Observations of microquasars with the MAGIC telescope

We report on the results from the observations in very high energy band (VHE, E_gamma > 100GeV) of the black hole X-ray binary (BHXB) Cygnus X-1. The observations were performed with the MAGIC telescope, for a total of 40 hours during 26 nights, spanning the period between June and November 2006. We report on the results of the searches for steady and variable gamma-ray signals, including the first experimental evidence for an intense flare, of duration between 1.5 and 24 hours.Comment: Contribution to the 30th ICRC, Merida Mexico, July 2007 on behalf of the MAGIC Collaboratio

Utilización de arenas procedentes de residuos de construcción y demolición, rcd, en la fabricación de morteros de albañilería.

En esta investigación se estudió el comportamiento y las propiedades más relevantes de los morteros de albañilería, al sustituir parte de la arena convencional por arena reciclada en diferentes porcentajes. Para ello se caracterizaron las arenas recicladas procedentes de las centrales de reciclaje y se realizaron ensayos con el fin de comparar las propiedades de los morteros tradicionales con los morteros elaborados con arena reciclada. La dosificación del mortero utilizada ha sido 1:3:0,5, y los porcentajes de sustitución de arena normalizada por arena reciclada fueron de: 10%, 15%, 25%, 35% y 45% , para los tres tipos de arenas recicladas empleadas en este estudio, dos arenas procedentes de la línea de reciclaje de hormigón y una de la línea de reciclaje cerámica. Los resultados indican un aumento en la demanda de agua para obtener morteros trabajables, siendo necesario el empleo de aditivos a partir del 10% de sustitución. Las resistencias mecánicas obtenidas en los morteros reciclados son superiores en el caso de la flexión y ligeramente inferiores en compresión. Tanto en el ensayo de adherencia como en el de retracción, los morteros reciclados presentan un peor comportamiento que los morteros tradicionales, pero sin evidenciar pérdidas significativas en dichos valores, por lo que los morteros de cemento para albañilería con dosificación 1:3:0,5 pueden incorporar hasta un 45% de árido reciclado sin que sus principales características se vean afectada

Towards portable muography with small-area, gas-tight glass Resistive Plate Chambers

Imaging techniques that use atmospheric muons, collectively named under the neologism "muography", have seen a tremendous growth in recent times, mainly due to their diverse range of applications. The most well-known ones include but are not limited to: volcanology, archaeology, civil engineering, nuclear reactor monitoring, nuclear waste characterization, underground mapping, etc. These methods are based on the attenuation or deviation of muons to image large and/or dense objects where conventional techniques cannot work or their use becomes challenging. In this context, we have constructed a muography telescope based on "mini glass-RPC planes" following a design similar to the glass-RPC detectors developed by the CALICE Collaboration and used by the TOMUVOL experiment in the context of volcano radiography, but with smaller active area (16 $\times$ 16 cm$^{2}$). The compact size makes it an attractive choice with respect to other detectors previously employed for imaging on similar scales. An important innovation in this design is that the detectors are sealed. This makes the detector more portable and solves the usual safety and logistic issues for gas detectors operated underground and/or inside small rooms. This paper provides an overview on our guiding principles, the detector development and our operational experiences. Drawing on the lessons learnt from the first prototype, we also discuss our future direction for an improved second prototype, focusing primarily on a recently adopted serigraphy technique for the resistive coating of the glass plates.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, XV Workshop on Resistive Plate Chambers and Related Detectors (RPC2020

Caracterización e influencia del arido reciclado fino en las propiedades de los morteros de albañilería

This research aims to study mechanical behaviour and relevant properties of masonry mortars fabricated using fine recycled aggregate in different mixture proportions. Fine recycled aggregates samples originated from the ceramic and concrete recycling process and coming from two recycling plants of Madrid region have been used. Tests were performed using 1:3:0.5 volumetric cement-to-aggregate-to-water ratio. Standardized sand with fine recycled aggregate replacement percentages were: 10%, 15%, 25%, 35% and 45%. A continuous size distribution curve can be observed and the main crystalline phases determined have been quartz, calcite and gypsum. Compressive strength, shrinkage and bond strength tests revealed poorer performance of recycled mortars compared to the conventional mortars; however, specific values are within the limits established by the manufacturers and standards. This study shows that cement-based mortars prepared with volumetric ratio 1:3:0.5 may contain up to 45% of fine recycled aggregates, without their properties being affected and without presenting significant losses.Esta investigación estudia el comportamiento mecánico y las propiedades más relevantes de los morteros de albañilería fabricados usando arenas recicladas en diferentes proporciones. Muestras pertenecientes a la línea de reciclaje cerámica y de hormigón proceden de dos centrales de reciclaje de la Comunidad de Madrid. Los ensayos se realizaron con una dosificación 1:3:0,5. Los porcentajes de arena reciclada fueron: 10%, 15%, 25%, 35% y 45%. Se observa una línea granulométrica continua y las principales fases cristalinas encontradas son cuarzo, calcita y yeso. Los ensayos de resistencia a compresión, retracción y adherencia muestran un peor comportamiento en los morteros reciclados frente a los morteros elaborados con arena normalizada, aunque dentro de los límites establecidos por normativas y fabricantes. Se deduce que, los morteros de albañilería base cemento, pueden incorporar un 45% de arena reciclada con una dosificación 1:3:0,5 sin que las propiedades ensayadas se vean afectadas con pérdidas significativas de prestaciones

