XMM-Newton Observations of Radio Pulsars B0834+06 and B0826-34 and Implications for Pulsar Inner Accelerator

We report the X-ray observations of two radio pulsars with drifting subpulses: B0834 + 06 and B0826 - 34 using \xmm\. PSR B0834 + 06 was detected with a total of 70 counts from the three EPIC instruments over 50 ks exposure time. Its spectrum was best described as that of a blackbody (BB) with temperature $T_s=(2.0^{+2.0}_{-0.9}) \times 10^6$ K and bolometric luminosity of $L_b=(8.6^{+14.2}_{-4.4}) \times 10^{28}$ erg s$^{-1}$. As it is typical in pulsars with BB thermal components in their X-ray spectra, the hot spot surface area is much smaller than that of the canonical polar cap, implying a non-dipolar surface magnetic field much stronger than the dipolar component derived from the pulsar spin-down (in this case about 50 times smaller and stronger, respectively). The second pulsar PSR B0826 - 34 was not detected over 50 ks exposure time, giving an upper limit for the bolometric luminosity $L_b \leq 1.4 \times 10^{29}$ erg s$^{-1}$. We use these data as well as the radio emission data concerned with drifting subpulses to test the Partially Screened Gap (PSG) model of the inner accelerator in pulsars.Comment: Accepted for publication by The Astrophysical Journa

A Methodology to Evaluate the Maintainability of Enterprise Application Integration Frameworks

Consulting companies that specialise in Enterprise Application Integration commonly require adapting existing frameworks to specific domains. Currently, there are many such frameworks available, most of which provide a materialisation of the well-known catalogue of patterns that was devised by Hohpe and Woolf. The decision regarding which framework must be used is critical since adaptation costs are not negligible. In this article, we report on a methodology that helps practitioners make a decision regarding which framework should be selected. To the best of our knowledge, there is not a previous methodology in the literature. Its salient features are that we have assembled a catalogue of measures regarding which there is a consensus in the literature that they are clearly aligned with the effort required to maintain a piece of software and we propose a statistically-sound method to produce a rank. We illustrate our proposal with an industrial case study that we have performed using five open-source frameworks.Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia TIN2007-64119Junta de Andalucía P07-TIC-2602Junta de Andalucía P08-TIC-4100Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2008-04718-EMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2010-21744Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad TIN2010-09809-EMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2010-10811-EMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2010-09988-EMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2013- 40848-

Exploring the sustainable production of ammonia by recycling N and H in biological residues: Evolution of fuel-N during glutamic acid gasification

In this work, the recycling of nitrogen and hydrogen from nitrogen-rich (N-rich) biological residues via autothermal gasification has been proposed as a process suitable for the sustainable production of ammonia (NH3). Two N-rich biological residues, sewage sludge and meat and bone meal, were used and analyzed in this work and glutamic acid was selected as the model compound of the protein-fuel-N in these residues. Glutamic acid gasification experiments were carried out in order to study the effect of temperature (800–900 °C) and steam-to-carbon ratio (0.5–1.0 g g-1) on the conversion of fuel-N into the most typical N-containing gasification products: NH3, molecular nitrogen (N2), hydrogen cyanide (HCN), nitrogen monoxide (NO), tar-N and char-N. Sewage sludge and meat and bone meal were also gasified under selected operating conditions with the main aim of assessing the NH3 production. The most abundant N-containing compounds obtained in the gasification of glutamic acid were NH3 (35–51% over fuel-N) and N2 (45–63% over fuel-N). The highest conversion of fuel-N to NH3–N in the glutamic acid gasification experiments (51%) was obtained at the lowest temperature (800 °C) and the lowest S/C ratio (0.5 g g-1). The increase in the temperature caused a decrease in the yield of NH3, as a consequence of its decomposition into N2. A similar fuel-N distribution was found when sewage sludge and meat and bone meal were gasified, obtaining joint yields of HCN–N, NO–N, tar-N and char-N lower than 5%, and being NH3–N (30–67%) and N2–N (28–68%) the majority products. The yields of NH3–N obtained from glutamic acid (51%), sewage sludge (30%), and meat and bone meal (67%) under the same gasification operating conditions were significantly different. These differences were attributed to the catalytic effect of the metals present in these residues and point to the need to optimize the operating conditions specifically for each residue. In summary, gasification of sewage sludge and meat and bone meal may be able to produce around 10% of the NH3 produced annually in Europe and between 102 and 262 GJ·ton-1 NH3 thanks to the combustion of the syngas generated

Smart implanted access port catheter for therapy intervention with pH and lactate biosensors.

