Rapid Orbital Decay in the 12.75-Minute Binary White Dwarf J0651+2844

We report the detection of orbital decay in the 12.75-minute, detached binary white dwarf (WD) SDSS J065133.338+284423.37 (hereafter J0651). Our photometric observations over a 13 month baseline constrain the orbital period to 765.206543(55) s and indicate that the orbit is decreasing at a rate of (-9.8 +/- 2.8) x 10(-12) s s(-1) (or -0.31 +/- 0.09 ms yr(-1)). We revise the system parameters based on our new photometric and spectroscopic observations: J0651 contains two WDs with M-1 = 0.26 +/- 0.04 M-circle dot and M-2 = 0.50 +/- 0.04 M-circle dot. General relativity predicts orbital decay due to gravitational wave radiation of (-8.2 +/- 1.7) x 10(-12) s s(-1) (or -0.26 +/- 0.05 ms yr(-1)). Our observed rate of orbital decay is consistent with this expectation. J0651 is currently the second-loudest gravitational wave source known in the milli-Hertz range and the loudest non-interacting binary, which makes it an excellent verification source for future missions aimed at directly detecting gravitational waves. Our work establishes the feasibility of monitoring this system's orbital period decay at optical wavelengths.NSF AST-0909107, AST-1008734Norman Hackerman Advanced Research Program 003658-0252-2009Astronom

Yılanların öcü

Taha Toros Arşivi, Dosya No: 95-Fakir BaykurtUnutma İstanbul projesi İstanbul Kalkınma Ajansı'nın 2016 yılı "Yenilikçi ve Yaratıcı İstanbul Mali Destek Programı" kapsamında desteklenmiştir. Proje No: TR10/16/YNY/010

Toxicity of several d-endotoxins of Bacillus thuringiensis against Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) from Spain

Toxicity and larval growth inhibition of eleven insecticidal proteins of Bacillus thuringiensis were evaluated against neonate larvae of Helicoverpa armigera, a major pest of important crops in Spain and other countries, by a whole-diet contamination method. The most active toxins were Cry1Ac4 and Cry2Aa1, with LC50 values of 3.5 and 6.3 μg/ml, respectively. At the concentrations tested, Cry1Ac4, Cry2Aa1, Cry9Ca, Cry1Fa1, Cry1Ab3, Cry2Ab2, Cry1Da, and Cry1Ja1, produced a significant growth inhibition, whereas Cry1Aa3, Cry1Ca2, and Cry1Ea had no effect

Procedural Content Generation for Real-Time Strategy Games

Videogames are one of the most important and profitable sectors in the industry of entertainment. Nowadays, the creation of a videogame is often a large-scale endeavor and bears many similarities with, e.g., movie production. On the central tasks in the development of a videogame is content generation, namely the definition of maps, terrains, non-player characters (NPCs) and other graphical, musical and AI-related components of the game. Such generation is costly due to its complexity, the great amount of work required and the need of specialized manpower. Hence the relevance of optimizing the process and alleviating costs. In this sense, procedural content generation (PCG) comes in handy as a means of reducing costs by using algorithmic techniques to automatically generate some game contents. PCG also provides advantages in terms of player experience since the contents generated are typically not fixed but can vary in different playing sessions, and can even adapt to the player herself. For this purpose, the underlying algorithmic technique used for PCG must be also flexible and adaptable. This is the case of computational intelligence in general and evolutionary algorithms in particular. In this work we shall provide an overview of the use of evolutionary intelligence for PCG, with special emphasis on its use within the context of real-time strategy games. We shall show how these techniques can address both playability and aesthetics, as well as improving the game AI

A longitudinal comparative study of a multicouple group and single-couple psychosocial intervention while experiencing infertility

This is a quasi-experimental, nonequivalent design study investigating the efficacy of multicouple group and single-couple intervention formats aimed at diminishing the psychosocial impact of infertility. The review studies carried out to date that have assessed this subject do not show consistent findings and although increasing the efficacy and efficiency of intervention formats more than justifies their analysis, there are no studies making this particular comparison. Eighty-seven infertile couples who were in assessment for their infertility and/or were close to undergoing some kind of assisted reproductive technology process participated in a psychosocial intervention either under the multicouple group or single-couple subconditions, or acted as controls. The variables of depression, anxiety, and fertility quality of life were used for evaluating psychosocial impact. Comparisons were made: (a) between the intervention condition and controls and (b) between the two subconditions. The results support the efficacy of the intervention both in the dyadic latent growth curve models analysis carried out and in the treatment effect calculation. Although in the comparison between the multicouple and single-couple format, some differences generally favoring the single format one were found, they were not conclusive. Therefore, the results are in line with review studies that did not find the group format to be more effective. Although this study provides valuable information, its limitations mean that further research needs to be carried out. When selecting the intervention format, therapists should also weigh up others aspects, such as the intervention goal, patient's needs and characteristics, reproductive history, and current stage of infertility

