Temperature constraints on the coldest brown dwarf known WISE 0855-0714

Context. Nearby isolated planetary mass objects are beginning to be discovered, but their individual properties are poorly constrained because their low surface temperatures and strong molecular self-absorption make them extremely faint. Aims. We aimed to detect the near infrared emission of the coldest brown dwarf (BD) found so far, WISE0855$-$0714, located $\sim$2.2 pc away, and to improve its temperature estimate (T$_{\rm eff}$= 225-260 K) from a comparison with state-of-the-art models of BD atmospheres. Methods. We observed the field containing WISE0855-0714 with HAWK-I at the VLT in the $Y$ band. For BDs with T$_{\rm eff}<$500\,K theoretical models predict strong signal (or rather less molecular absorption) in this band. Results. WISE0855-0714 was not detected in our Y-band images, thus placing an upper limit on its brightness to Y>24.4 mag at 3-$\sigma$ level, leading to Y-[4.5]>10.5. Combining this limit with previous detections and upper limits at other wavelengths, WISE0855$-$0714 is confirmed as the reddest BD detected, further supporting its status as the coldest known brown dwarf. We applied spectral energy distribution fitting with collections of models from two independent groups for extremely cool BD atmospheres leading to an effective temperature of T$_{\rm eff}<$250\,K,.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. A&A letter Accepte

Community-Driven Methods for Open and Reproducible Software Tools for Analyzing Datasets from Atom Probe Microscopy

Atom probe tomography, and related methods, probe the composition and the three-dimensional architecture of materials. The software tools which microscopists use, and how these tools are connected into workflows, make a substantial contribution to the accuracy and precision of such material characterization experiments. Typically, we adapt methods from other communities like mathematics, data science, computational geometry, artificial intelligence, or scientific computing. We also realize that improving on research data management is a challenge when it comes to align with the FAIR data stewardship principles. Faced with this global challenge, we are convinced it is useful to join forces. Here, we report the results and challenges with an inter-laboratory call for developing test cases for several types of atom probe microscopy software tools. The results support why defining detailed recipes of software workflows and sharing these recipes is necessary and rewarding: Open source tools and (meta)data exchange can help to make our day-to-day data processing tasks become more efficient, the training of new users and knowledge transfer become easier, and assist us with automated quantification of uncertainties to gain access to substantiated results

Analysis of milk using a portable potentiometric electronic tongue based on five polymeric membrane sensors

A portable potentiometric electronic tongue (PE-tongue) was developed and applied to evaluate the quality of milk with different fat content (skimmed, semi-skimmed, and whole) and with different nutritional content (classic, calcium-enriched, lactose-free, folic acid-enriched, and enriched in sterols of vegetal origin). The system consisted of a simplified array of five sensors based on PVC membranes, coupled to a data logger. The five sensors were selected from a larger set of 20 sensors by applying the genetic algorithm (GA) to the responses to compounds usually found in milk including salts (KCl, CaCl2, and NaCl), sugars (lactose, glucose, and galactose), and organic acids (citric acid and lactic acid). Principal component analysis (PCA) and support vector machine (SVM) results indicated that the PE-tongue consisting of a five-electrode array could successfully discriminate and classify milk samples according to their nutritional content. The PE-tongue provided similar discrimination capability to that of a more complex system formed by a 20-sensor array. SVM regression models were used to predict the physicochemical parameters classically used in milk quality control (acidity, density, %proteins, %lactose, and %fat). The prediction results were excellent and similar to those obtained with a much more complex array consisting of 20 sensors. Moreover, the SVM method confirmed that spoilage of unsealed milk could be correctly identified with the simplified system and the increase in acidity could be accurately predicted. The results obtained demonstrate the possibility of using the simplified PE-tongue to predict milk quality and provide information on the chemical composition of milk using a simple and portable system.We appreciate the financial support of MINECO-FEDER Plan Nacional (RTI 2018-097990-B-100) and Junta de Castilla y Leon - FEDER (VA275P18) and “Infraestructuras Red de Castilla y León (INFRARED)” UVA01info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Radiative Transfer in a Clumpy Universe: III. The Nature of Cosmological Ionizing Sources

