Сіверські князі Наримунтовичі

У статті досліджується генеалогія та діяльність сіверських Наримунтовичів – однієї з гілок литовсько-руської династії Гедиміновичів, представники якої наприкінці XIV – початку XV ст. володіли кількома удільними князівствами у Сіверській землі.В статье исследуется генеалогия и деятельность северских Наримунтовичей – одной из ветвей литовско-русской династии Гедиминовичей, представители которой в конце XIV – начале XV вв. владели несколькими удельными княжествами в Северской земле.The article deals with genealogy and activity of the seversky Narimuntoviches as one of branches of the Lithuanian-Russian dynasty of the Gediminoviches, representatives of which at the end XIV – beginning of XV centuries owned some specific principalities in the Seversky land

Constraints on Decaying Dark Matter from Fermi Observations of Nearby Galaxies and Clusters

We analyze the impact of Fermi gamma-ray observations (primarily non-detections) of selected nearby galaxies, including dwarf spheroidals, and of clusters of galaxies on decaying dark matter models. We show that the fact that galaxy clusters do not shine in gamma rays puts the most stringent limits available to-date on the lifetime of dark matter particles for a wide range of particle masses and decay final states. In particular, our results put strong constraints on the possibility of ascribing to decaying dark matter both the increasing positron fraction reported by PAMELA and the high-energy feature in the electron-positron spectrum measured by Fermi. Observations of nearby dwarf galaxies and of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) do not provide as strong limits as those from galaxy clusters, while still improving on previous constraints in some cases.Comment: 27 pages, 5 figures, submitted to JCAP, revised version with some additions and correction

Erratum: "Dark matter decay and annihilation in the local universe: Clues from Fermi"

The Astrophysical Journal Letters 745.2 (2012): L35 reproduced by permission of the AASWe thank the support of Spanish MICINNs Consolider-Ingenio 2010 Programme MULTIDARK CSD2009-00064 and ASTROMADRID (S2009/ESP-146). A.J.C. thanks support from MEC Spanish grant FPU AP2005-1826. G.Y. acknowledges support of MICINN research grants FPA2009-08958 and AYA2009-13875-C03-02. S.P. is supported by NASA, DoE, and NSF. Y.H. is supported by Israel Science Foundation (13/08). S.G. acknowledges support of DAAD through PPP program. BOX160CR simulation has been performed at Leibniz RechenzentrumMunich (L.R.Z.). Fermi-LAT simulation tools were provided by the Fermi-LAT collaboration and the Fermi Science Support Center. A.J.C. thanks the corresponding authors of G´omez-Vargas et al. 2011 for realizing this error when doing the analysis of their signal-to-noise maps

Young and Intermediate-age Distance Indicators

Distance measurements beyond geometrical and semi-geometrical methods, rely mainly on standard candles. As the name suggests, these objects have known luminosities by virtue of their intrinsic proprieties and play a major role in our understanding of modern cosmology. The main caveats associated with standard candles are their absolute calibration, contamination of the sample from other sources and systematic uncertainties. The absolute calibration mainly depends on their chemical composition and age. To understand the impact of these effects on the distance scale, it is essential to develop methods based on different sample of standard candles. Here we review the fundamental properties of young and intermediate-age distance indicators such as Cepheids, Mira variables and Red Clump stars and the recent developments in their application as distance indicators.Comment: Review article, 63 pages (28 figures), Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews (Chapter 3 of a special collection resulting from the May 2016 ISSI-BJ workshop on Astronomical Distance Determination in the Space Age

