Mapping deuterated methanol toward L1544: I. Deuterium fraction and comparison with modeling

The study of deuteration in pre-stellar cores is important to understand the physical and chemical initial conditions in the process of star formation. In particular, observations toward pre-stellar cores of methanol and deuterated methanol, solely formed on the surface of dust grains, may provide useful insights on surface processes at low temperatures. Here we analyze maps of CO, methanol, formaldehyde and their deuterated isotopologues toward a well-known pre-stellar core. This study allows us to test current gas-dust chemical models. Single-dish observations of CH$_3$OH, CH$_2$DOH, H$_2$CO, H_2\,^{13}CO, HDCO, D$_2$CO and C$^{17}$O toward the prototypical pre-stellar core L1544 were performed at the IRAM 30 m telescope. We analyze their column densities, distributions, and compare these observations with gas-grain chemical models. The maximum deuterium fraction derived for methanol is [CH$_2$DOH]/[CH$_3$OH] $\sim$ 0.08$\pm$0.02, while the measured deuterium fractions of formaldehyde at the dust peak are [HDCO]/[H$_2$CO] $\sim$ 0.03$\pm$0.02, [D$_2$CO]/[H$_2$CO] $\sim$ 0.04$\pm$0.03 and [D$_2$CO]/[HDCO] $\sim$ 1.2$\pm$0.3. Observations differ significantly from the predictions of models, finding discrepancies between a factor of 10 and a factor of 100 in most cases. It is clear though that to efficiently produce methanol on the surface of dust grains, quantum tunneling diffusion of H atoms must be switched on. It also appears that the currently adopted reactive desorption efficiency of methanol is overestimated and/or that abstraction reactions play an important role. More laboratory work is needed to shed light on the chemistry of methanol, an important precursor of complex organic molecules in space.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

The ultracool dwarf DENIS-P J104814.7-395606. Chromospheres and coronae at the low-mass end of the main-sequence

We have obtained an XMM-Newton observation and a broad-band spectrum from the ultraviolet to the near infrared with X-Shooter for one of the nearest M9 dwarfs, DENIS-P J1048-3956 (4pc). We integrate these data by a compilation of activity parameters for ultracool dwarfs from the literature with the aim to advance our understanding of these objects by comparing them to early-M type dwarf stars and the Sun. Our deep XMM-Newton observation has led to the first X-ray detection of DENIS-P J1048-3956 (log Lx = 25.1) as well as the first measurement of its V band brightness (V = 17.35mag). Flux-flux relations between X-ray and chromospheric activity indicators are here for the first time extended into the regime of the ultracool dwarfs. The approximate agreement of DENIS-P J1048-3956 and other ultracool dwarfs with flux-flux relations for early-M dwarfs suggests that the same heating mechanisms work in the atmospheres of ultracool dwarfs, albeit weaker as judged from their lower fluxes. The observed Balmer decrements of DENIS-P J1048-3956 are compatible with optically thick plasma in LTE at low, nearly photospheric temperature or optically thin LTE plasma at 20000K. Describing the decrements with CaseB recombination requires different emitting regions for Halpha and the higher Balmer lines. The high observed Halpha/Hbeta flux ratio is also poorly fitted by the optically thin models. We derive a similarly high value for the Halpha/Hbeta ratio of vB10 and LHS2065 and conclude that this may be a characteristic of ultracool dwarfs. We add DENIS-P J1048-3956 to the list of ultracool dwarfs detected in both the radio and the X-ray band. The Benz-Guedel relation between radio and X-ray luminosity of late-type stars is well-known to be violated by ultracool dwarfs. We speculate on the presence of two types of ultracool dwarfs with distinct radio and X-ray behavior.Comment: accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Optimal Control for Aperiodic Dual-Rate Systems With Time-Varying Delays