Charge density distributions and related form factors in neutron-rich light exotic nuclei

Charge form factors corresponding to proton density distributions in exotic nuclei, such as $^{6,8}$He, $^{11}$Li, $^{17,19}$B and $^{14}$Be are calculated and compared. The results can be used as tests of various theoretical models for the exotic nuclei structure in possible future experiments using a colliding electron-exotic nucleus storage ring. The result of such a comparison would show the effect of the neutron halo or skin on the proton distributions in exotic nuclei.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, to be published in International Journal of Modern Physics

In Search of Modifiable Risk and Protective Factors for Teen Dating Violence

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137513/1/jora12280_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137513/2/jora12280.pd

Online score-informed source separation in polyphonic mixtures using instrument spectral patterns

[EN] Soundprism is a real-time algorithm to separate polyphonic music audio into source signals, given the musical score of the audio in advance. This paper presents a framework for a Soundprism implementation. A study of the sound quality of the online score-informed source separation is shown, although a real-time implementation is not carried out. The system is compound of two stages: (1) a score follower that matches a MIDI score position to each time frame of the musical performance; and (2) a source separator based on a nonnegative matrix factorization approach guided by the score. Real audio mixtures composed of an instrumental quartets were employed to obtain preliminary results of the proposed system.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. Grant Number: TEC2015-67387-C4-{1, 2, 3}-RMuñoz-Montoro, A.; Vera-Candeas, P.; Cortina, R.; Combarro, EF.; Alonso-Jordá, P. (2019). Online score-informed source separation in polyphonic mixtures using instrument spectral patterns. Computational and Mathematical Methods. 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1002/cmm4.1040S11

Reference values for bone mineral density in healthy Mexican children and adolescents

Introduction: Clinical assessment of bone health by Dual‐Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) in the paediatric population requires robust reference values. The International Society for Clinical Densitometry (ISCD) recommends that country/regional reference values ideally should be used to improve precision in bone health assessment. / Objective: The aim of this study was to provide reference values for relevant bone health variables for healthy Mexican children and adolescents aged 5 to 18 years. / Methods: This was a cross-sectional, stratified and population-based study, that measured a representative sample of healthy Mexican children and adolescents with DXA. We constructed age- and sex-smoothed reference values for areal bone mineral density (aBMD) of total body less head (TBLH), total body (TB), lumbar spine (LS), and bone mineral apparent density (BMAD) for LS, by means of Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale and Shape (GAMLSS). / Results: Reference data including the 3th, 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, 95th and 97th centiles, along with lambda (L), mu (M) and sigma (S) values, are given for each variable of interest for each sex at 0.25 years intervals. Reference values relative to height and Tanner-stage for both sexes are also provided. Finally, formulas to enable Z score estimation for clinical use are also presented. / Conclusions: The sex, age, height, Tanner-stage and ethnic-specific reference data provided in this study should enable more precise assessment of bone health in the Mexican paediatric population. The data presented may also allow for future evaluation of potential similarities and differences across different ethnic groups

Production of new neutron-rich isotopes of heavy elements in fragmentation reactions of 238^{238}U projectiles at 1 A GeV

The production of heavy neutron-rich nuclei has been investigated using cold fragmentation reactions of $^{238}$U projectiles at relativistic energies. The experiment performed at the high-resolving-power magnetic spectrometer FRS at GSI allowed to identify 45 new heavy neutron-rich nuclei: $^{205}$Pt, $^{207-210}$Au, $^{211-216}$Hg, $^{213-217}$Tl, $^{215-220}$Pb, $^{219-224}$Bi, $^{221-227}$Po, $^{224-229}$At, $^{229-231}$Rn and $^{233}$Fr. The production cross sections of these nuclei were also determined and used to benchmark reaction codes that predict the production of nuclei far from stability.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure