The Distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud from the Eclipsing Binary HV2274

The distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is crucial for the calibration of the Cosmic Distance Scale. We derive a distance to the LMC based on an analysis of ground-based photometry and HST-based spectroscopy and spectrophotometry of the LMC eclipsing binary system HV2274. Analysis of the optical light curve and HST/GHRS radial velocity curve provides the masses and radii of the binary components. Analysis of the HST/FOS UV/optical spectrophotometry provides the temperatures of the component stars and the interstellar extinction of the system. When combined, these data yield a distance to the binary system. After correcting for the location of HV2274 with respect to the center of the LMC, we find d(LMC) = 45.7 +/- 1.6 kpc or DM(LMC) = 18.30 +/- 0.07 mag. This result, which is immune to the metallicity-induced zero point uncertainties that have plagued other techniques, lends strong support to the ``short'' LMC distance scale as derived from a number of independent methods.Comment: 6 pages, including 2 pages of figures. Newly available optical (B and V) photometry has revealed -- and allowed the elimination of -- a systematic error in the previously reported determination of E(B-V) for HV2274. The new result is E(B-V) = 0.12 mag (as compared to the value of 0.083 reported in the original submission) and produces a DECREASE in the distance modulus of HV2274 by 0.12 mag. ApJ Letters, in pres

Identificación y caracterización del paisaje mediante parámetros visuales del relieve. REDIAM

El presente trabajo tiene como fin crear una metodología que permita construir un modelo objetivo, replicable, homogéneo y sistemático, que permita analizar y caracterizar un relieve desde el punto de vista visual, y cuyo resultado constituya un instrumento para la toma de decisiones, basadas en criterios paisajísticos, en la planificación y gestión de recursos naturales.This paper intends to create a methodology for building an objective, replicable, consistent and systematic model for analyzing and characterizing a relief from the visual point of view in order to provide a tool for landscape-based decision making on natural resources planning and management

Metallicity determination in gas-rich galaxies with semiempirical methods

A study of the precision of the semiempirical methods used in the determination of the chemical abundances in gas-rich galaxies is carried out. In order to do this the oxygen abundances of a total of 438 galaxies were determined using the electronic temperature, the $R_{23}$ and the P methods. The new calibration of the P method gives the smaller dispersion for the low and high metallicity regions, while the best numbers in the turnaround region are given by the $R_{23}$ method. We also found that the dispersion correlates with the metallicity. Finally, it can be said that all the semiempirical methods studied here are quite insensitive to metallicity with a value of $8.0\pm0.2$ dex for more than 50% of the total sample. \keywords{ISM: abundances; (ISM): H {\sc ii} regions}Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures and 2 tables. To appear at AJ, January 200

Detection, size characterization and quantification of silver nanoparticles in consumer products by particle collision coulometry

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are widely used in industrial and consumer products owing to its antimicrobial nature and multiple applications. Consequently, their release into the environment is becoming a big concern because of their negative impacts on living organisms. In this work, AgNPs were detected at a potential of + 0.70 V vs. Ag/AgCl reference electrode, characterized, and quantified in consumer products by particle collision coulometry (PCC). The electrochemical results were compared with those measured with electron microscopy and single-particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The theoretical and practical peculiarities of the application of PCC technique in the characterization of AgNPs were studied. Reproducible size distributions of the AgNPs were measured in a range 10–100 nm diameters. A power allometric function model was found between the frequency of the AgNPs collisions onto the electrode surface and the number concentration of nanoparticles up to a silver concentration of 1010 L-1 (ca. 25 ng L-1 for 10 nm AgNPs). A linear relationship between the number of collisions and the number concentration of silver nanoparticles was observed up to 5 × 107 L-1. The PCC method was applied to the quantification and size determination of the AgNPs in three-silver containing consumer products (a natural antibiotic and two food supplements). The mean of the size distributions (of the order 10–20 nm diameters) agrees with those measured by electron microscopy. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Heterogeneous pipelined square-root Kalman Filter algorithm for the MMSE-OSIC problem