[EN] In this work, we consider a dual-rate scenario with slow input and fast output. Our objective is the maximization of the decay rate of the system through the suitable choice of the n-input signals between two measures (periodic sampling) and their times of application. The optimization algorithm is extended for time-varying delays in order to make possible its implementation in networked control systems. We provide experimental results in an air levitation system to verify the validity of the algorithm in a real plant.This work was supported in part by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) under the Projects DPI2012-31303 and DPI2014-55932-C2-2-R.Aranda-Escolástico, E.; Salt Llobregat, JJ.; Guinaldo, M.; Chacon, J.; Dormido, S. (2018). Optimal Control for Aperiodic Dual-Rate Systems With Time-Varying Delays. Sensors. 18(5):1-19. https://doi.org/10.3390/s18051491S119185Mansano, R., Godoy, E., & Porto, A. (2014). The Benefits of Soft Sensor and Multi-Rate Control for the Implementation of Wireless Networked Control Systems. Sensors, 14(12), 24441-24461. doi:10.3390/s141224441Shao, Q. M., & Cinar, A. (2015). System identification and distributed control for multi-rate sampled systems. Journal of Process Control, 34, 1-12. doi:10.1016/j.jprocont.2015.06.010Albertos, P., & Salt, J. (2011). Non-uniform sampled-data control of MIMO systems. Annual Reviews in Control, 35(1), 65-76. doi:10.1016/j.arcontrol.2011.03.004Cuenca, A., & Salt, J. (2012). RST controller design for a non-uniform multi-rate control system. Journal of Process Control, 22(10), 1865-1877. doi:10.1016/j.jprocont.2012.09.010Cuenca, Á., Ojha, U., Salt, J., & Chow, M.-Y. (2015). A non-uniform multi-rate control strategy for a Markov chain-driven Networked Control System. Information Sciences, 321, 31-47. doi:10.1016/j.ins.2015.05.035Kalman, R. E., & Bertram, J. E. (1959). General synthesis procedure for computer control of single-loop and multiloop linear systems (an optimal sampling system). Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, Part II: Applications and Industry, 77(6), 602-609. doi:10.1109/tai.1959.6371508Khargonekar, P., Poolla, K., & Tannenbaum, A. (1985). Robust control of linear time-invariant plants using periodic compensation. IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 30(11), 1088-1096. doi:10.1109/tac.1985.1103841Bamieh, B., Pearson, J. B., Francis, B. A., & Tannenbaum, A. (1991). A lifting technique for linear periodic systems with applications to sampled-data control. Systems & Control Letters, 17(2), 79-88. doi:10.1016/0167-6911(91)90033-bLi, D., Shah, S. L., Chen, T., & Qi, K. Z. (2001). Application of dual-rate modeling to CCR octane quality inferential control. IFAC Proceedings Volumes, 34(25), 353-357. doi:10.1016/s1474-6670(17)33849-1Salt, J., & Albertos, P. (2005). Model-based multirate controllers design. IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, 13(6), 988-997. doi:10.1109/tcst.2005.857410Nemani, M., Tsao, T.-C., & Hutchinson, S. (1994). Multi-Rate Analysis and Design of Visual Feedback Digital Servo-Control System. Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control, 116(1), 45-55. doi:10.1115/1.2900680Sim, T. P., Lim, K. B., & Hong, G. S. (2002). Multirate predictor control scheme for visual servo control. IEE Proceedings - Control Theory and Applications, 149(2), 117-124. doi:10.1049/ip-cta:20020238Xinghui Huang, Nagamune, R., & Horowitz, R. (2006). A comparison of multirate robust track-following control synthesis techniques for dual-stage and multisensing servo systems in hard disk drives. IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, 42(7), 1896-1904. doi:10.1109/tmag.2006.875353Wu, Y., Liu, Y., & Zhang, W. (2013). A Discrete-Time Chattering Free Sliding Mode Control with Multirate Sampling Method for Flight Simulator. Mathematical Problems in Engineering, 2013, 1-8. doi:10.1155/2013/865493Salt, J., & Tomizuka, M. (2014). Hard disk drive control by model based dual-rate controller. Computation saving by interlacing. Mechatronics, 24(6), 691-700. doi:10.1016/j.mechatronics.2013.12.003Salt, J., Casanova, V., Cuenca, A., & Pizá, R. (2013). Multirate control with incomplete information over Profibus-DP network. International Journal of Systems Science, 45(7), 1589-1605. doi:10.1080/00207721.2013.844286Liu, F., Gao, H., Qiu, J., Yin, S., Fan, J., & Chai, T. (2014). Networked Multirate Output Feedback Control for Setpoints Compensation and Its Application to Rougher Flotation Process. