Extreme Ultraviolet Reflective Grating Characterization and Simulationsfor the Aspera SmallSat Mission

The Aspera SmallSat mission is designed to detect and map the warm-hot gaseous component of the halos of nearby galaxies through long-slit spectroscopy of the ionized O VI emission line (103.2 nm) for the first time. The Aspera Rowland circle type spectrograph uses a toroidal grating coated with a multilayer film consisting of aluminum, lithium fluoride, and magnesium fluoride capping to optimize reflectivity in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) waveband from 103 to 104nm. We discuss the grating characterization test setup at the University of Arizona (UA), which will validate the multilayer coating and grating efficiency in a UV vacuum chamber. We also simulate the reflectivity of the multilayer thin film coating using IMD IDL software to compare simulated results with measured reflectivity. Additionally, non-sequential ray trace simulations and 3D CAD modeling are used for verification of the test setup. Finally, the implications of the differences between the measured and simulated reflectivity and grating efficiencies are considered, including impact to the mission

Comparison among four maize varieties in conventional and low input cultivation

In this work we compared, using a randomized block design, four early maize (Zea mays L.) varieties: three traditional varieties (Millo Corvo, Scagliolo, Agostanello) and one modern hybrid (LG 25.38) grown in conventional vs low input farming. We recorded different agronomic parameters and we performed bromatological and ICP-MS analyses, and also quantified carotenoids, anthocyanins and mycotoxins. The analysis of agronomic parameters showed a general trend of better yields from conventional farming. Bromatological analysis did not show significant differences, we found more differences among varieties than between conventional and low input farming. Regarding minerals analysis, with the exception of the iron content, which was significantly higher from low input farming, we found high variability among the genotypes studied. The anthocyanins content, analyzed in the colored variety Millo Corvo, showed a statistically higher value in low imput farming. Finally, in both cultivation methods the level of fumonisins contamination was under the threshold limit. Taken together our data suggest that the effect of the genotypes was considerably higher than the effect of the cultivation method, hence it is the choice of the variety that will determine the nutritional value of the product harvested