A different approach to the analysis of GPS scintillation data

Amplitude scintillation data from GPS were analyzed. The objective is to estimate the impact of ionospheric scintillations at Satellite Based Augmentation Systems Ranging and Integrity Monitoring Station (SBAS RIMS) level and at GPS user level. For this purpose, a new approach to the problem was considered. Data were studied from the point of view of the impact of scintillations on the calculation of VTEC at pierce points and ionospheric grid points. An ionospheric grid of 5° 5° surface squares was assumed. From geometrical considerations and taking into account the basic principle to compute VTEC at grid points, with the data analyzed it is shown that scintillations very seldom affect the calculation of a grid point VTEC. Data from all the RIMS and for the entire GPS satellites network must be analyzed simultaneously to describe a realistic scenario for the impact of scintillations on SBAS. Finally, GPS scintillation data were analyzed at user level: service availability problems were encountered

Spatial maps and oscillations in the healthy hippocampus of Octodon degus, a natural model of sporadic Alzheimer’s disease

The Octodon degus is a South American rodent that is receiving increased attention as a potential model of aging and sporadic late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Impairments in spatial memory tasks in Octodon degus have been reported in relation to either advanced AD-like disease or hippocampal lesion, opening the way to investigate how the function of hippocampal networks affects behavior across AD stages. However, no characterization of hippocampal electrophysiology exists in this species. Here we describe in young, healthy specimens the activity of neurons and local field potential rhythms during spatial navigation tasks with and without objects. Our findings show similarities between the Octodon degus and laboratory rodents. First, place cells with characteristics similar to those found in rats and mice exist in the CA1 subfield of the Octodon degus. Second, the introduction of objects elicits novelty-related exploration and an increase in activity of CA1 cells, with location specific and unspecific components. Third, oscillations of the local field potential are organized according to their spectral content into bands similar to those found in laboratory rodents. These results suggest a common framework of underlying mechanisms, opening the way to future studies of hippocampal dysfunction in this species associated to aging and disease.Fil: Mugnaini, Matías. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Polania, Diana. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Díaz, Yannina Constanza. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Ezquer, Marcelo. Universidad del Desarrollo; ChileFil: Ezquer, Fernando. Universidad del Desarrollo; ChileFil: Deacon, Robert M. J.. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Cogram, Patricia. Universidad de Chile; Chile. University of California at Irvine; Estados UnidosFil: Kropff, Emilio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; Argentin

Slant total electron content for Sirio-Mortelliccio ray path

The Total Electron Content (TEC) is used to indicate the ionisation of the ionosphere. TEC is a quantity that concern for predicting space weather effects on telecommunications, improving the accuracy of satellite navigation, fly control vehicles and other systems that use transionospheric signals, because the ionospheric layer affects the mentioned signals. In this work the Slant Total Electron Content (STEC) was calculated with a technique that uses so-called «auxiliaries stations model», and a Chapman layer with scale height equal to atomic oxygen scale height (CHO). The validity was checked with STEC measurements obtained from geosynchronous satellite signals, for SIRIO-Mortelliccio link considering solstices and equinox, in high solar activity period. In general, the deviations between predictions and measurements were lower than 30% for 16 h per day (average). The results suggest that additional studies for other links and solar activity are required in order to improve the model predictions

Satellite traces, range spread-F occurrence, and gravity wave propagation at the southern anomaly crest

Range spread-F (RSF) and occurrence of “satellite” traces prior to RSF onset were studied at the southern peak of the ionospheric equatorial anomaly (EA). Ionograms recorded in September 2007 at the new ionospheric station of Tucumán, Argentina (26.9° S, 294.6° E, dip latitude 15.5° S), by the Advanced Ionospheric Sounder (AIS) developed at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia INGV), were considered. Satellite traces (STs) are confirmed to be a necessary precursor to the appearance of an RSF trace on the ionograms. Moreover, an analysis of isoheight contours of electron density seems to suggest a relationship between RSF occurrence and gravity wave (GW) propagation

Unusual nighttime impulsive foF2 enhancement below the southern anomaly crest under geomagnetically quiet conditions

An unusual nighttime impulsive electron density enhancement was observed on 6 March 2010 over a wide region of South America, below the southern crest of the equatorial anomaly, under low solar activity and quiet geomagnetic conditions. The phenomenon was observed almost simultaneously by the F2 layer critical frequency ( foF2) recorded at three ionospheric stations which are widely distributed in space, namely Cachoeira Paulista (22.4°S, 44.6°W, magnetic latitude 13.4°S), São José dos Campos (23.2°S, 45.9°W, magnetic latitude 14.1°S), Brazil, and Tucumán (26.9°S, 65.4°W, magnetic latitude 16.8°S), Argentina. Although in a more restricted region over Tucumán, the phenomenon was also observed by the total electron content (TEC) maps computed by usingmeasurements from 12 GPS receivers. The investigated phenomenon is very particular because besides being of brief duration, it is characterized by a pronounced compression of the ionosphere. This compression was clearly visible both by the virtual height of the base of the F region (h′F) recorded at the aforementioned ionospheric stations, and by both the vertical electron density profiles and the slab thickness computed over Tucumán. Consequently, neither an enhanced fountain effect nor plasma diffusion from the plasmasphere can be considered as the single cause of this unusual event. A thorough analysis of isoheight and isofrequency ionosonde plots suggest that traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) caused by gravity wave (GW) propagation could have likely played a significant role in causing the phenomenon

Some considerations for different time-domain signal processing of pulse compression radar

