Impact of an AGN featureless continuum on estimation of stellar population properties

The effect of the featureless power-law (PL) continuum of an active galactic nucleus (AGN) on the estimation of physical properties of galaxies with optical population spectral synthesis (PSS) remains largely unknown. With this in mind, we fit synthetic galaxy spectra representing a wide range of galaxy star formation histories (SFHs) and including distinct PL contributions of the form $F_{\nu} \propto \nu^{-\alpha}$ with the PSS code STARLIGHT to study to which extent various inferred quantities (e.g. stellar mass, mean age, and mean metallicity) match the input. The synthetic spectral energy distributions (SEDs) computed with our evolutionary spectral synthesis code include an AGN PL component with $0.5 \leq \alpha \leq 2$ and a fractional contribution $0.2 \leq x_{\mathrm{AGN}} \leq 0.8$ to the monochromatic flux at 4020 \AA. At the empirical AGN detection threshold $x_{\mathrm{AGN}}\simeq 0.26$ that we previously inferred in a pilot study on this subject, our results show that the neglect of a PL component in spectral fitting can lead to an overestimation by $\sim$2 dex in stellar mass and by up to $\sim$1 and $\sim$4 dex in the light- and mass-weighted mean stellar age, respectively, whereas the light- and mass-weighted mean stellar metallicity are underestimated by up to $\sim$0.3 and $\sim$0.6 dex, respectively. Other fitting set-ups including either a single PL or multiple PLs in the base reveal, on average, much lower unsystematic uncertainties of the order of those typically found when fitting purely stellar SEDs with stellar templates, however, reaching locally up to $\sim$1, 3 and 0.4 dex in mass, age and metallicity, respectively. Our results underscore the importance of an accurate modelling of the AGN spectral contribution in PSS fits as a minimum requirement for the recovery of the physical and evolutionary properties of stellar populations in active galaxies.Comment: 18 pages, 22 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Revisiting stellar properties of star-forming galaxies with stellar and nebular spectral modelling

Spectral synthesis is a powerful tool for interpreting the physical properties of galaxies by decomposing their spectral energy distributions into the main luminosity contributors (e.g. stellar populations or ionised gas). However, the impact nebular emission has on the inferred properties of star-forming (SF) galaxies has been largely overlooked over the years. The objective of this work is to estimate the relations between stellar properties of SF galaxies from SDSS DR7 by simultaneously fitting the stellar and nebular continua with FADO and comparing them to the results derived using STARLIGHT, a representative of purely stellar population synthesis codes. Differences between codes regarding average mass, mean age and mean metallicity values can go as high as $\sim$0.06 dex for the overall population of galaxies and $\sim$0.12 dex for SF galaxies (galaxies with EW(H$\alpha$)>3 \AA), with the most prominent difference between both codes in the light-weighted mean stellar age. A closer look into the average light- and mass-weighted star formation histories of intensively SF galaxies (EW(H$\alpha$)>75 \AA) suggests that STARLIGHT is underestimating the average light-weighted age of intensively SF galaxies by up to $\sim$0.17 dex and overestimating the light-weighted metallicity by up to $\sim$0.13 dex compared to FADO (or vice versa). The comparison between the average stellar properties of passive, SF and intensively SF galaxy samples also reveals that differences between codes increase with increasing EW(H$\alpha$) and decreasing total stellar mass. This work finds indirect evidence that a purely stellar population synthesis approach negatively impacts the inferred stellar properties of galaxies with relatively high star formation rates. In turn, this can bias interpretations of fundamental relations such as the mass-age or mass-metallicity.Comment: 27 pages, 25 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

QUANTIFICATION OF RESIDUAL CLOVE OIL, BENZOCAINE AND TRICAINE IN FISH FILLETS USING SPE AND UPLC-DAD

Residual quantification of the anesthetics clove oil (CO) – isoeugenol (ISO), eugenol (EUG) and methyleugenol (MET) –,benzocaine (BZN) and tricaine (MS-222) was made in fillets of two fish species: Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and acatfish hybrid, cachadia (Pseudoplatystoma reticulatum x Leiarius marmoratus). Samples (n=4) of each fish wereevaluated after submitted to anesthesia in five dosages defined based on the induction time of each species afterdepuration times (0h, 12h, 24h and 48h). Different methodologies of sample preparation were tested and selectedaccording to the better recovery. The quantification of anesthetics was performed by UPLC-DAD. The variance of residualmeans among anesthetics, dosages and fish species was compared. After anesthesia (0h) both species, tilapia andcachadia, presented residual anesthetics. Fishes depurated during 12h, 24h and 48h did not present detectable values, itmeans, values were below the limits of detection. BZN presented the highest mean residual concentration for tilapia andcachadia (p=0.01), while MS-222 presented the lowest residual amounts in tilapias and EUG in cachadias, what may berelated to the metabolism and carcass composition of each fish species. There were no significant differences among thefive dosages, except the lowest MS-222 concentration in tilapias that resulted in higher residual concentrations becauselow dosages increase the induction time and consequently the permanence of the fish in anesthesia. Ultimately, meanvalues of residues in cachadia were higher than in tilapia, and MS-222 and EUG presented the lowest residual values fortilapia and cachadia, respectively