Synthesis and Electrocatalytic Properties of H2SO4-Induced (100) Pt Nanoparticles Prepared in Water-in-Oil Microemulsion

The increasing number of applications for shape-controlled metal nanoparticles (NPs) has led to the need for easy, cheap, and scalable methodologies. We report the synthesis of (100) preferentially oriented Pt NPs, with a particle size of 9 nm, by using a water-in-oil microemulsion method. The specific surface structure of the NPs is induced by the presence of H2SO4 in the water phase of the microemulsion. Interestingly, the results reported herein show how increasing amounts of H2SO4 lead to the formation of Pt NPs containing a larger amount of (100) sites on their surface. This preferential surface orientation is confirmed electrochemically by using the so-called hydrogen adsorption/desorption process. In addition, transmission electron microscopy measurements confirm the presence of cubic-like Pt NPs. Finally, the electrocatalytic properties of the Pt NPs are evaluated towards ammonia and CO electro-oxidations, which are (100) structure-sensitive reactions.This work has been financially supported by the MCINN-FEDER (Spain) (project CTQ 2010-16271), Generalitat Valenciana (project PROMETEO/2009/045) and in part by NASA-URC Grant No. NNX10AQ17A and NSF-NSEC Center for Hierarchical Manufactur-ing Grant No. CHM-CMMI-0531171. R. M-R is grateful to the Becas Iberoamérica, Santander Universidades-España 2012 and PR-LSAMP Bridge to Doctorate Fellowship programs

Influence of ships emissions in the ultrafine particles pollution in an urban coastal air

Comunicación presentada en: V Reunión Española de Ciencia y Tecnología de Aerosoles – RECTA 2011 celebrada del 27 al 29 de junio de 2011 en CIEMAT, Madrid.Experimental data (2008-2009) of particle number (N≥2.5 nm diameter) and black carbon (BC) concen-trations and of gaseous pollutants recorded in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife was analyzed in order to asses the impact of ship emissions on the ultrafine particle (UFP) concentrations in coastal urban areas. The observed relationship between N and the other air pollutants, allowed segregating the contribu-tion of vehicle exhaust and of ship emissions to the UFP con-centrations in the urban ambient air. The influence of fresh vehicle exhaus

Subjective well-being and vulnerability related to problematic Internet use among university students with and without disabilities: A comparative study

This study aims to observe whether people with disabilitiesexperience problematic Internet use (PIU) like that of youngpeople without disabilities; to relate PIU to psychological dis-tress in young disabled people and to determine whether theseproblems are similar to or different from those experienced byyoung people without disabilities. The sample comprised 408university students with disabilities and 1386 university stu-dents without disabilities from several Spanish universities. PIUwas evaluated using theInternet Addiction Test(IAT) and psy-chological distress was evaluated using theClinical Outcomes inRoutine Evaluation‐Outcome Measure(CORE‐OM). The groupof university students with disabilities showed less PIU thanthe nondisabled students, but the worst scores in variablesreferencing psychological discomfort were found among thosestudents with disabilities who also had PIU. Although the re-sults are not completely generalizable, PIU is related to biggerproblems in disabled people for whom it represents a higherrisk than for people without disabilities

IAA : Información y actualidad astronómica (12)

Sumario : INVESTIGACIÓN : El misterioso arco de Lynx.-- Microlentes gravitatorias: lupas del Universo.-- VENTANA ABIERTA...hasta que la gorda cante.-- CHARLAS CON... Don Cox y Ron Reynolds.-- ACTUALIDAD CIENTÍFICA : Explosiones en la superficie solar.-- La galaxia de Canis Major: una bienvenida intrusa.-- Actividades IAA.-- Agenda.Esta revista se publica con la ayuda de la Acción Especial DIS 2003-10261-E del Programa Nacional de Difusión y divulgación de la Ciencia y la Tecnología, del Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología.N

Photo-induced enhanced Raman spectroscopy for universal ultra-trace detection of explosives, pollutants and biomolecules

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy is one of the most sensitive spectroscopic techniques available, with single-molecule detection possible on a range of noble-metal substrates. It is widely used to detect molecules that have a strong Raman response at very low concentrations. Here we present photo-induced-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, where the combination of plasmonic nanoparticles with a photo-activated substrate gives rise to large signal enhancement (an order of magnitude) for a wide range of small molecules, even those with a typically low Raman cross-section. We show that the induced chemical enhancement is due to increased electron density at the noble-metal nanoparticles, and demonstrate the universality of this system with explosives, biomolecules and organic dyes, at trace levels. Our substrates are also easy to fabricate, self-cleaning and reusable