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11227-009-0354-x[EN] This paper describes a pipelined parallel algorithm for the MMSE-OSIC decoding procedure proposed in V-BLAST wireless MIMO systems, for heterogeneous networks of processors. It is based on a block version of the square-root Kalman Filter algorithm that was initially devised to solve the RLS problem. It has been parallelized in a pipelined way obtaining a good efficiency and scalability. The optimum load balancing for this parallel algorithm is dynamic, but we derive a static load balancing scheme with good performance. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.This work has been supported by the Generalitat Valenciana, project 20080811, by the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, project 20080009, by the Conserjería de Educacion de la Región de Murcia (Fundacion Séneca, 08763/PI/08), and by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (TIN2008-06570-C04-02).Martínez Zaldívar, FJ.; Vidal Maciá, AM.; Giménez Cánovas, D. (2011). Heterogeneous pipelined square-root Kalman Filter algorithm for the MMSE-OSIC problem. Journal of Supercomputing. 58(2):235-243. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-009-0354-xS235243582Foschini GJ (1996) Layered space-time architecture for wireless communications in a fading environment when using multiple antennas. Bell Labs Techn J 1:41–59Hassibi B (2000) An efficient square-root algorithm for BLAST. In: IEEE international conference on acoustics, speech and signal processing 2000, vol 2, pp II737–II740Zhu H, Lei Z, Chin FPS (2004) An improved square-root algorithm for BLAST. IEEE Signal Process Lett 11(9)Choi Y-S, Voltz PJ, Cassara FA (2001) On channel estimation and detection for multicarrier signals in fast and selective Rayleigh fading channels. IEEE Trans Commun 49(8)Burg A, Haene S, Perels D, Luethi P, Felber N, Fichtner W (2006) Algorithm and VLSI architecture for linear MMSE detection in MIMO-OFDM systems. In: Proceedings of the IEEE int symp on circuits and systems, May 2006Martínez Zaldívar FJ (2007) Algoritmos paralelos segmentados para los problemas de Mínimos Cuadrados Recursivos (RLS) y de Detección por Cancelación Ordenada y Sucesiva de Interferencia (OSIC). PhD thesis, Facultad de Informática, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, SpainSayed AH, Kailath T (1994) A state-space approach to adaptive RLS filtering. IEEE Signal Process Mag 11(3):18–60Kumar V, Gram A, Gupta A, Karypis G (2003) An introduction to parallel computing: design and analysis of algorithms, Chap 4, 2nd edn. Addison-Wesley, Harlow

A calculation of the BBB_{B} parameter in the static limit

We calculate the $B_{B}$ parameter, relevant for $\overline{B}^0$ -- $B^0$ mixing, from a lattice gauge theory simulation at $\beta = 6.0$. The bottom quarks are simulated in the static theory, the light quarks with Wilson fermions. Improved smearing functions produced by a variational technique, MOST, are used to reduce statistical errors and minimize excited-state contamination of the ground-state signal. We obtain $B_B(4.33 GeV) = 0.98^{+4}_{-4}$ (statistical) $^{+3}_{-18}$ (systematic) which corresponds to $\widehat{B}_B = 1.40^{+6}_{-6}$ (statistical) $^{+4}_{-26}$ (systematic) for the one-loop renormalization-scheme-independent parameter. The systematic errors include the uncertainty due to alternative (less favored) treatments of the perturbatively-calculated mixing coefficients; this uncertainty is at least as large as residual differences between Wilson-static and clover-static results. Our result agrees with extrapolations of results from relativistic (Wilson) heavy quark simulations.Comment: 39 pages (REVTeX) including 10 figures (PostScript); Final version accepted for publication: Added new section for clarity; Included comparison to recent results by other groups; slight numerical changes; Essential conclusions remain the sam

A strategy for implementing non-perturbative renormalisation of heavy-light four-quark operators in the static approximation

We discuss the renormalisation properties of the complete set of $\Delta B = 2$ four-quark operators with the heavy quark treated in the static approximation. We elucidate the role of heavy quark symmetry and other symmetry transformations in constraining their mixing under renormalisation. By employing the Schroedinger functional, a set of non-perturbative renormalisation conditions can be defined in terms of suitable correlation functions. As a first step in a fully non-perturbative determination of the scale-dependent renormalisation factors, we evaluate these conditions in lattice perturbation theory at one loop. Thereby we verify the expected mixing patterns and determine the anomalous dimensions of the operators at NLO in the Schroedinger functional scheme. Finally, by employing twisted-mass QCD it is shown how finite subtractions arising from explicit chiral symmetry breaking can be avoided completely.Comment: 41 pages, 6 figure

Downsizing of robust Fe-triazole@SiO2 spin-crossover nanoparticles with ultrathin shells

A chemical protocol to design robust hybrid [Fe(Htrz)2(trz)](BF4)@SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) with sizes as small as 28 nm and ultrathin silica shells below 3 nm has been developed. These NPs present a characteristic abrupt spin transition with a subsequent decrease in the width of the thermal hysteresis upon reducing the NP size