VITO combineert sensorplatformen met aardobservatie voor een betere monitoring van water

De huidige systemen om de toestand van het water op te volgen, voldoen vaak niet aan de noden van waterbeheerders, baggeraars, waterbedrijven, havenbeheerders, enzovoort. De data schieten tekort in kwaliteit en kwantiteit. Daarom ontwikkelt VITO een monitoringssysteem dat geautomatiseerde sensoren op onbemande vaartuigen combineert met aardobservatie: SAVEWATER. Ook het beschikbaar stellen van de data maakt deel uit van dit systeem. Het project wordt samen met de Europese ruimtevaartorganisatie ESA uitgewerkt

Periodic mass loss episodes due to an oscillation mode with variable amplitude in the hot supergiant HD50064

We aim to interpret the photometric and spectroscopic variability of the luminous blue variable supergiant HD\,50064 ($V=8.21$).CoRoT space photometry and follow-up high-resolution spectroscopy, with a time base of 137\,d and 169\,d, respectively, was gathered, analysed and interpreted using standard time series analysis and light curve modelling methods as well as spectral line diagnostics.The space photometry reveals one period of 37\,d, which undergoes a sudden amplitude change with a factor 1.6. The pulsation period is confirmed in the spectroscopy, which additionally reveals metal line radial velocity values differing by $\sim 30\,$km\,s$^{-1}$ depending on the spectral line and on the epoch. We estimate \teff$\sim$13\,500\,K, \logg$\sim$1.5 from the equivalent width of Si lines. The Balmer lines reveal that the star undergoes episodes of changing mass loss on a time scale similar to the changes in the photometric and spectroscopic variability, with an average value of $\log\dot{\rm M}\simeq-5$ (in M$_\odot$\,yr$^{-1}$). We tentatively interpret the 37\,d period as due to a strange mode oscillation.Comment: 4 pages, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics Letter

Archives lacustres de l'évolution du climat et des activités humaines récentes dans les Pyrénées ariégeoises au cours de l'Holocène (étang majeur, vallée du Haut-Vicdessos, Pyrénées, France)

International audienceDans le cadre de l'Observatoire Hommes Milieux Haut-Vicdessos, des archives lacustres sont utilisées pour distin-guer les impacts de l'Homme ou du climat dans les Pyrénées (Ariège, 42°N). Associée à la cartographie acoustique de l'Étang Majeur, les analyses des sols et des sédi-ments lacustres mettent en évidence une sédimentation Tardiglaciaire riche en ti-tane, qui contraste avec une sédimentation Holocène de type dy résultant de l'érosion diffuse des tourbes présentes en amont du lac. L'enregistrement indique des périodes plus humides, datées en 1200, 1950, 3400 et 4550 cal BP et associées aux apports d'un canyon drainant les zones d'altitude. Depuis 1907, le niveau d'eau du lac est ré-gulé par deux barrages hydroélectriques. Il en résulte un marnage de 10 m affec-tant jusqu'à 37 % du bassin. Ceci a pour conséquences de remobiliser le matériel issu des berges, et d'augmenter la produc-tivité algaire et les taux d'accumulation

An Exact Algorithm for Side-Chain Placement in Protein Design

Computational protein design aims at constructing novel or improved functions on the structure of a given protein backbone and has important applications in the pharmaceutical and biotechnical industry. The underlying combinatorial side-chain placement problem consists of choosing a side-chain placement for each residue position such that the resulting overall energy is minimum. The choice of the side-chain then also determines the amino acid for this position. Many algorithms for this NP-hard problem have been proposed in the context of homology modeling, which, however, reach their limits when faced with large protein design instances. In this paper, we propose a new exact method for the side-chain placement problem that works well even for large instance sizes as they appear in protein design. Our main contribution is a dedicated branch-and-bound algorithm that combines tight upper and lower bounds resulting from a novel Lagrangian relaxation approach for side-chain placement. Our experimental results show that our method outperforms alternative state-of-the art exact approaches and makes it possible to optimally solve large protein design instances routinely

A study of the interacting binary V 393 Scorpii

We present high resolution J-band spectroscopy of V 393 Sco obtained with the CRIRES at the ESO Paranal Observatory along with a discussion of archival IUE spectra and published broad band magnitudes. The best fit to the spectral energy distribution outside eclipse gives $T_{1}$= 19000 $\pm$ 500 $K$ for the gainer, $T_{2}$= 7250 $\pm$ 300 $K$ for the donor, $E(B-V)$= 0.13 $\pm$ 0.02 mag. and a distance of $d$= 523 $\pm$ 60 pc, although circumstellar material was not considered in the fit. We argue that V 393 Sco is not a member of the open cluster M7. The shape of the He I 1083 nm line shows orbital modulations that can be interpreted in terms of an optically thick pseudo-photosphere mimicking a hot B-type star and relatively large equatorial mass loss through the Lagrangian L3 point during long cycle minimum. IUE spectra show several (usually asymmetric) absorption lines from highly ionized metals and a narrow L$\alpha$ emission core on a broad absorption profile. The overall behavior of these lines suggests the existence of a wind at intermediate latitudes. From the analysis of the radial velocities we find $M_{2}/M_{1}$= 0.24 $\pm$ 0.02 and a mass function of $f$= 4.76 $\pm$ 0.24 M$\odot$. Our observations favor equatorial mass loss rather than high latitude outflows as the cause for the long variability.Comment: 13 pages, 14 figures, 7 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS, main journa

Products as Affective Modifiers of Identities

© The Author(s) 2015. Are salesclerks seen as better, more powerful, or more active when they drive Mustangs? What about entrepreneurs? What about driving a mid-sized car? Intuitively, we have ideas about these, but much of the research on the affective nature of products is on purchasing, desires, and self-fulfillment. Drawing on symbolic interactionism, we argue that people's association with products has some basis in the impression management of their identity. For this to occur, there must be some cultural consensus about the way that products modify identities. Drawing on affect control theory's (ACT) methodology and equations, we measure the goodness, powerfulness, and activeness of several products, identities, and the associated product-modified identities to explore how products function as affective modifiers of identities. We find consistent effects across several types of technology products, whereby products pull the modified identity in the direction of the products' affective qualities. Support is established for the ACT equations that predict how traits modify identities as also having utility for predicting how products modify identities. This suggests that the opening questions can be answered empirically by measuring cultural-specific sentiments of the identity and the product and by developing equations to predict the identity modification process