Mandate-driven networking eco-system : a paradigm shift in end-to-end communications

The wireless industry is driven by key stakeholders that follow a holistic approach of "one-system-fits-all" that leads to moving network functionality of meeting stringent End-to-End (E2E) communication requirements towards the core and cloud infrastructures. This trend is limiting smaller and new players for bringing in new and novel solutions. For meeting these E2E requirements, tenants and end-users need to be active players for bringing their needs and innovations. Driving E2E communication not only in terms of quality of service (QoS) but also overall carbon footprint and spectrum efficiency from one specific community may lead to undesirable simplifications and a higher level of abstraction of other network segments may lead to sub-optimal operations. Based on this, the paper presents a paradigm shift that will enlarge the role of wireless innovation at academia, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME)'s, industries and start-ups while taking into account decentralized mandate-driven intelligence in E2E communications

Characterisation of red-giant stars in the public Kepler data

The first public release of long-cadence stellar photometric data collected by the NASA Kepler mission has now been made available. In this paper we characterise the red-giant (G-K) stars in this large sample in terms of their solar-like oscillations. We use published methods and well-known scaling relations in the analysis. Just over 70% of the red giants in the sample show detectable solar-like oscillations, and from these oscillations we are able to estimate the fundamental properties of the stars. This asteroseismic analysis reveals different populations: low-luminosity H-shell burning red-giant branch stars, cool high-luminosity red giants on the red-giant branch and He-core burning clump and secondary-clump giants.Comment: Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Main Journa

Solar-like oscillations in red giants observed with Kepler: comparison of global oscillation parameters from different methods

The large number of stars for which uninterrupted high-precision photometric timeseries data are being collected with \textit{Kepler} and CoRoT initiated the development of automated methods to analyse the stochastically excited oscillations in main-sequence, subgiant and red-giant stars. Aims: We investigate the differences in results for global oscillation parameters of G and K red-giant stars due to different methods and definitions. We also investigate uncertainties originating from the stochastic nature of the oscillations. Methods: For this investigation we use Kepler data obtained during the first four months of operation. These data have been analysed by different groups using already published methods and the results are compared. We also performed simulations to investigate the uncertainty on the resulting parameters due to different realizations of the stochastic signal. Results: We obtain results for the frequency of maximum oscillation power (nu_max) and the mean large separation () from different methods for over one thousand red-giant stars. The results for these parameters agree within a few percent and seem therefore robust to the different analysis methods and definitions used here. The uncertainties for nu_max and due to differences in realization noise are not negligible and should be taken into account when using these results for stellar modelling.Comment: 11 pages, 9 Figures and 7 tables, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Old puzzle, new insights: a lithium rich giant quietly burning helium in its core

About 1% of giant stars have been shown to have large surface Li abundances, which is unexpected according to standard stellar evolution models. Several scenarios for lithium production have been proposed, but it is still unclear why these Li-rich giants exist. A missing piece in this puzzle is the knowledge of the exact stage of evolution of these stars. Using low-and-high-resolution spectroscopic observations, we have undertaken a survey of lithium-rich giants in the Kepler field. In this letter, we report the finding of the first confirmed Li-rich core-helium-burning giant, as revealed by asteroseismic analysis. The evolutionary timescales constrained by its mass suggest that Li-production most likely took place through non-canonical mixing at the RGB-tip, possibly during the helium flash.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, accepted in ApJ Letter

Depletion sensitivity predicts unhealthy snack purchases

The aim of the present research is to examine the relation between depletion sensitivity - a novel construct referring to the speed or ease by which one's self-control resources are drained - and snack purchase behavior. In addition, interactions between depletion sensitivity and the goal to lose weight on snack purchase behavior were explored. Participants included in the study were instructed to report every snack they bought over the course of one week. The dependent variables were the number of healthy and unhealthy snacks purchased. The results of the present study demonstrate that depletion sensitivity predicts the amount of unhealthy (but not healthy) snacks bought. The more sensitive people are to depletion, the more unhealthy snacks they buy. Moreover, there was some tentative evidence that this relation is more pronounced for people with a weak as opposed to a strong goal to lose weight, suggesting that a strong goal to lose weight may function as a motivational buffer against self-control failures. All in all, these findings provide evidence for the external validity of depletion sensitivity and the relevance of this construct in the domain of eating behavior.</p

New ground-based observational methods and instrumentation for asteroseismology

Space instrumentation like SOHO, MOST, CoRoT and Kepler has been and is being built to attain very high precision data to be used for asteroseismic analysis. Nonetheless, there is a very strong need for providing additional information, especially on mode identification. With this contribution I will review the efforts been put on new ground-based instrumentation and the methodology that can be used to achieve this aim.Comment: 6 pages. Review contribution to be published in Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings series (ASSP), in the proceedings of "20th Stellar Pulsation Conference Series: Impact of new instrumentation and new insights in stellar pulsations", 5-9 September 2011, Granada, Spai

On-chip integrated amplifiers and lasers utilizing rare-earth-ion activation

This contribution reviews our recent results on rare-earth-ion-doped integrated amplifiers and lasers. We have concentrated our efforts on complex-doped polymers, amorphous Al2O3, and crystalline potassium double tungstates

The Mass of the Planet-hosting Giant Star Beta Geminorum Determined from its p-mode Oscillation Spectrum

We use precise radial velocity measurements and photometric data to derive the frequency spacing of the p-mode oscillation spectrum of the planet-hosting star Beta Gem. This spacing along with the interferometric radius for this star is used to derive an accurate stellar mass. A long time series of over 60 hours of precise stellar radial velocity measurements of Beta Gem were taken with an iodine absorption cell and the echelle spectrograph mounted on the 2m Alfred Jensch Telescope. Complementary photometric data for this star were also taken with the MOST microsatellite spanning 3.6 d. A Fourier analysis of the radial velocity data reveals the presence of up to 17 significant pulsation modes in the frequency interval 10-250 micro-Hz. Most of these fall on a grid of equally-spaced frequencies having a separation of 7.14 +/- 0.12 micro-Hz. An analysis of 3.6 days of high precision photometry taken with the MOST space telescope shows the presence of up to 16 modes, six of which are consistent with modes found in the spectral (radial velocity) data. This frequency spacing is consistent with high overtone radial pulsations; however, until the pulsation modes are identified we cannot be sure if some of these are nonradial modes or even mixed modes. The radial velocity frequency spacing along with angular diameter measurements of Beta Gem via interferometry results in a stellar mass of M = 1.91 +/- 0.09 solar masses. This value confirms the intermediate mass of the star determined using stellar evolutionary tracks. Beta Gem is confirmed to be an intermediate mass star. Stellar pulsations in giant stars along with interferometric radius measurements can provide accurate determinations of the stellar mass of planet hosting giant stars. These can also be used to calibrate stellar evolutionary tracks.Comment: Accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysic

Constraints on the H2O formation mechanism in the wind of carbon-rich AGB stars

Context. The recent detection of warm H$_2$O vapor emission from the outflows of carbon-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars challenges the current understanding of circumstellar chemistry. Two mechanisms have been invoked to explain warm H$_2$O vapor formation. In the first, periodic shocks passing through the medium immediately above the stellar surface lead to H$_2$O formation. In the second, penetration of ultraviolet interstellar radiation through a clumpy circumstellar medium leads to the formation of H$_2$O molecules in the intermediate wind. Aims. We aim to determine the properties of H$_2$O emission for a sample of 18 carbon-rich AGB stars and subsequently constrain which of the above mechanisms provides the most likely warm H$_2$O formation pathway. Methods, Results, and Conclusions. See paper