Interagency telemetry arraying for Voyager-Neptune encounter

The reception capability of the Deep Space Network (DSN) has been improved over the years by increasing both the size and number of antennas at each complex to meet spacecraft-support requirements. However, even more aperture was required for the final planetary encounters of the Voyager 2 spacecraft. This need was met by arraying one radio astronomy observatory with the DSN complex in the United States and another with the complex in Australia. Following a review of augmentation for the Uranus encounter, both the preparation at the National Radio Astronomy (NRAO) Very Large Array (VLA) and the Neptune encounter results for the Parkes-Canberra and VLA-Goldstone arrays are presented

Stellar Double Coronagraph: a multistage coronagraphic platform at Palomar observatory

We present a new instrument, the "Stellar Double Coronagraph" (SDC), a flexible coronagraphic platform. Designed for Palomar Observatory's 200" Hale telescope, its two focal and pupil planes allow for a number of different observing configurations, including multiple vortex coronagraphs in series for improved contrast at small angles. We describe the motivation, design, observing modes, wavefront control approaches, data reduction pipeline, and early science results. We also discuss future directions for the instrument.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figures. Correspondence welcome. The published work is open access and differs trivially from the version posted here. The published version may be found at http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1538-3873/128/965/075003/met

A Population of Short-Period Variable Quasars from PTF as Supermassive Black Hole Binary Candidates

Supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) at sub-parsec separations should be common in galactic nuclei, as a result of frequent galaxy mergers. Hydrodynamical simulations of circumbinary discs predict strong periodic modulation of the mass accretion rate on time-scales comparable to the orbital period of the binary. As a result, SMBHBs may be recognized by the periodic modulation of their brightness. We conducted a statistical search for periodic variability in a sample of 35,383 spectroscopically confirmed quasars in the photometric database of the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF). We analysed Lomb-Scargle periodograms and assessed the significance of our findings by modeling each individual quasar's variability as a damped random walk (DRW). We identified 50 quasars with significant periodicity beyond the DRW model, typically with short periods of a few hundred days. We find 33 of these to remain significant after a re-analysis of their periodograms including additional optical data from the intermediate-PTF and the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey (CRTS). Assuming that the observed periods correspond to the redshifted orbital periods of SMBHBs, we conclude that our findings are consistent with a population of unequal-mass SMBHBs, with a typical mass ratio as low as q = M2/M1 ~ 0.01.Comment: MNRAS (accepted), new section 4.

Benefits and Success of an Interdisciplinary Wellness Interest Group (iWIG) at a Modern Jesuit University

Aim: To highlight the early achievements and discuss the benefits of forming an Interdisciplinary Wellness Interest Group (iWIG) on a modern Jesuit University campus. Background: While wellness programs have a place in academic communities, universal perspectives on the best way to lead Wellness initiatives is lacking. An iWIG gives a common platform to share ideas, communicate across audiences, and provide important information to the campus community about health promotion and health patterns of the campus community. Methods: After assembling the iWIG team, on-campus meetings were held with members of the interdisciplinary group. These meetings include faculty, staff, and students from various departments. The iWIG continues to meet regularly to expand and develop wellness initiatives, research opportunities and to ensure a presence on campus. Results: The iWIG has impacted many initiatives on campus, a select few which are profiled in this manuscript. The group is involved in funded research studies, has received a Healthy Workplace designation, and continues to expand health and wellness into various departments on campus. Conclusions: The interdisciplinary group has provided those with an interest in health and wellness with a formal platform to express ideas and implement initiatives for all individuals to better the overall well-being of the university community

Genomics goes chromosomal to explore the wheat genome

OBJECTIVES: The implant design and surface modification are independent conditions that can alter the implant bone response. The objective of this study is to compare the bone response to roughened tapered and cylindrical screw-type implants with and without hydroxyapatite (HA) surface coating in the femoral trabecular bone of rabbits. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Thirty-two implants (8 x 3.5 mm) consisting of four different types (eight implants in each group), that is, tapered implants, cylindrical implants, HA-coated tapered implants, and HA-coated cylindrical implants were installed in the femoral condyle of 16 rabbits. After 8 weeks of healing, the femoral condyles were retrieved and studied histologically. The bone-to-implant contact percentage was assessed and analyzed statistically. Results : The histomorphometric analysis revealed that the bone-to-implant contact (BIC) values seemed to be higher for HA-coated tapered implants (65.62 +/- 13.02) followed by cylindrical non-coated implants. All four types of implants showed wide distribution of BIC with no statistical significance between different types of implants. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that under the current experimental conditions, implant design and surface composition had little effect on the bone-to-implant interface

