Discovery and physical characterization as the first response to a potential asteroid collision: The case of 2023 DZ2

Near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) that may evolve into impactors deserve detailed threat assessment studies. Early physical characterization of a would-be impactor may help in optimizing impact mitigation plans. We first detected NEA 2023~DZ$_{2}$ on 27--February--2023. After that, it was found to have a Minimum Orbit Intersection Distance (MOID) with Earth of 0.00005~au as well as an unusually high initial probability of becoming a near-term (in 2026) impactor. We aim to perform a rapid but consistent dynamical and physical characterization of 2023~DZ$_{2}$ as an example of a key response to mitigate the consequences of a potential impact. We use a multi-pronged approach, drawing from various methods (observational/computational) and techniques (spectroscopy/photometry from multiple instruments), and bringing the data together to perform a rapid and robust threat assessment.} The visible reflectance spectrum of 2023~DZ$_{2}$ is consistent with that of an X-type asteroid. Light curves of this object obtained on two different nights give a rotation period $P$=6.2743$\pm$0.0005 min with an amplitude $A$=0.57$\pm$0.14~mag. We confirm that although its MOID is among the smallest known, 2023~DZ$_{2}$ will not impact Earth in the foreseeable future as a result of secular near-resonant behaviour. Our investigation shows that coordinated observation and interpretation of disparate data provides a robust approach from discovery to threat assessment when a virtual impactor is identified. We prove that critical information can be obtained within a few days after the announcement of the potential impactor.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 15 page

Salivating for Knowledge: Potential Pharmacological Agents in Tick Saliva

Joppe Hovius and colleagues review anticoagulant and immunosuppressive proteins present in tick saliva, and discuss how immunologically targeting such molecules could prevent transmission of tick-borne pathogens

Risk factors in the development of stem cell therapy

Stem cell therapy holds the promise to treat degenerative diseases, cancer and repair of damaged tissues for which there are currently no or limited therapeutic options. The potential of stem cell therapies has long been recognised and the creation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) has boosted the stem cell field leading to increasing development and scientific knowledge. Despite the clinical potential of stem cell based medicinal products there are also potential and unanticipated risks. These risks deserve a thorough discussion within the perspective of current scientific knowledge and experience. Evaluation of potential risks should be a prerequisite step before clinical use of stem cell based medicinal products

Multimessenger Gamma-Ray and Neutrino Coincidence Alerts using HAWC and IceCube sub-threshold Data

The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) and IceCube observatories, through the Astrophysical Multimessenger Observatory Network (AMON) framework, have developed a multimessenger joint search for extragalactic astrophysical sources. This analysis looks for sources that emit both cosmic neutrinos and gamma rays that are produced in photo-hadronic or hadronic interactions. The AMON system is running continuously, receiving sub-threshold data (i.e. data that is not suited on its own to do astrophysical searches) from HAWC and IceCube, and combining them in real-time. We present here the analysis algorithm, as well as results from archival data collected between June 2015 and August 2018, with a total live-time of 3.0 years. During this period we found two coincident events that have a false alarm rate (FAR) of $<1$ coincidence per year, consistent with the background expectations. The real-time implementation of the analysis in the AMON system began on November 20th, 2019, and issues alerts to the community through the Gamma-ray Coordinates Network with a FAR threshold of $<4$ coincidences per year.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, 3 table

Canagliflozin and renal outcomes in type 2 diabetes and nephropathy

BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of kidney failure worldwide, but few effective long-term treatments are available. In cardiovascular trials of inhibitors of sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2), exploratory results have suggested that such drugs may improve renal outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS In this double-blind, randomized trial, we assigned patients with type 2 diabetes and albuminuric chronic kidney disease to receive canagliflozin, an oral SGLT2 inhibitor, at a dose of 100 mg daily or placebo. All the patients had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 30 to &lt;90 ml per minute per 1.73 m2 of body-surface area and albuminuria (ratio of albumin [mg] to creatinine [g], &gt;300 to 5000) and were treated with renin–angiotensin system blockade. The primary outcome was a composite of end-stage kidney disease (dialysis, transplantation, or a sustained estimated GFR of &lt;15 ml per minute per 1.73 m2), a doubling of the serum creatinine level, or death from renal or cardiovascular causes. Prespecified secondary outcomes were tested hierarchically. RESULTS The trial was stopped early after a planned interim analysis on the recommendation of the data and safety monitoring committee. At that time, 4401 patients had undergone randomization, with a median follow-up of 2.62 years. The relative risk of the primary outcome was 30% lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group, with event rates of 43.2 and 61.2 per 1000 patient-years, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59 to 0.82; P=0.00001). The relative risk of the renal-specific composite of end-stage kidney disease, a doubling of the creatinine level, or death from renal causes was lower by 34% (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.81; P&lt;0.001), and the relative risk of end-stage kidney disease was lower by 32% (hazard ratio, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.86; P=0.002). The canagliflozin group also had a lower risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke (hazard ratio, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.67 to 0.95; P=0.01) and hospitalization for heart failure (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.47 to 0.80; P&lt;0.001). There were no significant differences in rates of amputation or fracture. CONCLUSIONS In patients with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, the risk of kidney failure and cardiovascular events was lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group at a median follow-up of 2.62 years

