Recent results of the ANTARES Neutrino Telescope

The latest results from the ANTARES Neutrino Telescope are reported. Limits on a high energy neutrino diffuse flux have been set using for the first time both muon-track and showering events. The results for point sources obtained by ANTARES are also shown. These are the most stringent limits for the southern sky for neutrino energies below 100 TeV. Constraints on the nature of the cluster of neutrino events near the Galactic Centre observed by IceCube are also reported. In particular, ANTARES data excludes a single point-like neutrino source as the origin of this cluster. Looking for neutrinos coming from the Sun or the centre of the Galaxy, very competitive limits are set by the ANTARES data to the flux of neutrinos produced by self-annihilation of weakly interacting massive particles

A new way of looking at the sky : neutrino telescopes

Neutrinos are weakly-interacting neutral particles, which makes them powerful sources of information about the most energetic processes in the universe, such as the origin of ultra-energetic cosmic rays or gamma-ray bursts. However, a price must be paid in order to detect them: gargantuan detectors at the bottom of the sea or under the Antarctic ice are required. The detection of the first high-energy cosmic neutrinos in 2013 by the IceCube observatory represented the start of so-called neutrino astronomy, a new way of observing the universe, which can play a key role in future discoveries. In this article, we describe how neutrino telescopes work, as well as the different initial configurations that made this new twenty-first century astronomy possible

Science with Neutrino Telescopes in Spain

The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding support from the following Spanish programs: Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion, Investigacion y Universidades (MCIU): Programa Estatal de Generacion de Conocimiento (refs. PGC2018-096663-B-C41, -A-C42, -B-C43, -B-C44) (MCIU/FEDER); Generalitat Valenciana: Prometeo (PROMETEO/2020/019) and GenT (refs. CIDEGENT/2018/034, /2020/049, /2021/023); Junta de Andalucia (ref. A-FQM-053-UGR18).The primary scientific goal of neutrino telescopes is the detection and study of cosmic neutrino signals. However, the range of physics topics that these instruments can tackle is exceedingly wide and diverse. Neutrinos coming from outside the Earth, in association with othermessengers, can contribute to clarify the question of the mechanisms that power the astrophysical accelerators which are known to exist from the observation of high-energy cosmic and gamma rays. Cosmic neutrinos can also be used to bring relevant information about the nature of dark matter, to study the intrinsic properties of neutrinos and to look for physics beyond the Standard Model. Likewise, atmospheric neutrinos can be used to study an ample variety of particle physics issues, such as neutrino oscillation phenomena, the determination of the neutrino mass ordering, non-standard neutrino interactions, neutrino decays and a diversity of other physics topics. In this article, we review a selected number of these topics, chosen on the basis of their scientific relevance and the involvement in their study of the Spanish physics community working in the KM3NeT and ANTARES neutrino telescopes.Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion, Investigacion y Universidades (MCIU) PGC2018-096663-B-C41 A-C42 B-C43 B-C44MCIU/FEDERGeneralitat Valenciana PROMETEO/2020/019GenT CIDEGENT/2018/034 2020/049 2021/023Junta de Andalucia A-FQM-053-UGR1

Partial Discharge Spectral Characterization in HF, VHF and UHF Bands Using Particle Swarm Optimization

The measurement of partial discharge (PD) signals in the radio frequency (RF) range has gained popularity among utilities and specialized monitoring companies in recent years. Unfortunately, in most of the occasions the data are hidden by noise and coupled interferences that hinder their interpretation and renders them useless especially in acquisition systems in the ultra high frequency (UHF) band where the signals of interest are weak. This paper is focused on a method that uses a selective spectral signal characterization to feature each signal, type of partial discharge or interferences/noise, with the power contained in the most representative frequency bands. The technique can be considered as a dimensionality reduction problem where all the energy information contained in the frequency components is condensed in a reduced number of UHF or high frequency (HF) and very high frequency (VHF) bands. In general, dimensionality reduction methods make the interpretation of results a difficult task because the inherent physical nature of the signal is lost in the process. The proposed selective spectral characterization is a preprocessing tool that facilitates further main processing. The starting point is a clustering of signals that could form the core of a PD monitoring system. Therefore, the dimensionality reduction technique should discover the best frequency bands to enhance the affinity between signals in the same cluster and the differences between signals in different clusters. This is done maximizing the minimum Mahalanobis distance between clusters using particle swarm optimization (PSO). The tool is tested with three sets of experimental signals to demonstrate its capabilities in separating noise and PDs with low signal-to-noise ratio and separating different types of partial discharges measured in the UHF and HF/VHF bands.The work done in this paper has been funded by the Spanish Government (MINECO) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under contract DPI2015-66478-C2-1-R (MINECO/FEDER, UE)