The history of the transition from a neutral intergalactic medium (IGM) to one that is almost fully ionized can reveal the character of cosmological ionizing sources. We study the evolution of the volume filling factor of HII and HeIII regions in a clumpy IGM, and discuss the implications for rival reionization scenarios of the rapid decline in the space density of radio-loud quasars and of the large population of star-forming galaxies recently observed at z>3. The hydrogen component in a highly inhomogeneous universe is completely reionized when the number of photons emitted above 1 ryd in one recombination time equals the mean number of hydrogen atoms. If stellar sources are responsible for keeping the IGM ionized at z=5, the rate of star formation at this epoch must be comparable or greater than the one inferred from optical observations of galaxies at z=3, and the mean metallicity per baryon in the universe of order 1/500 solar. An early generation of stars in dark matter halos with circular velocities v_circ=50 km/s, possibly one of the main source of UV photons at high-z, could be detectable with the Next Generation Space Telescope. Models in which the quasar emissivity declines rapidly at z>3 predict a late HeII reionization epoch, a feature that could explain the recent detection of patchy HeII Lyman-alpha at z=2.9 by Reimers et al. (1997) and the abrupt change observed by Songaila (1998) at about the same epoch of the SiIV/CIV ratio, but appear unable to provide the required number of hydrogen-ionizing photons at z=5.Comment: LaTeX, 29 pages, 5 figures, submitted to the Ap

ROSAT observations of X-ray emission from planetary nebulae

We have searched the entire ROSAT archive for useful observations to study X-ray emission from Galactic planetary nebulae (PNs). The search yields a sample of 63 PNs, which we call the ROSAT PN sample. About 20-25% of this sample show X-ray emission; these include 13 definite detections and three possible detections (at a 2-sigma level). All X-ray sources in these PNs are concentrated near the central stars. Only A 30, BD+30 3639, and NGC 6543 are marginally resolved by the ROSAT instruments. Three types of X-ray spectra are seen in PNs. Type 1 consists of only soft X-ray emission (<0.5 keV), peaks at 0.1-0.2 keV, and can be fitted by blackbody models at temperatures 1-2 10^5 K. Type 2 consists of harder X-ray emission, peaks at >0.5 keV, and can be fitted by thin plasma emission models at temperatures of a few 10^6 K. Type 3 is a composite of a bright Type 1 component and a fainter Type 2 component. Unresolved soft sources with Type 1 spectra or the soft component of Type 3 spectra are most likely photospheric emission from the hot central stars. Absorption cross sections are large for these soft-energy photons; therefore, only large, tenuous, evolved PNs with hot central stars and small absorption column densities have been detected. The origin of hard X-ray emission from PNs is uncertain. PNs with Type 2 spectra are small, dense, young nebulae with relatively cool (<<10^5 K) central stars, while PNs with Type 3 X-ray spectra are large, tenuous, evolved nebulae with hot central stars. The hard X-ray luminosities are also different between these two types of PNs, indicating perhaps different origins of their hard X-ray emission. Future Chandra and XMM observations with high spatial and spectral resolution will help to understand the origin of hard X-ray emission from PNs.Comment: To be published in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 21 pages, 7 figures, 5 table

Combining QCD Matrix Elements at Next-to-Leading Order with Parton Showers in Electroproduction

We present a method to combine next-to-leading order (NLO) matrix elements in QCD with leading logarithmic parton showers by applying a suitably modified version of the phase-space-slicing method. The method consists of subsuming the NLO corrections into a scale-dependent phase-space-slicing parameter, which is then automatically adjusted to cut out the leading order, virtual, soft and collinear contributions in the matrix element calculation. In this way a positive NLO weight is obtained, which can be redistributed by a parton shower algortihm. As an example, we display the method for single-jet inclusive cross sections at O(alpha_s) in electroproduction. We numerically compare the modified version of the phase-space-slicing method with the standard approach and find very good agreement on the percent level.Comment: 21 pages, 2 eps figures. Revised section 2. To appear in PR

