Cool Stars and Space Weather

Stellar flares, winds and coronal mass ejections form the space weather. They are signatures of the magnetic activity of cool stars and, since activity varies with age, mass and rotation, the space weather that extra-solar planets experience can be very different from the one encountered by the solar system planets. How do stellar activity and magnetism influence the space weather of exoplanets orbiting main-sequence stars? How do the environments surrounding exoplanets differ from those around the planets in our own solar system? How can the detailed knowledge acquired by the solar system community be applied in exoplanetary systems? How does space weather affect habitability? These were questions that were addressed in the splinter session "Cool stars and Space Weather", that took place on 9 Jun 2014, during the Cool Stars 18 meeting. In this paper, we present a summary of the contributions made to this session.Comment: Proceedings of the 18th Cambridge Workshop on Cool Stars, Stellar Systems, and the Sun, Eds G. van Belle & H. Harris, 13 pages, 1 figur

High seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in a subset of Mexican patients with work accidents and low socioeconomic status

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Toxoplasma gondii </it>has been associated with reflex impairment and traffic accidents. It is unknown whether <it>Toxoplasma </it>infection might be associated with work accidents. Therefore, using a case-control seroprevalence study design, 133 patients with a recent work accident and 266 control subjects of the general population from the same region were examined with enzyme-linked immunoassays for the presence and levels of anti-<it>Toxoplasma </it>IgG antibodies and anti-<it>Toxoplasma </it>IgM antibodies. Socio-demographic, work, clinical and behavioral characteristics from each worker were obtained.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Eleven (8.3%) of 133 patients, and 14 (5.3%) of 266 controls had anti-<it>T. gondii </it>IgG antibodies. Anti-<it>T. gondii </it>IgG levels were higher than 150 IU/ml in 8 (6%) patients and 10 (3.8%) controls. Anti-<it>T. gondii </it>IgM antibodies were found in one (0.8%) of the workers, and in 6 (2.3%) of the controls. No statistically significant differences in the IgG seroprevalences, frequencies of high IgG levels, and IgM seroprevalences among patients and controls were found. In contrast, a low socio-economic level in patients with work accidents was associated with <it>Toxoplasma </it>seropositivity (<it>P </it>= 0.01). Patients with work accidents and low socioeconomic status showed a significantly (OR = 3.38; 95% CI: 0.84-16.06; <it>P </it>= 0.04) higher seroprevalence of <it>T. gondii </it>infection than controls of the same socioeconomic status (15.1% vs. 5%, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed a positive association of <it>T. gondii </it>infection with boar meat consumption (OR = 3.04; 95% CI: 1.03-8.94; <it>P </it>= 0.04). In contrast, a negative association between <it>T. gondii </it>infection and national trips (OR = 0.40; 95% CI: 0.17-0.96; <it>P </it>= 0.04), sausage consumption (OR = 0.20; 95% CI: 0.05-0.68; <it>P </it>= 0.01), and ham consumption (OR = 0.16; 95% CI: 0.05-0.51; <it>P </it>= 0.002) was found.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In the study described here seropositivity to <it>T. gondii </it>was associated to work accidents in a subset of patients with low socioeconomic status. This is the first report of an association of <it>T. gondii </it>infection and work accidents. Further studies to confirm our results are needed. Results may help in designing optimal prevention strategies to avoid <it>T. gondii </it>infection.</p

Cuerpo y disciplina, orden y poder: Del Instructor Popular a los Tribunales Infantiles

A fines del siglo XIX, en la República Argentina, el periódico mendocino El Instructor Popular publica el intercambio epistolar entre dos graduados de la Escuela Normal de Paraná: Carlos Norberto Vergara y Ernesto A.Bavio. Reprender, reformar y corregir el error, las faltas y la ignorancia, fueron las justificaciones para hacer uso de punteros y palmetas e incorporar la pena, el dolor y la culpa como correctivos, en las instituciones educativas de "la letra con la sangre entra" en manos de "maestros normales que quieren gobernar con el lático". El espistolario visibiliza y reprueba ciertas prácticas que tuvieron al cuerpo infantil como territorio de anclaje para la institucionalización educativa. Puntear esa conjetura nos permite trazar continuidades y discontinuidades entre los "principios de la disciplina" y "los castigos corporales" como antecedentes para los "tribunales infantiles", implementados en la Escuela Quintana de la Provincia de Mendoza, por Florencia Fossatti, en las primeras décadas del siglo XX.Fil: Alvarado, Mariana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ciencias Humanas, Sociales y Ambientales; Argentin

White Gaussian Noise Based Capacity Estimate and Characterization of Fiber-Optic Links

We use white Gaussian noise as a test signal for single-mode and multimode transmission links and estimate the link capacity based on a calculation of mutual information. We also extract the complex amplitude channel estimations and mode-dependent loss with high accuracy.Comment: submitted to The Optical Networking and Communication Conference (OFC) 201