Las agencias de calificación crediticia (Las hijas de Elena: La triple a)

En este trabajo, en primer lugar, se analiza la estructura (accionariado), funcionalidad (cómo funcionan y emiten sus opiniones) y el comportamiento (cómo actúan en los mercados) de las tres agencias más importantes de calificación de activos financieros, de emisores y emisiones de activos financieros. En segundo término, se señalan sus poco, si algo, científicas evaluaciones basadas en conceptos y actuaciones tan poco adecuadas como: profecía autocumplida, carencia de fecha de caducidad, catastrofismo, que, a veces, imponen con comportamientos gansteriles. Asimismo, se destaca la importancia y trascendencia que suponen las opiniones que emiten dichas agencias, auténticos ucases, que las convierten, de facto, en auténticos señores de horca y caudillo que acondicionan la vida y hacienda de inversores y emisores. En realidad, su comportamiento es tan deplorable y funesto, que como las hijas de Elena, de ahí el título del trabajo, ninguna es buena. Finalmente, se presenta, en forma de decálogo, los hechos, irrefutables, que justifican el calificativo de malvadas de dichas agencias: S&P, Moody?s y Fitch, hasta el punto de que son el antimefistofelismo personificado. Mefistófeles se definía a sí mismo como un pobre diablo que pretendiendo hacer el mal, acababa haciendo el bien, justo al revés que las hijas de Elena

Transmission of light in deep sea water at the site of the ANTARES neutrino telescope

The ANTARES neutrino telescope is a large photomultiplier array designed to detect neutrino-induced upward-going muons by their Cherenkov radiation. Understanding the absorption and scattering of light in the deep Mediterranean is fundamental to optimising the design and performance of the detector. This paper presents measurements of blue and UV light transmission at the ANTARES site taken between 1997 and 2000. The derived values for the scattering length and the angular distribution of particulate scattering were found to be highly correlated, and results are therefore presented in terms of an absorption length;,ab, and an effective scattering length lambda(sct)(eff). The values for blue (UV) light are found to be lambda(abs) similar or equal to 60(26) m, lambda(sct)(eff similar or equal to) 265(122) m, with significant (similar to15%) time variability. Finally, the results of ANTARES simulations showing the effect of these water properties on the anticipated performance of the detector are presented

Prevalencia de infección por demodex folliculorum en pacientes que acuden a consulta general de oftalmología

Objetivos Determinar la prevalencia de infección por Demodex folliculorum en pacientes que asisten a consulta  general de oftalmología,  y su asociación con blefaritis.  Métodos Estudio descriptivo de prevalencia. En forma aleatoria se seleccionaron  128 sujetos que asistieron al Centro Oftalmológico Virgilio Galvis y se  determinó la presencia de Demodex folliculorum en 4 pestañas de cada uno. Resultados La prevalencia de infección por Demodex folliculorum fue 42,1 % (n= 54). Se diagnosticó blefaritis en el 38,3 % de los pacientes (n=49)  y el 63,2 % de ellos (n=31) fueron positivos para D. folliculorum. En el grupo sin blefaritis (n=79) solo el 29,2 % de los individuos tenían el ácaro (n=23) (p=0.0003). Además se encontró una mayor cantidad de parásitos en los pacientes con blefaritis (índice de carga parasitaria 12,7  vs 5,1 (p=0.0001). El  25 % (n=32) de los participantes presentaban descamación en forma de cilindros y en estos el 96,9 % tenían el ácaro (n=31), mientras que en los sujetos que no tenían cilindros (n=96) el ácaro estuvo presente solo en  el 24 % (n=23).Conclusiones El Demodex folliculorum es un parásito que se encuentra  en personas sin lesiones oculares, pero que es más frecuente y presenta una mayor carga parasitaria en pacientes con blefaritis. Nuestros resultados sugieren la necesidad de investigar la presencia de Demodex folliculorum en todo paciente con blefaritis y especialmente en los casos en que se observe  presencia de descamación en forma de cilindros en las pestañas

El Centro de Estudios sobre Deporte Inclusivo (CEDI): investigación aplicada, formación y promoción deportiva para personas con discapacidad en acción