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 61(1), 460-468. doi:10.1109/tie.2013.2240640Khargonekar, P. P., & Sivashankar, N. (1991). 2 optimal control for sampled-data systems. Systems & Control Letters, 17(6), 425-436. doi:10.1016/0167-6911(91)90082-pTornero, J., Albertos, P., & Salt, J. (2001). Periodic Optimal Control of Multirate Sampled Data Systems. IFAC Proceedings Volumes, 34(12), 195-200. doi:10.1016/s1474-6670(17)34084-3Kim, C. H., Park, H. J., Lee, J., Lee, H. W., & Lee, K. D. (2015). Multi-rate optimal controller design for electromagnetic suspension systems via linear matrix inequality optimization. Journal of Applied Physics, 117(17), 17B506. doi:10.1063/1.4906588LEE, J. H., GELORMINO, M. S., & MORARIH, M. (1992). Model predictive control of multi-rate sampled-data systems: a state-space approach. International Journal of Control, 55(1), 153-191. doi:10.1080/00207179208934231Mizumoto, I., Ikejiri, M., & Takagi, T. (2015). Stable Adaptive Predictive Control System Design via Adaptive Output Predictor for Multi-rate Sampled Systems∗∗This work was partially supported by KAKENHI, the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) 25420444, from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). IFAC-PapersOnLine, 48(8), 1039-1044. doi:10.1016/j.ifacol.2015.09.105Carpiuc, S., & Lazar, C. (2016). Real-Time Multi-Rate Predictive Cascade Speed Control of Synchronous Machines in Automotive Electrical Traction Drives. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 1-1. doi:10.1109/tie.2016.2561881Roshany-Yamchi, S., Cychowski, M., Negenborn, R. R., De Schutter, B., Delaney, K., & Connell, J. (2013). Kalman Filter-Based Distributed Predictive Control of Large-Scale Multi-Rate Systems: Application to Power Networks. IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, 21(1), 27-39. doi:10.1109/tcst.2011.2172444Donkers, M. C. F., Tabuada, P., & Heemels, W. P. M. H. (2012). Minimum attention control for linear systems. Discrete Event Dynamic Systems, 24(2), 199-218. doi:10.1007/s10626-012-0155-xQuevedo, D. E., Ma, W.-J., & Gupta, V. (2015). Anytime Control Using Input Sequences With Markovian Processor Availability. IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 60(2), 515-521. doi:10.1109/tac.2014.2335311Aranda Escolastico, E., Guinaldo, M., Cuenca, A., Salt, J., & Dormido, S. (2017). Anytime Optimal Control Strategy for Multi-Rate Systems. IEEE Access, 5, 2790-2797. doi:10.1109/access.2017.2671906Guinaldo, M., Sánchez, J., & Dormido, S. (2017). Control en red basado en eventos: de lo centralizado a lo distribuido. Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática Industrial RIAI, 14(1), 16-30. doi:10.1016/j.riai.2016.09.007Van Loan, C. (1977). The Sensitivity of the Matrix Exponential. SIAM Journal on Numerical Analysis, 14(6), 971-981. doi:10.1137/0714065Hazan, E. (2016). Introduction to Online Convex Optimization. Foundations and Trends® in Optimization, 2(3-4), 157-325. doi:10.1561/2400000013Sala, A., Cuenca, Á., & Salt, J. (2009). A retunable PID multi-rate controller for a networked control system. Information Sciences, 179(14), 2390-2402. doi:10.1016/j.ins.2009.02.017Chacon, J., Saenz, J., Torre, L., Diaz, J., & Esquembre, F. (2017). Design of a Low-Cost Air Levitation System for Teaching Control Engineering. Sensors, 17(10), 2321. doi:10.3390/s1710232