Salivary molecular spectroscopy : a sustainable, rapid and non-invasive monitoring tool for diabetes mellitus during insulin treatment

Monitoring of blood glucose is an invasive, painful and costly practice in diabetes. Consequently, the search for a more cost-effective (reagent-free), non-invasive and specific diabetes monitoring method is of great interest. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy has been used in diagnosis of several diseases, however, applications in the monitoring of diabetic treatment are just beginning to emerge. Here, we used ATR-FTIR spectroscopy to evaluate saliva of non-diabetic (ND), diabetic (D) and insulin-treated diabetic (D+I) rats to identify potential salivary biomarkers related to glucose monitoring. The spectrum of saliva of ND, D and D+I rats displayed several unique vibrational modes and from these, two vibrational modes were pre-validated as potential diagnostic biomarkers by ROC curve analysis with significant correlation with glycemia. Compared to the ND and D+I rats, classification of D rats was achieved with a sensitivity of 100%, and an average specificity of 93.33% and 100% using bands 1452 cm-1 and 836 cm-1, respectively. Moreover, 1452 cm-1 and 836 cm-1 spectral bands proved to be robust spectral biomarkers and highly correlated with glycemia (R2 of 0.801 and 0.788, P < 0.01, respectively). Both PCA-LDA and HCA classifications achieved an accuracy of 95.2%. Spectral salivary biomarkers discovered using univariate and multivariate analysis may provide a novel robust alternative for diabetes monitoring using a non-invasive and green technology

Approach to competences, human development and higher education

Tendo como fundamento a psicologia do desenvolvimento humano, apresenta-se, neste artigo, uma ampliação conceitual à compreensão de competência. Esse é um termo polissêmico, com multiplicidade de concepções epistemológicas, éticas e ideológicas que imprimem complexidade aos processos formativos, especialmente em relação à formação pessoal e profissional na educação superior. Defende-se a noção de competência ancorada na mobilização intencional de diversos recursos próprios ao desenvolvimento humano: processos psicológicos, comportamentos, conhecimentos, afetos, crenças, habilidades, escolhas éticas e estéticas, que devem ser mobilizados pelo sujeito. Apresenta-se, a partir dessa ampliação, uma categorização de competências transversais e possibilidades para sua avaliação. A reflexão pode fundamentar uma atuação crítica de psicólogos e educadores para a mediação do desenvolvimento de competências dos atores do ensino superior.Grounded on human development psychology, this paper presents a conceptual expansion of the understanding about competence. This is a polysemic construct, with a wide range of epistemological, ethical and ideological concepts that reinforce the complexity of training processes, especially in relation to personal and professional training in the context of higher education. This paper defends the notion of competence rooted in intentional mobilization of various resources inherent to human development: psychological processes, behaviors, knowledge, emotions, beliefs, aptitudes, ethical and aesthetic choices that the subject must mobilize. From this conceptual expansion, a categorization of transversal competences and possibilities of assessment are presented. Analyses can support critical actions of psychologists and educators to mediate the development of competences of higher education actors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Factors influencing terrestriality in primates of the Americas and Madagascar

Among mammals, the order Primates is exceptional in having a high taxonomic richness in which the taxa are arboreal, semiterrestrial, or terrestrial. Although habitual terrestriality is pervasive among the apes and African and Asian monkeys (catarrhines), it is largely absent among monkeys of the Americas (platyrrhines), as well as galagos, lemurs, and lorises (strepsirrhines), which are mostly arboreal. Numerous ecological drivers and species-specific factors are suggested to set the conditions for an evolutionary shift from arboreality to terrestriality, and current environmental conditions may provide analogous scenarios to those transitional periods. Therefore, we investigated predominantly arboreal, diurnal primate genera from the Americas and Madagascar that lack fully terrestrial taxa, to determine whether ecological drivers (habitat canopy cover, predation risk, maximum temperature, precipitation, primate species richness, human population density, and distance to roads) or species-specific traits (bodymass, group size, and degree of frugivory) associate with increased terrestriality. We collated 150,961 observation hours across 2,227 months from 47 species at 20 sites in Madagascar and 48 sites in the Americas. Multiple factors were associated with ground use in these otherwise arboreal species, including increased temperature, a decrease in canopy cover, a dietary shift away from frugivory, and larger group size. These factors mostly explain intraspecific differences in terrestriality. As humanity modifies habitats and causes climate change, our results suggest that species already inhabiting hot, sparsely canopied sites, and exhibiting more generalized diets, are more likely to shift toward greater ground use