Alocação energeticamente e ciente de máquinas virtuais

Centros de processamento de dados (CPDs) são responsáveis por 1,5 por cento do consumo mundial de energia elétrica. Esse consumo tende a ampliar diretamente o efeito estufa e a emissão de gás carbônico. Técnicas de virtualização, que já vêm sendo utilizadas em provedores de computação em nuvem, podem ser utilizadas para aumentar a eciência energética de CPDs já que, com a virtualização, a infraestrutura nesses centros passa a permitir o compartilhamento de um mesmo hardware físico por várias máquinas virtuais (MVs). Uma alocação eciente de MVs pode diminuir a necessidade de hardware e o consumo de energia. Boa parte dos algoritmos de alocação de VMs existentes foca no compartilhamento de um único tipo de recurso, como o processador, ou assume que as demandas de recursos são determinísticas. Nesta dissertação de mestrado são apresentados e comparados algoritmos de alocação de VMs com o objetivo de reduzir o consumo de energia elétrica, além de serem considerados vários tipos de recursos com demandas não determinísticas. São implementados mecanismos de consolidação de VMs para reduzir o consumo de energia em CPDs e sem violar SLAs. Três algoritmos são apresentados. Os algoritmos diferem-se pela heurística implementada, sendo que dois deles baseiam-se no problema da mochila e um modela o problema utilizando computação evolutiva. Em média, em experimentos de simulação com congurações de computadores reais, os algoritmos propostos reduziram o consumo de energia a partir de 52 por cento até 89 por cento. Um framework de programação, disponibilizado como software livre, foi desenvolvido para executar as simulações e representa uma contribuição secundária da dissertação.Data centers' electric power consumption corresponds to almost 1.5 percent of the total world wide elec- tric power consumption, with the consequent greenhouse eect and CO2 footprints. Virtualization techniques, which are already used by cloud computing providers, improve the energetic eciency of data centers infrastructure, since they enable the sharing of a same physical hardware among several Virtual Machines (VMs). An ecient VMs placement can reduce the hardware and energy needs. Most of the existing VMs placement algorithms focuses on the sharing of a single resource, like the processor, or assumes that resources demands are deterministic. In this dissertation, algorithms to place VMs, aiming the reduction of electric energy, are presented and compared. Besides, the algorithms consider multiple stochastic resources. The algorithms implement VMs consolidation mechanisms to reduce energy consumption in data centers and without violating SLAs. three algorithms are presented. The algorithms dier by the implemented heuristic. Two are based on the knapsack problem and one models the problem using evolutionary computation. In average, in sim- ulation experiments considering congurations of real computers, the proposed algorithms reduced the energy consumption starting from 52 percent up to 89 percent. A development framework, made available as free software, was developed to run the simulations and represents a secondary contribution of the dissertation

El jaciment Presido (l'Estartit), un git controlat de plom e la Goleta de Sant Rafael (1804)

El 1997, al fons del mar proper a l'Estartit fou localitzat un conjunt de 197 barres de plom. L'estudi pretés determinsr el su origen  com una part de la càrrega de la goleta mallorquina Sant Rafael, la qual feia la ruta d'Almeria a Agde l'any 180

From princeps to president? Comparing local political leadership transformation

Using conceptual dimensions identified by the literature on political leadership, this article compares its transformations at the local level in Europe. Often associated with the alleged shift to governance, the strengthening of the executive comes forward as the underlying tendency in contemporary local leadership. Empowered individualised leadership emerges, in terms of coming to and taking office, challenging traditional notions of tasks, style and conditions of local leadership. Such a tendency does not imply the apparent Americanisation of political leadership however, as the articles in this collection show, rather a path dependent European route has emerged