A semiautomatic methodology to detect fire scars in shrubs and evergreen forests with Landsat MSS time series.

This paper presents a semi-automatic methodology for fire scars mapping from a long time series of remote sensing data. Approximately, a hundred MSS images from different Landsat satellites were employed over an area of 32 100 km2 in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula. The analysed period was from 1975 to 1993. Results are a map series of fire history and frequencies. Omission errors are 23% for burned areas greater than 200 ha while commission errors are 8% for areas greater than 50 ha. Subsequent work based on the resultant fire scars will also help in describing fire regime and in monitoring post-fire regeneration dynamics.Peer Reviewe

Integral field spectroscopy of selected areas of the Bright Bar and Orion-S cloud in the Orion Nebula

We present integral field spectroscopy of two selected zones in the Orion Nebula obtained with the Potsdam Multi-Aperture Spectrophotometer (PMAS), covering the optical spectral range from 3500 to 7200 A and with a spatial resolution of 1". The observed zones are located on the prominent Bright Bar and on the brightest area at the northeast of the Orion South cloud, both containing remarkable ionization fronts. We obtain maps of emission line fluxes and ratios, electron density and temperatures, and chemical abundances. We study the ionization structure and morphology of both fields, which ionization fronts show different inclination angles with respect to the plane of the sky. We find that the maps of electron density, O+/H+ and O/H ratios show a rather similar structure. We interpret this as produced by the strong dependence on density of the [OII] lines used to derive the O+ abundance, and that our nominal values of electron density-derived from the [SII] line ratio-may be slightly higher than the appropriate value for the O+ zone. We measure the faint recombination lines of OII in the field at the northeast of the Orion South cloud allowing us to explore the so-called abundance discrepancy problem. We find a rather constant abundance discrepancy across the field and a mean value similar to that determined in other areas of the Orion Nebula, indicating that the particular physical conditions of this ionization front do not contribute to this discrepancy.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Carbon and oxygen in HII regions of the Magellanic Clouds: abundance discrepancy and chemical evolution

We present C and O abundances in the Magellanic Clouds derived from deep spectra of HII regions. The data have been taken with the Ultraviolet-Visual Echelle Spectrograph at the 8.2-m VLT. The sample comprises 5 HII regions in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and 4 in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). We measure pure recombination lines (RLs) of CII and OII in all the objects, permitting to derive the abundance discrepancy factors (ADFs) for O^2+, as well as their O/H, C/H and C/O ratios. We compare the ADFs with those of other HII regions in different galaxies. The results suggest a possible metallicity dependence of the ADF for the low-metallicity objects, but more uncertain for high-metallicity objects. We compare nebular and B-type stellar abundances and we find that the stellar abundances agree better with the nebular ones derived from collisionally excited lines (CELs). Comparing these results with other galaxies we observe that stellar abundances seem to agree better with the nebular ones derived from CELs in low-metallicity environments and from RLs in high-metallicity environments. The C/H, O/H and C/O ratios show almost flat radial gradients, in contrast with the spiral galaxies where such gradients are negative. We explore the chemical evolution analysing C/O vs. O/H and comparing with the results of HII regions in other galaxies. The LMC seems to show a similar chemical evolution to the external zones of small spiral galaxies and the SMC behaves as a typical star-forming dwarf galaxy.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 17 pages, 11 figures, 8 table

Energy Absorption of Aluminium Extrusions Filled with Cellular Materials Under Axial Crushing: Study of the Interaction Effect

Artigo publicado no número especial Armour and Protection Systems: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci/special_issues/Armour_Protection_System[Abstract] This investigation focuses on the interaction effect during the quasi-static axial crushing of circular and square thin-walled aluminium extrusions filled with polymeric foam or cork. The increment in the absorbed energy due to interactions between materials was assessed using a validated numerical model calibrated with experimental material data. Simulations were run with variable cross-section dimensions, thickness, and foam density. The results were used to adjust the parameters of design formulas to predict the average crush forces of foam- and cork-filled thin-walled tubes. The analysis of the energy dissipation per unit volume revealed that the highest increments due to the interaction between materials appeared in the foam-filled square extrusions. Energy dissipation increased with higher density foams for both cross-sections due to a stronger constraint of the aluminium walls, and thus a reduction of the folding length. Thinner tube walls also delivered a higher improvement in the energy dissipation per unit volume than those with thicker walls. The contribution of friction was also quantified and investigated.This research was funded by the Spanish Goverment (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad) grant number PID2019-108307RB-I00; and from the Research Council of Norway grant number 237885, SFI-CASA, and NTNUResearch Council of Norway; 237885https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci/special_issues/Armour_Protection_Syste