Microscopic Surface Structure of Liquid Alkali Metals

We report an x-ray scattering study of the microscopic structure of the surface of a liquid alkali metal. The bulk liquid structure factor of the eutectic K67Na33 alloy is characteristic of an ideal mixture, and so shares the properties of an elemental liquid alkali metal. Analysis of off-specular diffuse scattering and specular x-ray reflectivity shows that the surface roughness of the K-Na alloy follows simple capillary wave behavior with a surface structure factor indicative of surface induced layering. Comparison of thelow-angle tail of the K67Na33 surface structure factor with the one measured for liquid Ga and In previously suggests that layering is less pronounced in alkali metals. Controlled exposure of the liquid to H2 and O2 gas does not affect the surface structure, indicating that oxide and hydride are not stable at the liquid surface under these experimental conditions.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, published in Phys. Rev.

"Ethnic disparities in the prevalence of Molar-Incisor-Hypomineralisation (MIH) and caries among 6-12-year-old children in Catalonia, Spain"

AIM: To study the prevalence of MIH and caries in 6- and 12-year-old schoolchildren and their association with ethnic disparities and other relevant factors. BACKGROUND: In recent years, there has been uneven improvement in school children's oral health, highlighting inequalities in access to dental care and health outcomes, particularly among ethnic minorities. The most prevalent oral disease in childhood, caries, is preventable, as its risk factors are well known. However, MIH, a common condition affecting the enamel of permanent incisors and/or molars, has no established aetiology or preventive measures. METHODS: A cross-sectional study among schoolchildren was conducted in 725 children from Masnou (Barcelona, 2013) and in 577 children from Sant Andreu de Llavaneres (Barcelona, 2018-2020). Data collection was carried out by means of clinical examination and a selfreferenced questionnaire. Oral health outcomes included: presence of dental caries, presence of MIH, hypomineralised second primary molars (HSPM). All variables were analysed according to ethnic disparities and other variables such as socioeconomics, diet, hygiene habits, plaque and access to dental services. We performed multivariate Poisson regression models with robust variance to examine ethnic disparities in MIH and caries. CONCLUSION: This cross-sectional study based in Catalonia, Spain showed that there are ethnic disparities in caries as observed with other child's diseases; however, they do not seem to follow the same pattern for MIH. More studies are needed (i) to explore how MIH behaves among populations in terms of inequality; (ii) to study the aetiological factors of MIH; and (iii) to identify potential factors associated with MIH and caries that have not been studied and that may contribute to the observed ethnic disparities.</p

"Ethnic disparities in the prevalence of Molar-Incisor-Hypomineralisation (MIH) and caries among 6-12-year-old children in Catalonia, Spain"

AIM: To study the prevalence of MIH and caries in 6- and 12-year-old schoolchildren and their association with ethnic disparities and other relevant factors. BACKGROUND: In recent years, there has been uneven improvement in school children's oral health, highlighting inequalities in access to dental care and health outcomes, particularly among ethnic minorities. The most prevalent oral disease in childhood, caries, is preventable, as its risk factors are well known. However, MIH, a common condition affecting the enamel of permanent incisors and/or molars, has no established aetiology or preventive measures. METHODS: A cross-sectional study among schoolchildren was conducted in 725 children from Masnou (Barcelona, 2013) and in 577 children from Sant Andreu de Llavaneres (Barcelona, 2018-2020). Data collection was carried out by means of clinical examination and a selfreferenced questionnaire. Oral health outcomes included: presence of dental caries, presence of MIH, hypomineralised second primary molars (HSPM). All variables were analysed according to ethnic disparities and other variables such as socioeconomics, diet, hygiene habits, plaque and access to dental services. We performed multivariate Poisson regression models with robust variance to examine ethnic disparities in MIH and caries. CONCLUSION: This cross-sectional study based in Catalonia, Spain showed that there are ethnic disparities in caries as observed with other child's diseases; however, they do not seem to follow the same pattern for MIH. More studies are needed (i) to explore how MIH behaves among populations in terms of inequality; (ii) to study the aetiological factors of MIH; and (iii) to identify potential factors associated with MIH and caries that have not been studied and that may contribute to the observed ethnic disparities.</p

Pk-yrityksen talouden seuranta tunnuslukujen avulla

Talouden seuranta vaatii taitoa lukea tilinpäätöstä ja tehdä siitä tarvittavat laskelmat. Pienissä ja keskisuurissa yrityksissä ei kuitenkaan usein ole tätä liiketaloudellista osaamista. Yrityksen talouden seuranta on kuitenkin hyvin tärkeää, ja sen tulisikin olla aina rutiininomaista. Tämän opinnäytetyön aiheena on talouden seuranta tunnuslukujen avulla pienissä ja keskisuurissa yrityksissä. Työn tavoitteena on antaa valmiudet tilinpäätösinformaation hyödyntämiseen ja auttaa näin kohdeyritystä seuraamaan yrityksen taloutta tilinpäätöksestä laskettavien tunnuslukujen avulla. Työn teoriaosuudessa on käsitelty tilinpäätöstä sekä siitä laskettavia tunnuslukuja. Lisäksi teoriaosuudessa on tarkasteltu talouden seurantaa pk-yrityksissä. Työn empiirisessä osiossa kohdeyritykselle on tehty tunnuslukuanalyysi neljältä viimeiseltä tilikaudelta ja niiden kehitystä on arvioitu Yritystutkimusneuvottelukunnan ohjearvojen mukaisesti sekä vertaamalla tunnuslukuja toimialan lukuihin. Opinnäytetyön konkreettisin tulos on kohdeyritykselle rakennettu Excel-pohjainen talouden seurantajärjestelmä, joka laskee tilinpäätöksestä keskeiset talouden mittarit eli tunnusluvut. Mittariston osa-alueiksi on valittu kannattavuus, maksuvalmius ja vakavaraisuus. Nämä tekijät ovat kiinteästi sidoksissa toisiinsa ja muodostavat yhdessä yrityksen taloudellisen terveyskolmion. Ohjelman avulla kohdeyritys pystyy seuraamaan yrityksen taloudellista tilannetta ja sen kehitystä.Economic follow-up requires skills to obtain the information from the financial statement. There is often no such knowledge in small and medium sized companies. Economic follow-up is however very important and it should be constant and regular. The subject of this thesis is economic follow-up with key figures in small and medium sized enterprises. The main goal of this thesis was to help the case firm to use the financial information to follow the economy. The theoretical part of the study consists of the theory of financial statement and most common profitability, liquidity and solidity key figures. It also describes economic follow-up in small and medium sized enterprises. The empirical part of the study includes a financial ratio analysis for the case firm. The ratio analysis findings are compared to the guideline values provided by Yritystutkimusneuvottelukunta and to ratio statistics in the industry. The most concrete result of this thesis is an Excel based economic follow-up system designed for the case firm. It helps the firm to calculate key figures from the financial statement. With the help of these key figures the company can evaluate its financial condition and also follow its development