Totally implanted access ports (TIAP) are widely used with oncology patients requiring long term central venous access for the delivery of chemotherapeutic agents, infusions, transfusions, blood sample collection and parenteral nutrition. Such devices offer a significant improvement to the quality of life for patients and reduced complication rates, particularly infection, in contrast to the classical central venous catheters. Nevertheless, infections do occur, with biofilm formation bringing difficulties to the treatment of infection-related complications that can ultimately lead to the explantation of the device. A smart TIAP device that is sensor-enabled to detect infection prior to extensive biofilm formation would reduce the cases for potential device explantation, whereas biomarkers detection within body fluids such as pH or lactate would provide vital information regarding metabolic processes occurring inside the body. In this paper, we propose a novel batteryless and wireless device suitable for the interrogation of such markers in an embodiment model of an TIAP, with miniature biochemical sensing needles. Device readings can be carried out by a smartphone equipped with Near Field Communication (NFC) interface at relative short distances off-body, while providing radiofrequency energy harvesting capability to the TIAP, useful for assessing patient's health and potential port infection on demand

Miniaturized Piezo Force Sensor for a Medical Catheter and Implantable Device

Real-time monitoring of intrabody pressures can benefit from the use of miniaturized force sensors during surgical interventions or for the recovery period thereafter. Herein, we present a force sensor made of poly(vinylidene fluoride)-co-trifluoroethylene (P(VDF-TrFE)) with a simple fabrication process that has been integrated into the tip of a medical catheter for intraluminal pressure monitoring, as well as into an implantable device with a power consumption of 180 μW obtained by the near-field communication (NFC) interface to monitor the arterial pulse at the subcutaneous level (≤1 cm). The pressure range supported by the sensor is below 40 kPa, with a signal responsivity of 0.63 μV/Pa and a mean lifetime expectancy of 400 000 loading cycles inside physiological conditions (12 kPa). The proposed sensor has been tested experimentally with synthetic anatomical models for the lungs (bronchoscopy) and subcutaneous tissue, as well as directly above the human carotid and radial arteries. Information about these pressure levels can provide insights about tissue homeostasis inside the body as fluid dynamics are altered in some health conditions affecting the hemodynamic and endocrine body systems, whereas for surgical interventions, precise control and estimation of the pressure exerted by a catheter over the internal walls are necessary to avoid endothelium injuries that lead to bleeding, liquid extravasation, or flow alteration associated with atheroma formation

Advances in a DSL for Application Integration

Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) is currently one of the big challenges for Software Engineering. According to a recent report, for each dollar spent on developing an application, companies usually spend from 5 to 20 dollars to integrate it. In this paper, we propose a Domain Specific Language (DSL) for designing application integration solutions. It builds on our experience on two real-world integration projects

A comparative evaluation of interest point detectors and local descriptors for visual SLAM

Abstract In this paper we compare the behavior of different interest points detectors and descriptors under the conditions needed to be used as landmarks in vision-based simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). We evaluate the repeatability of the detectors, as well as the invariance and distinctiveness of the descriptors, under different perceptual conditions using sequences of images representing planar objects as well as 3D scenes. We believe that this information will be useful when selecting an appropriat

Transmission planning in a deregulated environment

The worldwide trend for the deregulation of the electricity generation and transmission industries has led to dramatic changes in system operation and planning procedures. The optimum approach to transmission-expansion planning in a deregulated environment is an open problem especially when the responsibilities of the organisations carrying out the planning work need to be addressed. To date there is a consensus that the system operator and network manager perform the expansion planning work in a centralised way. However, with an increasing input from the electricity market, the objectives, constraints and approaches toward transmission planning should be carefully designed to ensure system reliability as well as meeting the market requirements. A market-oriented approach for transmission planning in a deregulated environment is proposed. Case studies using the IEEE 14-bus system and the Australian national electricity market grid are performed. In addition, the proposed method is compared with a traditional planning method to further verify its effectiveness

Photometry of the SW Sex-type nova-like BH Lyncis in high state

Aims: We present a photometric study of the deeply eclipsing SW Sex-type nova-like cataclysmic variable star BH Lyn Methods: Time-resolved V-band CCD photometry was obtained for seven nights between 1999 and 2004. Results: We determined 11 new eclipse timings of BH Lyn and derived a refined orbital ephemeris with an orbital period of 0.155875577(14) day. During the observations, BH Lyn was in high-state with V~15.5 mag. The star presents ~1.5 mag deep eclipses with mean full-width at half-flux of 0.0683(+/-0.0054)P_orb. The eclipse shape is highly variable, even changing form cycle to cycle. This is most likely due to accretion disc surface brightness distribution variations, most probably caused by strong flickering. Time-dependent accretion disc self-occultation or variations of the hot spot(s) intensity are also possible explanations. Negative superhumps with period of ~0.145 day are detected in two long runs in 2000. A possible connection between SW Sex and negative superhump phenomena through the presence of tilted accretion disc is discussed, and a way to observationally test this is suggested