Methane hydrate formation in confined nanospace can surpass nature

Natural methane hydrates are believed to be the largest source of hydrocarbons on Earth. These structures are formed in specific locations such as deep-sea sediments and the permafrost based on demanding conditions of high pressure and low temperature. Here we report that, by taking advantage of the confinement effects on nanopore space, synthetic methane hydrates grow under mild conditions (3.5 MPa and 2 degrees C), with faster kinetics (within minutes) than nature, fully reversibly and with a nominal stoichiometry that mimics nature. The formation of the hydrate structures in nanospace and their similarity to natural hydrates is confirmed using inelastic neutron scattering experiments and synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction. These findings may be a step towards the application of a smart synthesis of methane hydrates in energy-demanding applications (for example, transportation).We acknowledge UK Science and Technlology Facilities Council for the provision of beam time on the TOSCA spectrometer (Projects RB1410624 and RB122099) and financial support from the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme through the 'Research Infrastructures' action of the 'Capacities' Programme (NMI3-II Grant number 283883). J.S.-A. and F.R. acknowledges the financial support from MINECO: Strategic Japanese-Spanish Cooperation Program (PLE2009-0052), Concert Project-NASEMS (PCIN-2013-057) and Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEO/2009/002). F.R. and J.L.J. thank the financial support from MINECO (MAT2012-38567-C02-01, Consolider Ingenio 2010-Multicat CSD-2009-00050 and SEV-2012-0267). K.K. thanks Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A) (2424-1038), Japan. A.B. and A.U. thank the financial support from MINECO (SEV-2013-0319). J.L.J. and I.P. thank synchrotron ALBA for beamtime availability.Casco, M.; Silvestre Albero, J.; Ramirez-Cuesta, A.; Rey Garcia, F.; Jorda Moret, JL.; Bansode, A.; Urakawa, A.... (2015). Methane hydrate formation in confined nanospace can surpass nature. Nature Communications. 6(6432):1-8. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms7432S1866432Sloan, E. D. Jr., & Koh, C. A. Clathrate Hydrates of Natural Gases 3rd edn CRC Press (2007).Gutt, C. et al. The structure of deuterated methane-hydrate. J. Chem. Phys. 113, 4713–4721 (2000).Holbrook, W. S., Hoskins, H., Wood, W. T., Stephen, R. A. & Lizarralde, D. Methane hydrate and free gas on the Blake Ridge from vertical seismic profiling. Science 273, 1840–1843 (1996).Sloan, E. D. Jr., Fundamental principles and applications of natural gas hydrates. Nature 426, 353–363 (2003).Rodríguez-Reinoso, F., Almansa, C. & Molina-Sabio, M. Contribution to the evaluation of density of methane adsorbed on activated carbon. J. Phys. Chem. B 109, 20227–20231 (2005).Kockrick, E. et al. Ordered mesoporous carbide derived carbons for high pressure gas storage. Carbon 48, 1707–1717 (2010).Klein, N. et al. A mesoporous metal-organic framework. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 48, 9954–9957 (2009).Makal, T. A., Li, J.-R., Lu, W. & Zhou, H.-C. Methane storage in advanced porous materials. Chem. Soc. Rev. 41, 7761–7779 (2012).Peng, Y. et al. Methane storage in metal-organic frameworks: Current records, surprise findings, and challenges. J. Am.Chem. Soc. 135, 11887–11894 (2013).Casco, M. E. et al. High-pressure methane storage in porous materials: are carbon materials in the pole position? Chem. Mater 27, 959–964 (2015).Ramos-Fernández, J. M., Martínez-Escandell, M. & Rodríguez-Reinoso, F. Production of binderless activated carbon monoliths by KOH activation of carbon mesophase materials. Carbon 46, 384–386 (2008).Marsh, H. & Rodríguez-Reinoso, F. Activated Carbon Elsevier (2006).Kubo, T. et al. Diffusion-barrier-free porous carbon monoliths as a new form of activated carbon. ChemSusChem 5, 2271–2277 (2012).Kaneko, K., Itoh, T. & Fujimori, T. Collective interactions of molecules with an interfacial solid. Chem. Lett. 41, 466–475 (2012).Nakamura, M., Ohba, T., Branton, P., Kanoh, H. & Kaneko, K. Equilibrium-time and pore-width dependent hysteresis of water adsorption isotherm on hydrophobic microporous carbons. Carbon 48, 305–308 (2010).Vysniauskas, A. & Bishnoi, P. R. A kinetic study of methane hydrate formation. Chem. Eng. Sci. 38, 1061–1072 (1983).Junhong, Q. & Tianmin, G. Kinetics of methane hydrate formation in pure water and inhibitor containing systems. Chin. J. Chem. Eng 10, 316–322 (2002).Liu, J., Zhou, Y., Sun, Y., Su, W. & Zhou, L. Methane storage in wet carbon of tailored pore sizes. Carbon 49, 3731–3736 (2011).Perrin, A., Celzard, A., Marêché, J. F. & Furdin, G. Methane storage within dry and wet activated carbons: a comparative study. Energy Fuels 17, 1283–1291 (2003).Zhou, L., Liu, L., Su, W., Sun, Y. & Zhou, Y. Progress in studies of natural gas storage with wet adsorbents. Energy Fuels 24, 3789–3795 (2010).Celzard, A. & Marêché, J. F. Optimal wetting of activated carbons for methane hydrate formation. Fuel 85, 957–966 (2006).Webb, E. B. et al. High pressure rheology of hydrate slurries formed from water-in-oil emulsions. Energy Fuels 26, 3504–3509 (2012).Urita, K. et al. Confinement in carbon nanospace-induced production of KI nanocrystals of high-pressure phase. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 133, 10344–10347 (2011).Fujimori, T. et al. Conducting linear chains of sulphur inside carbon nanotubes. Nat. Commun. 4, 2162 (2013).Tse, J. S., Ratcliffe, C. L., Powell, B. M., Sears, V. F. & Handa, Y. P. Rotational and translational motions of trapped methane. Incoherent inelastic neutron scattering of methane hydrate. J. Phys. Chem. 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Spanning forests and the q-state Potts model in the limit q \to 0