La Universidad Politécnica de Madrid y la Fundación Sanitas firmaron un convenio en octubre de 2009 para la creación del primer Centro de Estudios sobre Deporte Inclusivo (CEDI) en España, con sede en la Facultad de Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte (INEF). Su objetivo principal es investigar, generar conocimiento y divulgar la información pertinente relativa al fenómeno de la inclusión de las personas con discapacidad en el deporte, difundiendo los beneficios que las actividades físicas y deportivas tienen para los participantes a la hora de mejorar su salud y favorecer su integración social

Neutrino Telescopes in the Mediterranean Sea

The observation of high energy extraterrestrial neutrinos can be an invaluable source of information about the most energetic phenomena in the Universe. Neutrinos can shed light on the processes that accelerate charge particles in an incredibly wide range of energies both within and outside our Galaxy. They can also help to investigate the nature of the dark matter that pervades the Universe. The unique properties of the neutrino make it peerless as a cosmic messenger, enabling the study of dense and distant astrophysical objects at high energy. The experimental challenge, however, is enormous. Due to the weakly interacting nature of neutrinos and the expected low fluxes very large detectors are required. In this paper we briefly review the neutrino telescopes under the Mediterranean Sea that are operating or in progress. The first line of the ANTARES telescope started to take data in March 2006 and the full 12-line detector was completed in May 2008. By January 2009 more than one thousand neutrino events had been reconstructed. Some of the results of ANTARES will be reviewed. The NESTOR and NEMO projects have made a lot of progress to demonstrate the feasibility of their proposed technological solutions. Finally, the project of a km3-scale telescope, KM3NeT, is rapidly progressing: a conceptual design report was published in 2008 and a technical design report is expected to be delivered by the end of 2009

Characteristics defining broccoli cultivars from different seed producers

El brócoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. Italica) se considera actualmente un alimento vegetal principal en los mercados debido a su alto valor nutricional, que contiene niveles elevados de fitoquímicos ampliamente descritos por tener efectos beneficiosos contra el cáncer y otras enfermedades. El brócoli es un cultivo interesante con un alto valor comercial porque complementa la industria del tomate, el principal ingreso agrícola en Badajoz, España. Se evaluaron nueve variedades de brócoli de cuatro viveros mediante el análisis de los parámetros agronómicos y de calidad. El rendimiento total y el número de cosechas fueron monitoreados. Se determinaron los parámetros que definen la calidad como el diámetro, el peso y la altura de las cabezas. También se analizaron la granulometría, la compacidad y la presencia de hojas internas en las cabezas. El diámetro y la altura de los brotes fueron estimados complementariamente. El análisis de los componentes principales se utilizó para investigar la relación entre las variables agronómicas y los cultivares y viveros. Los resultados revelaron que tanto el primer como el segundo componente principal explicaron más del 75% de la varianza y agruparon los datos según su origen cultivar y comercial. Además, las correlaciones entre las puntuaciones de esos componentes y los valores de los parámetros fenotípicos sugirieron que los pesos de la cabeza son los principales determinantes de las diferencias fenotípicas observadas entre los cultivares, mientras que la presencia de hojas internas y granulometría y el peso de la cabeza parecen ser rasgos clave que definen a los viveros.Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica) is currently considered a main vegetable food in the markets due to its high nutritional value, containing elevated levels of phytochemicals widely described to have beneficial effects against cancer and other illnesses. Broccoli is an interesting crop with a high commercial value because it complements the tomato industry, the main agricultural income in Badajoz, Spain. Nine varieties of broccoli from four nurseries were evaluated by analyzing both agronomic and quality parameters. Total yield and number of harvests were monitored. Parameters defining quality like diameter, weight, and height of the heads were determined. Granulometry, compactness, and the presence of internal leaves in the heads were also analyzed. Diameter and height of sprouts were complementarily estimated. Principal component analysis was further employed to investigate the relationship between the agronomic variables and the cultivars and nurseries. Results revealed that both first and second principal components explained more than 75% of the variance and grouped data according their cultivar and commercial origin. Additionally, correlations between the scores of those components and the values of the phenotypic parameters suggested that head weights are main determinants of the phenotypic differences observed among the cultivars whereas the presence of internal leaves and granulometry and head weight appear to be key traits defining nurseries.• Junta de Extremadura. Ayuda GR15112 • Junta de Extremadura y Fondos FEDER. Ayuda GR15158peerReviewe