Selbstgesteuertes und kooperatives Lernen mit Neuen Medien: Eine longitudinale Evaluation einer webbasierten Lernumgebung zur deskriptiven Statistik

Im Mittelpunkt des Forschungsinteresses steht die Analyse ausgewählter Variablen eines durch virtuelle Lernkomponenten erweiterten Lernangebots zur Klausurvorbereitung im Bereich Methodenlehre für Studierende der Sozialen Verhaltenswissenschaften an der FernUniversität in Hagen. Die Konzeption der Untersuchung basiert auf einer minimalinvasiven Begleitforschung des Studienalltags von Fernstudierenden. Als theoretisches Fundament zur Identifikation lernerseitiger Einflussvariablen für eine erfolgreiche Auseinandersetzung der gegebenen Lernumgebung werden Modelle des Selbstgesteuerten Lernens herangezogen. Es erfolgte ebenso eine Überprüfung der direkten Einflussnahme dieser Drittvariablen auf die abhängige Variable (Klausurerfolg). Der Bereich medienübergreifender Lernaktivitäten im Alltag von Fernstudierenden wurde bisher kaum untersucht. Die vorliegende Studie liefert in dieser Hinsicht mit dem Einsatz des selbstkonstruierten Instruments „Lerncheckliste“ Pionierarbeit

Recurrent Neutrino Emission from Supermassive Black Hole Mergers

The recent detection of possible neutrino emission from the blazar TXS 0506+056 was the first high-energy neutrino associated with an astrophysical source, making this special type of active galaxies promising neutrino emitters. The fact that two distinct episodes of neutrino emission were detected with a separation of around 3 years suggests that emission could be periodic. Periodic emission is expected from supermassive binary black hole systems due to jet precession close to the binary's merger. Here we show that if TXS 0506+056 is a binary source then the next neutrino flare could occur before the end of 2021. We derive the binary properties that would lead to the detection of gravitational waves from this system by LISA. Our results for the first time quantify the time scale of these correlations for the example of TXS 0506+056, providing clear predictions for both the neutrino and gravitational-wave signatures of such sources.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, submitte

Impactos en las propiedades del suelo de los bosques de pinabete en terrenos agrícolas abandonados

Forest floor is considered a major feature distinguishing forest from agricultural soils. Forest floor develops as forest stands grow and is composed of more or less altered plant-tissue biomass accumulated on the soil surface. Our study’s aim was to find whether properties of both the organic layers and mineral soil differ according to the land-use history of the sites compared. Each site included an afforested area of immature 50-year-old spruce forest (AFF) on formerly agricultural land plus an adjacent area of old-growth 100-year-old spruce stand (FOR). The localities are situated at altitudes ranging between 600 and 850 metres above sea level. From the results of our study it can be concluded that both forest floor and mineral soil had higher pH and Ca concentration at formerly agricultural sites. C/N ratio is significantly lower in afforested soil. First-generation humus was significantly higher in phosphorus.El piso forestal es considerado una de las principales características distintivas de los suelos forestales frente a los agrícolas. El piso forestal se desarrolla según crecen las masas forestales y se compone de tejidos de vegetales de la biomasa más o menos alterados acumulados en la superficie del suelo. El objetivo de nuestro estudio fue determinar si las propiedades de las capas orgánicas y minerales del suelo difieren de acuerdo a la historia del uso del suelo de los sitios. Cada sitio incluye un área reforestada de bosque de pinabete inmaduro de 50 años de edad (AFF) en antiguo terreno agrícola, más un área adyacente madura de pinabete de 100 años de edad. Las localidades se encuentran en altitudes que oscilan entre 600 y 850 metros sobre el nivel del mar. De los resultados de nuestro estudio se puede concluir que tanto el suelo del bosque como el suelo mineral tenían un pH más alto y mayor concentración de Ca en los sitios agrícolas abandonados. La relación C/N es significativamente menor en los suelos reforestados. La primera generación de humus presentó un significativamente mayor contenido en fósforo