Radar technology has for a long time used various systems that allow detection under high-resolution conditions, while emitting at the same time low peak power. Among these systems, transmitted pulse encoding by means of biphasic codes has been used for the advanced ionospheric sounder that was developed by the AIS-INGV ionosonde. In the receiving process, suitable decoding of the signal must be accomplished. This can be achieved in both the time and the frequency domains. Focusing on the time domain, different approaches are possible. In this study, two of these approaches have been compared, using data acquired by the AIS-INGV and processed by means of software tools (mainly Mathcad©). The analysis reveals the differences under both noiseless and noisy conditions, although this does not allow the conclusive establishment as to which method is better, as each of them has benefits and drawbacks

Propagation of gravity waves and spread F in the low-latitude ionosphere over Tucumán, Argentina, by continuous Doppler sounding: first results

Results of systematic analysis of propagation directions and horizontal velocities of gravity waves (GWs) and spread F structures in low-latitude ionosphere (magnetic inclination ~27°) in Tucumán region, Argentina, are presented. Measurements were carried out by multipoint continuous Doppler system during 1 year from December 2012 to November 2013. It was found that meridian propagation of GWs dominated and that southward propagation prevailed in the local summer. Oblique spread structures observed in Doppler shift spectrograms and associated with spread F propagated roughly eastward at velocities from ~70 to ~180 m/s and were observed at night from ~ September to ~ March. The velocities were computed for 182 events and the azimuths for 64 events. Continuous Doppler sounding makes it possible to analyze more events compared to optical observations often used for propagation studies since the measurements do not depend on weather.Fil: Chum, J.. Institute of Atmospheric Physics; República ChecaFil: Miranda Bonomi, Fernando Alberto. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Departamento de Electricidad, Electrónica y Computación. Laboratorio de Telecomunicaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Fišer, J.. Institute of Atmospheric Physics; República ChecaFil: Cabrera, M. A.. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Departamento de Electricidad, Electrónica y Computación. Laboratorio de Telecomunicaciones; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Tucuman; ArgentinaFil: Ezquer, Rodolfo Gerardo. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Tucuman; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Departamento de Física. Laboratorio de Ionosfera; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Burešová, D.. Institute of Atmospheric Physics; República ChecaFil: Laštovička, J.. Institute of Atmospheric Physics; República ChecaFil: Baše, J.. Institute of Atmospheric Physics; República ChecaFil: Hruška, F.. Institute of Atmospheric Physics; República ChecaFil: Molina, Maria Graciela. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Departamento de Ciencias de la Computación; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Ise, Juan Eduardo. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Departamento de Electricidad, Electrónica y Computación. Laboratorio de Telecomunicaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Cangemi, José Ignacio. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Departamento de Electricidad, Electrónica y Computación. Laboratorio de Telecomunicaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Šindelářová, T.. Institute of Atmospheric Physics; República Chec

The new ionospheric station of Tucumán: first results

An Advanced Ionospheric Sounder, built at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Rome, Italy, was installed at Tucumán, Argentina, particularly interesting for its location, near the southern peak of the ionospheric equatorial anomaly. The aim of this installation is to collect a large number of continuous data useful both to study the dynamics of the equatorial ionospheric plasma and to develop reliable regional ionospheric prediction models. Moreover this ionosonde will contribute to the ionospheric database and real time knowledge of Southern Hemisphere ionospheric conditions for space weather applications. The ionosonde is completely programmable and two PCs support the data acquisition, control, storage and on-line processing. In this work the first results, in terms of ionograms and autoscaled characteristics, are presented and briefly discussed

A different approach to the analysis of GPS scintillation data

Amplitude scintillation data from GPS were analyzed. The objective is to estimate the impact of ionospheric scintillations at Satellite Based Augmentation Systems Ranging and Integrity Monitoring Station (SBAS RIMS) level and at GPS user level. For this purpose, a new approach to the problem was considered. Data were studied from the point of view of the impact of scintillations on the calculation of VTEC at pierce points and ionospheric grid points. An ionospheric grid of 5° 5° surface squares was assumed. From geometrical considerations and
 taking into account the basic principle to compute VTEC at grid points, with the data analyzed it is shown that scintillations very seldom affect the calculation of a grid point VTEC. Data from all the RIMS and for the entire GPS satellites network must be analyzed simultaneously to describe a realistic scenario for the impact of scintillations on SBAS. Finally, GPS scintillation data were analyzed at user level: service availability problems were encountered

Carbohydrate reserves and seed development : an overview

Seeds are one of the most important food sources, providing humans and animals with essential nutrients. These nutrients include carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, vitamins and minerals. Carbohydrates are one of the main energy sources for both plant and animal cells and play a fundamental role in seed development, human nutrition and the food industry. Many studies have focused on the molecular pathways that control carbohydrate flow during seed development in monocot and dicot species. For this reason, an overview of seed biodiversity focused on the multiple metabolic and physiological mechanisms that govern seed carbohydrate storage function in the plant kingdom is required. A large number of mutants affecting carbohydrate metabolism, which display defective seed development, are currently available for many plant species. The physiological, biochemical and biomolecular study of such mutants has led researchers to understand better how metabolism of carbohydrates works in plants and the critical role that these carbohydrates, and especially starch, play during seed development. In this review, we summarize and analyze the newest findings related to carbohydrate metabolism\u2019s effects on seed development, pointing out key regulatory genes and enzymes that influence seed sugar import and metabolism. Our review also aims to provide guidelines for future research in the field and in this way to assist seed quality optimization by targeted genetic engineering and classical breeding programs