Heart Rate Variability In Athletes And Nonathletes At Rest And During Head-up Tilt.

The purpose of the present study was to determine if autonomic heart rate modulation, indicated by heart rate variability (HRV), differs during supine rest and head-up tilt (HUT) when sedentary and endurance-trained cyclists are compared. Eleven sedentary young men (S) and 10 trained cyclists (C) were studied. The volunteers were submitted to a dynamic ECG Holter to calculate HRV at rest and during a 70 masculine HUT. The major aerobic capacity of athletes was expressed by higher values of VO2 at anaerobic threshold and peak conditions (P < 0.05). At rest the athletes had lower heart rates (P < 0.05) and higher values in the time domain of HRV compared with controls (SD of normal RR interval, SDNN, medians): 59.1 ms (S) vs 89.9 ms (C), P < 0.05. During tilt athletes also had higher values in the time domain of HRV compared with controls (SDNN, medians): 55.7 ms (S) vs 69.7 ms (C), P < 0.05. No differences in power spectral components of HRV at rest or during HUT were detected between groups. Based on the analysis of data by the frequency domain method, we conclude that in athletes the resting bradycardia seems to be much more related to changes in intrinsic mechanisms than to modifications in autonomic control. Also, HUT caused comparable changes in sympathetic and parasympathetic modulation of the sinus node in both groups.38639-4

An Arbitrary Curvilinear Coordinate Method for Particle-In-Cell Modeling

A new approach to the kinetic simulation of plasmas in complex geometries, based on the Particle-in- Cell (PIC) simulation method, is explored. In the two dimensional (2d) electrostatic version of our method, called the Arbitrary Curvilinear Coordinate PIC (ACC-PIC) method, all essential PIC operations are carried out in 2d on a uniform grid on the unit square logical domain, and mapped to a nonuniform boundary-fitted grid on the physical domain. As the resulting logical grid equations of motion are not separable, we have developed an extension of the semi-implicit Modified Leapfrog (ML) integration technique to preserve the symplectic nature of the logical grid particle mover. A generalized, curvilinear coordinate formulation of Poisson's equations to solve for the electrostatic fields on the uniform logical grid is also developed. By our formulation, we compute the plasma charge density on the logical grid based on the particles' positions on the logical domain. That is, the plasma particles are weighted to the uniform logical grid and the self-consistent mean electrostatic fields obtained from the solution of the logical grid Poisson equation are interpolated to the particle positions on the logical grid. This process eliminates the complexity associated with the weighting and interpolation processes on the nonuniform physical grid and allows us to run the PIC method on arbitrary boundary-fitted meshes.Comment: Submitted to Computational Science & Discovery December 201

Wannier-Bloch Approach to Localization in High-Harmonics Generation in Solids

Emission of high-order harmonics from solids provides a new avenue in attosecond science. On the one hand, it allows us to investigate fundamental processes of the nonlinear response of electrons driven by a strong laser pulse in a periodic crystal lattice. On the other hand, it opens new paths toward efficient attosecond pulse generation, novel imaging of electronic wave functions, and enhancement of high-order harmonic-generation (HHG) intensity. A key feature of HHG in a solid (as compared to the well-understood phenomenon of HHG in an atomic gas) is the delocalization of the process, whereby an electron ionized from one site in the periodic lattice may recombine in any other. Here, we develop an analytic model, based on the localized Wannier wave functions in the valence band and delocalized Bloch functions in the conduction band. This Wannier-Bloch approach assesses the contributions of individual lattice sites to the HHG process and hence precisely addresses the question of localization of harmonic emission in solids. We apply this model to investigate HHG in a ZnO crystal for two different orientations, corresponding to wider and narrower valence and conduction bands, respectively. Interestingly, for narrower bands, the HHG process shows significant localization, similar to harmonic generation in atoms. For all cases, the delocalized contributions to HHG emission are highest near the band-gap energy. Our results pave the way to controlling localized contributions to HHG in a solid crystal