Alcohol intake and risk of breast cancer: the euramic study

To evaluate the association of alcohol intake with the risk of breast cancer in post-menopausal women, we analyzed the data from an international case-control study conducted in five European countries (FRG, Switzerland, Northern Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain). Information on alcohol intake was available in 315 cases and 364 controls. Medians for the tertiles of alcohol intake among current drinkers were 1.7, 6.0, and 20.0 g/day. Adjusted relative risks (and 95% confidence intervals) of breast cancer for each tertile of intake in current drinkers, compared to never drinkers, were 1.00 (0.60-1.67), 1.01 (0.60-1.73), and 1.18 (0.69-2.03). The adjusted relative risk for ex-drinkers was 1.73 (1.07-2.79). Among both current drinkers and ex-drinkers, the relative risk was higher for those with body mass index above the median compared to those with body mass index below the median. These results do not support a dose-response effect of alcohol on breast cancer risk, although consumption levels were too low to exclude increased risk with high regular intake. Further research is necessary to evaluate the risk of developing breast cancer among ex-drinkers and the potential interaction between body mass index and alcohol drinking.Thc EURAMIC Study was supported as an European Community Concerted Action by the Commission of the European Communities (con-tracts number MR4*/265/NL and MR4*/CT91/0369[SSMA]). The natio-nal studies were financed by grants from the Dutch Ministry of Health, the Spanish "Fondo de Invcstigacioncs Sanitarias" (91E0575), the German Fe-deral Health Office, the Cancer Research Switzerland (AKT76), the Swiss National Science Foundation (32-9257-87), the Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation, the Ulster Cancer Foundation and Milk Intervention Board (co-responsibi-lity Levy Disbursement Reg EEC 110/90 Contract 77.2).S

Using LES to Study Reacting Flows and Instabilities in Annular Combustion Chambers

Great prominence is put on the design of aeronautical gas turbines due to increasingly stringent regulations and the need to tackle rising fuel prices. This drive towards innovation has resulted sometimes in new concepts being prone to combustion instabilities. In the particular field of annular combustion chambers, these instabilities often take the form of azimuthal modes. To predict these modes, one must compute the full combustion chamber, which remained out of reach until very recently and the development of massively parallel computers. Since one of the most limiting factors in performing Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of real combustors is estimating the adequate grid, the effects of mesh resolution are investigated by computing full annular LES of a realistic helicopter combustion chamber on three grids, respectively made of 38, 93 and 336 million elements. Results are compared in terms of mean and fluctuating fields. LES captures self-established azimuthal modes. The presence and structure of the modes is discussed. This study therefore highlights the potential of LES for studying combustion instabilities in annular gas turbine combustors

An XMM-Newton search for X-ray sources in the Fornax dwarf galaxy

We report the results of a deep archive XMM-Newton observation of the Fornax spheroidal galaxy that we analyzed with the aim of fully characterizing the X-ray source population (in most of the cases likely to be background active galactic nuclei) detected towards the target. A cross correlation with the available databases allowed us to find a source that may be associated with a variable star belonging to the galaxy. We also searched for X-ray sources in the vicinity of the Fornax globular clusters GC 3 and GC 4 and found two sources probably associated with the respective clusters. The deep X-ray observation was also suitable for the search of the intermediate-mass black hole (of mass $\simeq 10^{4}$ M$_{\odot}$) expected to be hosted in the center of the galaxy. In the case of Fornax, this search is extremely difficult since the galaxy centroid of gravity is poorly constrained because of the large asymmetry observed in the optical surface brightness. Since we cannot firmly establish the existence of an X-ray counterpart of the putative black hole, we put constraints only on the accretion parameters. In particular, we found that the corresponding upper limit on the accretion efficiency, with respect to the Eddington luminosity, is as low as a few $10^{-5}$.Comment: In press on Astronomy and Astrophysics. 12 Pages, colour figures on the on-line version of the pape