Comment on "Interplanetary conditions leading to superintense geomagnetic storms (dst ≤ -250 nt) during solar cycle 23" by E. Echer et al.

Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología-CICY

Forecasting intense geomagnetic activity using interplanetary magnetic field data

Southward interplanetary magnetic fields are considered traces of geoeffectiveness since they are a main agent of magnetic reconnection of solar wind and magnetosphere. The first part of this work revises the ability to forecast intense geomagnetic activity using different procedures available in the literature. The study shows that current methods do not succeed in making confident predictions. This fact led us to develop a new forecasting procedure, which provides trustworthy results in predicting large variations of Dst index over a sample of 10 years of observations and is based on the value Bz only. The proposed forecasting method appears as a worthy tool for space weather purposes because it is not affected by the lack of solar wind plasma data, which usually occurs during severe geomagnetic activity. Moreover, the results obtained guide us to provide a new interpretation of the physical mechanisms involved in the interaction between the solar wind and the magnetosphere using Faraday's law.Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (CICYT

Hyperbolic Decay of the Dst Index during the Recovery Phase of Intense Geomagnetic Storms

What one commonly considers for reproducing the recovery phase of magnetosphere,as seen by the Dst index, is exponential function. However, the magnetosphererecovers faster in the first hours than in the late recovery phase. The early steepnessfollowed by the late smoothness in the magnetospheric response is a feature that leadsto the proposal of a hyperbolic decay function to reproduce the recovery phase instead ofthe exponential function. A superposed epoch analysis of recovery phases of intensestorms from 1963 to 2003 was performed, categorizing the storms by their intensity intofive subsets. The hyperbolic decay function reproduces experimental data better than whatthe exponential function does for any subset of storms, which indicates a nonlinearcoupling between dDst/dt and Dst. Moreover, this kind of mathematical function, wherethe degree of reduction of the Dst index depends on time, allows for explaining differentlifetimes of the physical mechanisms involved in the recovery phase and provides newinsights for the modeling of the Dst index.Ministerio de Ciencia e InnovaciónJunta de Comunidades de Castilla La Manch

Innovative Synthetic Approaches for Sulphate-Promoted Catalysts for Biomass Valorisation

In the present research, we report on an innovative and quick procedure for the synthesis of metal oxides: a sol-gel procedure which is followed by two steps that are assisted by microwaves (MW) heating. First, MW heating promotes gel drying and successively permits the calcination of the xerogel in a few minutes, using a susceptor that rapidly reaches high temperatures. The procedure was employed for the synthesis of zirconium dioxide (ZrO2), and MW-assisted calcination enables the collection of tetragonal ZrO2, as confirmed by different experimental techniques (PXRD, HR-TEM and Raman spectroscopy). Using this MW-assisted sol-gel procedure, a promoted sulphated zirconia (SZ) has been obtained. Both the nature and strength of SZ surface acidity have been investigated with FTIR spectroscopy using CO and 2,6-dimethylpyridine (2,6-DMP) as probe molecules. The obtained materials were tested as catalysts in acid hydrolysis of glucose to give 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (5-HMF). One of the obtained catalysts exhibited a better selectivity towards 5-HMF with respect to SZ material prepared by a classical precipitation route, suggesting that this procedure could be employed to obtain a well-known catalyst with a less energy-consuming procedure. Catalytic results also suggest that good selectivity to 5-HMF can be achieved in aqueous media in the presence of weak Lewis and Brønsted sites

An International Survey on Taking Up a Career in Cardiovascular Research: Opportunities and Biases toward Would-Be Physician-Scientists

Background Cardiovascular research is the main shaper of clinical evidence underpinning decision making, with its cyclic progression of junior researchers to mature faculty members. Despite efforts at improving cardiovascular research training, several unmet needs persist. We aimed to appraise current perceptions on cardiovascular research training with an international survey. Methods and Results We administered a 20-closed-question survey to mentors and mentees belonging to different international institutions. A total of 247 (12%) surveys were available (out of 2,000 invitations). Overall, mentees and mentors were reasonably satisfied with the educational and research resources. Significant differences were found analyzing results according to gender, geographic area, training and full-time researcher status. Specifically, women proved significantly less satisfied than men, disclosed access to fewer resources and less support from mentors (all P Conclusions Several potential biases appear to be present in the way training in cardiovascular research is provided worldwide, including one against women. If confirmed, these data require proactive measures to decrease discriminations and improve the cardiovascular research training quality

Flux emergence event underneath a filament

Flux emergence phenomena are relevant at different temporal and spatial scales.We have studied a flux emergence region underneath a filament. This filament elevated itselfsmoothly, and the associated CME reached the Earth. In this study we investigate the size andthe amount of flux in the emergence event. The flux emergence site appeared just beneath afilament. The emergence acquired a size of 24 Mm in half a day. The unsigned magnetic fluxdensity from LOS-magnetograms was around 1 kG at its maximum. The transverse field as wellas the filament eruption were also analysed.Ministerio de Economía y Competitivida