pereiopods). A biometrical study shows a size difference between the Veleronia living in and outside the upwelling region. In the upwelling region, the Veleronia are larger and brood more eggs. Both populations of V. laevifrons and V. serratifrons sometimes occur together on the same host (Muricea appressa). The frequency and the structure of such populations are different in and outside the upwelling region. A preliminary study of the structure and dynamics of Veleronia populations leads to the idea of a seasonal bathymetric migration of the shrimps
The PLATO End-to-End CCD Simulator -- Modelling space-based ultra-high precision CCD photometry for the assessment study of the PLATO Mission
The PLATO satellite mission project is a next generation ESA Cosmic Vision
satellite project dedicated to the detection of exo-planets and to
asteroseismology of their host-stars using ultra-high precision photometry. The
main goal of the PLATO mission is to provide a full statistical analysis of
exo-planetary systems around stars that are bright and close enough for
detailed follow-up studies. Many aspects concerning the design trade-off of a
space-based instrument and its performance can best be tackled through
realistic simulations of the expected observations. The complex interplay of
various noise sources in the course of the observations made such simulations
an indispensable part of the assessment study of the PLATO Payload Consortium.
We created an end-to-end CCD simulation software-tool, dubbed PLATOSim, which
simulates photometric time-series of CCD images by including realistic models
of the CCD and its electronics, the telescope optics, the stellar field, the
pointing uncertainty of the satellite (or Attitude Control System [ACS]
jitter), and all important natural noise sources. The main questions that were
addressed with this simulator were the noise properties of different
photometric algorithms, the selection of the optical design, the allowable
jitter amplitude, and the expected noise budget of light-curves as a function
of the stellar magnitude for different parameter conditions. The results of our
simulations showed that the proposed multi-telescope concept of PLATO can
fulfil the defined scientific goal of measuring more than 20000 cool dwarfs
brighter than mV =11 with a precision better than 27 ppm/h which is essential
for the study of earth-like exo-planetary systems using the transit method.Comment: 5 pages, submitted for the Proceedings of the 4th HELAS International
Conference: Seismological Challenges for Stellar Structur
The infrared structure of e+ e- --> 3 jets at NNLO reloaded
This paper gives detailed information on the structure of the infrared
singularities for the process e+ e- --> 3 jets at next-to-next-to-leading order
in perturbation theory. Particular emphasis is put on singularities associated
to soft gluons. The knowledge of the singularity structure allows the
construction of appropriate subtraction terms, which in turn can be implemented
into a numerical Monte Carlo program.Comment: 59 pages, additional comments added, version to be publishe
Two-Loop Planar Corrections to Heavy-Quark Pair Production in the Quark-Antiquark Channel
We evaluate the planar two-loop QCD diagrams contributing to the leading
color coefficient of the heavy-quark pair production cross section, in the
quark-antiquark annihilation channel. We obtain the leading color coefficient
in an analytic form, in terms of one- and two-dimensional harmonic
polylogarithms of maximal weight 4. The result is valid for arbitrary values of
the Mandelstam invariants s and t, and of the heavy-quark mass m. Our findings
agree with previous analytic results in the small-mass limit and numerical
results for the exact amplitude.Comment: 30 pages, 5 figures. Version accepted by JHE
Exploring the variability among smallholder farms in the banana-based farming systems in Bukoba district, Northwest Tanzania
A study was conducted in the high and low rainfall zones in the banana-based farming system in Bukoba district, Tanzania, to explore the variability among household characteristics and farm productivity. Approaches used included a participatory rural appraisal, rapid system characterization, surveys and detailed farm monitoring in two villages, one from each zone in 2005 through 2006. Based on a wealth-ranking, four household resource groups with decreasing wealth were identified: Resource group 1 > Resource group 2 > Resource group 3 > Resource group 4, distinguished by domestic assets, livestock ownership and labour relations. Through principal component analysis using additional variables defined by research team, three Functional Resource Groups from among the four Resource groups at each rainfall zone were identified distinguished by: soil fertility management, food security and farm and off-farm income as important indicators of variability. Further detailed monitoring over 14 months (from March, 2006 through May, 2007) in at least three households from each functional resource group showed that N, P and K balances among land use types and farms were driven by levels of organic inputs used and were also related to wealth and dependence on off-farm activities. However, all households were net food buyers, implying food insecurity. In addition, off-farm activities and off-farm income were important livelihood survival strategie
Pulsations detected in the line profile variations of red giants: Modelling of line moments, line bisector and line shape
Contents: So far, red giant oscillations have been studied from radial
velocity and/or light curve variations, which reveal frequencies of the
oscillation modes. To characterise radial and non-radial oscillations, line
profile variations are a valuable diagnostic. Here we present for the first
time a line profile analysis of pulsating red giants, taking into account the
small line profile variations and the predicted short damping and re-excitation
times. We do so by modelling the time variations in the cross correlation
profiles in terms of oscillation theory.
Aims: The performance of existing diagnostics for mode identification is
investigated for known oscillating giants which have very small line profile
variations. We modify these diagnostics, perform simulations, and characterise
the radial and non-radial modes detected in the cross correlation profiles.
Methods: Moments and line bisectors are computed and analysed for four
giants. The robustness of the discriminant of the moments against small
oscillations with finite lifetimes is investigated. In addition, line profiles
are simulated with short damping and re-excitation times and their line shapes
are compared with the observations.
Results: For three stars, we find evidence for the presence of non-radial
pulsation modes, while for Hydrae perhaps only radial modes are present.
Furthermore the line bisectors are not able to distinguish between different
pulsation modes and are an insufficient diagnostic to discriminate small line
profile variations due to oscillations from exoplanet motion.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, accepted by A&
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