We study the q-state Potts model with nearest-neighbor coupling v=e^{\beta J}-1 in the limit q,v \to 0 with the ratio w = v/q held fixed. Combinatorially, this limit gives rise to the generating polynomial of spanning forests; physically, it provides information about the Potts-model phase diagram in the neighborhood of (q,v) = (0,0). We have studied this model on the square and triangular lattices, using a transfer-matrix approach at both real and complex values of w. For both lattices, we have computed the symbolic transfer matrices for cylindrical strips of widths 2 \le L \le 10, as well as the limiting curves of partition-function zeros in the complex w-plane. For real w, we find two distinct phases separated by a transition point w=w_0, where w_0 = -1/4 (resp. w_0 = -0.1753 \pm 0.0002) for the square (resp. triangular) lattice. For w > w_0 we find a non-critical disordered phase, while for w < w_0 our results are compatible with a massless Berker-Kadanoff phase with conformal charge c = -2 and leading thermal scaling dimension x_{T,1} = 2 (marginal operator). At w = w_0 we find a "first-order critical point": the first derivative of the free energy is discontinuous at w_0, while the correlation length diverges as w \downarrow w_0 (and is infinite at w = w_0). The critical behavior at w = w_0 seems to be the same for both lattices and it differs from that of the Berker-Kadanoff phase: our results suggest that the conformal charge is c = -1, the leading thermal scaling dimension is x_{T,1} = 0, and the critical exponents are \nu = 1/d = 1/2 and \alpha = 1.Comment: 131 pages (LaTeX2e). Includes tex file, three sty files, and 65 Postscript figures. Also included are Mathematica files forests_sq_2-9P.m and forests_tri_2-9P.m. Final journal versio

Whole genome analysis of a schistosomiasis-transmitting freshwater snail

Biomphalaria snails are instrumental in transmission of the human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni. With the World Health Organization's goal to eliminate schistosomiasis as a global health problem by 2025, there is now renewed emphasis on snail control. Here, we characterize the genome of Biomphalaria glabrata, a lophotrochozoan protostome, and provide timely and important information on snail biology. We describe aspects of phero-perception, stress responses, immune function and regulation of gene expression that support the persistence of B. glabrata in the field and may define this species as a suitable snail host for S. mansoni. We identify several potential targets for developing novel control measures aimed at reducing snail-mediated transmission of schistosomiasis

The comparative responsiveness of Hospital Universitario Princesa Index and other composite indices for assessing rheumatoid arthritis activity

Objective To evaluate the responsiveness in terms of correlation of the Hospital Universitario La Princesa Index (HUPI) comparatively to the traditional composite indices used to assess disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and to compare the performance of HUPI-based response criteria with that of the EULAR response criteria. Methods Secondary data analysis from the following studies: ACT-RAY (clinical trial), PROAR (early RA cohort) and EMECAR (pre-biologic era long term RA cohort). Responsiveness was evaluated by: 1) comparing change from baseline (Delta) of HUPI with Delta in other scores by calculating correlation coefficients; 2) calculating standardised effect sizes. The accuracy of response by HUPI and by EULAR criteria was analyzed using linear regressions in which the dependent variable was change in global assessment by physician (Delta GDA-Phy). Results Delta HUPI correlation with change in all other indices ranged from 0.387 to 0.791); HUPI's standardized effect size was larger than those from the other indices in each database used. In ACT-RAY, depending on visit, between 65 and 80% of patients were equally classified by HUPI and EULAR response criteria. However, HUPI criteria were slightly more stringent, with higher percentage of patients classified as non-responder, especially at early visits. HUPI response criteria showed a slightly higher accuracy than EULAR response criteria when using Delta GDA-Phy as gold standard. Conclusion HUPI shows good responsiveness in terms of correlation in each studied scenario (clinical trial, early RA cohort, and established RA cohort). Response criteria by HUPI seem more stringent than EULAR''s