THE STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION OF A NEW FORM OF CLENBUTEROL, A WELL KNOWN DECONGESTANT AND BRONCHODILATOR ALSO USED AS A PERFORMANCE-ENHANCING DRUG

ABSTRACT Clenbuterol hydrochloride is an active pharmaceutical ingredient usually prescribed for the treatment of respiratory diseases due to its activity as a decongestant and bronchodilator. It has also been used as a performance-enhancing drug. In the PDF-4/Organics 2012 database there are six entries related to this compound: three for its hydrochloride phase calculated using single crystal data, two for a MeOH and a DMSO solvate of two Cu-clenbuterol complexes, and one experimental unindexed pattern. In this contribution the powder diffraction pattern and the crystal structure, determined using single crystal X-ray diffraction techniques of Clenbuterol hemihydrate, C 12 H 18 Cl 2 N 2 O·0.5H 2 O, an unreported phase, is presented

Micropropagación y conservación de germoplasma de Ficus americana Aubl. y F. obtusifolia Kunth de Lambayeque (Perú)

Ficus americana and F. obtusifolia are among the most important tree species in Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests (SDTF) due to their evergreen condition and high levels of biomass. However, the SDTF of Lambayeque and northern Peru is greatly diminishing due to the advance of migratory agriculture, illegal mining, and deforestation. The objective of this work was to study the taxonomic aspects of both species, as well as seed germination, micropropagation, and in vitro germplasm conservation. Seed germination was 100% for both species up to three months after collection. As for micropropagation, rooting, and germplasm conservation, the Piper culture medium was effective, as it was constituted by MS mineral salts with 0.02 mg.L-1 IAA and 0.02 mg.L-1 GA3. In vitro germplasm conservation lasted more than 24 months for both species. Acclimatization under greenhouse conditions reached 50% survival for both species.Ficus americana y F. obtusifolia, se encuentran entre las especies arbóreas más importantes de los Bosques Tropicales Estacionalmente Secos (BTES) por su condición de siempre verdes y sus altos niveles de biomasa. Sin embargo, el BTES de Lambayeque y el norte de Perú está disminuyendo enormemente debido al avance de la agricultura migratoria, la minería ilegal y la deforestación. El objetivo de este trabajo fue estudiar los aspectos taxonómicos de ambas especies, así como la germinación de semillas, la micropropagación y la conservación de germoplasma in vitro. La germinación de semillas fue de 100 % en ambas especies hasta tres meses después de la recolección. Respecto a la micropropagación, el enraizamiento y la conservación de germoplasma, el medio de cultivo de Piper resultó efectivo, el cual está conformado por sales minerales MS con IAA 0.02 mg.L-1 y GA3 0.02 mg.L-1. La conservación in vitro de germoplasma duró más de 24 meses en ambas especies. La aclimatación en condiciones de invernadero alcanzó 50 % de supervivencia en ambas especies

Density and reproductive characteristics of female brown bears in the Cantabrian Mountains, NW Spain

Here we present annual nearest-neighbour distances (as a proxy of density) between females with cubs-of-the-year (hereafter FCOY) and reproductive characteristics of brown bears Ursus arctos in the Cantabrian Mountains (NW Spain), from 1989 to 2017. FCOY nearest-neighbour distances and reproduction parameters of 19 focal females followed over several consecutive years (from 2004 to 2017) were obtained from bears inhabiting the western sector of the Cantabrian Mountains, where most of the bear population resides. In contrast, general reproductive characteristics were studied in the whole Cantabrian Mountains (western and eastern sectors together) on a sample of 362 litter sizes and 695 cubs. Mean nearest-neighbour distance between FCOY was 2559 ± 1222 m (range = 1305–4757 m). Mean litter size was significantly larger in the west (1.8 ± 0.2 cubs) than in the east (1.3 ± 0.6 cubs). Mean litter size for the whole of the Cantabrian Mountains was 1.6 ± 0.3 cubs. Litter sizes of one, two and three cubs represented 33.4, 56.1 and 10.5% of observed family groups, respectively. Interannual variations in litter size were not significant for both the western and the eastern areas. Mean cub mortality was 0.2 ± 0.5 cubs and did not vary among years. Cub mortality per litter size was 3.9% for one cub, 69.2% for two cubs and 26.9% for three cubs. Mean reproductive rate of the 19 focal females was 1.5 ± 0.6 cubs (n = 58 litters). Litter size of focal FCOY did not differ from the litter size obtained from systematic observations in the whole Cantabrian Mountains. During this period, cub mortality occurred in 24.1% of the 58 litters. Females usually bred every second year (average litter interval = 2.2 years). The estimated reproductive rate for the bear population was 0.7 young born/year/reproductive adult female

Fibrohistiocitoma maligno óseo tras degeneración de enfermedad de Paget Caso clínico y revisión de la literatura

El fibrohistiocitoma maligno óseo es un tumor de estirpe mesenquimal poco frecuente, pero de alta agresividad. Se suele presentar de forma primaria, aunque a veces lo hace sobre lesiones previas en el hueso. Puede ser difícil de diferenciar histológicamente de otros tumores, pero es una entidad propia desde el punto de vista anatomopatológico. Presentamos un paciente con enfermedad de Paget que desarrolló un fibrohistiocitoma maligno óseo en el fémur sobre el hueso pagético. Fue tratado mediante desarticulación de cadera. No se usó quimioterapia como tratamiento coadyuvante debido a su avanzada edad y situación basal. A los 18 meses se encuentra asintomático y sin signos de recurrencia. Se hace una revisión de la literatura acerca de este tumor.Malignant fibrous histiocytoma of bone is a rare but highly agressive mesenchimal tumor. It usually arises as a primary tumor but sometimes it can be associated with pre-existing bone abnormalities. Histologically it can be missdiagnosed with other tumors. We report a case of malignant fibrous histiocytoma of bone in the femur in a patient with Paget's disease treated by hip desarticulation. We didn't use chemotherapy because his elderly status. At 18 months follow up, the patient is symptom-free and neither local recurrence nor metastasis have been found. A review of the literature has been carried out

Fluorescent Excitation of Balmer Lines in Gaseous Nebulae: Case D

Nonionizing stellar continua are a potential source of photons for continuum pumping in the hydrogen Lyman transitions. In the environments where these transitions are optically thick, de-excitation occurs through higher series lines. As a result, the emitted flux in the affected lines has a fluorescent contribution in addition to the usual recombination one; in particular, Balmer emissivities are systematically enhanced above case B predictions. The effectiveness of such a mechanism in H II regions and the adequacy of photoionization models as a tool to study it are the two main focuses of this work. We find that photoionization models of H II regions illuminated by low-resolution (λ/δλ ≲ 1000) population synthesis models significantly overpredict the fluorescent contribution to the Balmer lines; the bias has typical values of the order of a few hundredths of a dex, with the exact figure depending on the parameters of the specific model and the simulated aperture. Conversely, photoionization models in which the nonionizing part of the continuum is omitted or is not transferred significantly underpredict the fluorescent contribution to the Balmer lines, producing a bias of similar amplitude in the opposite direction. Realistic estimations of the actual fluorescent fraction of the Balmer intensity require photoionization models in which the relevant portion of the stellar continuum is adequately represented, that is, its resolution is high in the region of the Lyman lines. In this paper, we carry out such an estimation and discuss the variations to be expected as the simulated observational setup and the stellar population\u27s parameters are varied. In all the cases explored, we find that fluorescent excitation provides a significant contribution to the total Balmer emissivity. We also show that differential fluorescent enhancement may produce line-of-sight differences in the Balmer decrement, mimicking interstellar extinction. Fluorescent excitation emerges from our study as a small but important mechanism for the enhancement of Balmer lines. As such, we recommend to take it into account in the abundance analysis of photoionized regions, particularly in the case of high-precision applications such as the determination of primordial helium