A lower bound on the per soliton capacity of the nonlinear optical fibre channel

A closed-form expression for a lower bound on the per soliton capacity of the nonlinear optical fibre channel in the presence of (optical) amplifier spontaneous emission (ASE) noise is derived. This bound is based on a non-Gaussian conditional probability density function for the soliton amplitude jitter induced by the ASE noise and is proven to grow logarithmically as the signal-to-noise ratio increases

Sting jets in intense winter North-Atlantic windstorms

Extratropical cyclones dominate autumn and winter weather over western Europe. The strongest cyclones, often termed windstorms, have a large socio-economic impact due to the strong surface winds and associated storm surges in coastal areas. Here we show that sting jets are a common feature of windstorms; up to a third of the 100 most intense North Atlantic winter windstorms over the last two decades satisfy conditions for sting jets. The sting jet is a mesoscale descending airstream that can cause strong near-surface winds in the dry slot of the cyclone, a region not usually associated with strong winds. Despite their localized transient nature these sting jets can cause significant damage, a prominent example being the storm that devastated southeast England on 16 October 1987. We present the first regional climatology of windstorms with sting jets. Previously analysed sting jet cases appear to have been exceptional in their track over northwest Europe rather than in their strength

Capacity Lower Bounds of the Noncentral Chi-Channel with Applications to Soliton Amplitude Modulation

The channel law for amplitude-modulated solitons transmitted through a nonlinear optical fibre with ideal distributed amplification and a receiver based on the nonlinear Fourier transform is a noncentral chi-distribution with 2n degrees of freedom, where n = 2 and n = 3 correspond to the single- and dual-polarisation cases, respectively. In this paper, we study capacity lower bounds of this channel under an average power constraint in bits per channel use. We develop an asymptotic semi-analytic approximation for a capacity lower bound for arbitrary n and a Rayleigh input distribution. It is shown that this lower bound grows logarithmically with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), independently of the value of n. Numerical results for other continuous input distributions are also provided. A half-Gaussian input distribution is shown to give larger rates than a Rayleigh input distribution for n = 1; 2; 3. At an SNR of 25 dB, the best lower bounds we developed are approximately 3:68 bit per channel use. The practically relevant case of amplitude shift-keying (ASK) constellations is also numerically analysed. For the same SNR of 25 dB, a 16- ASK constellation yields a rate of approximately 3:45 bit per channel use

Increased wind risk from sting-jet windstorms with climate change

Extra-tropical cyclones dominate autumn and winter weather over western Europe. The strongest cyclones, often termed windstorms, have a large socio-economic impact on landfall due to strong surface winds and coastal storm surges. Climate model integrations have predicted a future increase in the frequency of, and potential damage from, European windstorms and yet these integrations cannot properly represent localised jets, such as sting jets, that may significantly enhance damage. Here we present the first prediction of how the climatology of sting-jet-containing cyclones will change in a future warmer climate, considering the North Atlantic and Europe. A proven sting-jet precursor diagnostic is applied to 13-year present-day and future ($\sim$2100) climate integrations from the Met Office Unified Model in its Global Atmosphere 3.0 configuration. The present-day climate results are consistent with previously-published results from a reanalysis dataset (with around 32\% of cyclones exhibiting the sing-jet precursor), lending credibility to the analysis of the future-climate integration. The proportion of cyclones exhibiting the sting-jet precursor in the future-climate integration increases to 45\%. Furthermore, while the proportion of explosively-deepening storms increases only slightly in the future climate, the proportion of those storms with the sting-jet precursor increases by 60\%. The European resolved-wind risk associated with explosively-deepening storms containing a sting-jet precursor increases substantially in the future climate; in reality this wind risk is likely to be further enhanced by the release of localised moist instability, unresolved by typical climate models

Effects of flaxseed encapsulation on biohydrogenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids by ruminal microorganisms: feedlot performance, carcass quality, and tissue fatty acid composition

Citation: Alvarado-Gilis, C. A., Aperce, C. C., Miller, K. A., Van Bibber-Krueger, C. L., Klamfoth, D., & Drouillard, J. S. (2015). Effects of flaxseed encapsulation on biohydrogenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids by ruminal microorganisms: feedlot performance, carcass quality, and tissue fatty acid composition. Journal of Animal Science, 93(9), 4368-4376. doi:10.2527/jas2015-9171The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of protecting PUFA within ground flaxseed against ruminal biohydrogenation by encapsulating them in a matrix consisting of a 1:1 blend of ground flaxseed and dolomitic lime hydrate (L-Flaxseed). Crossbreed heifers (n = 462, 346 +/- 19 kg) were blocked by weight and randomly assigned to pens. Pens were assigned to 1 of 6 dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design. Treatment 1 consisted of a combination of 54.6% steam-flaked corn (SFC), 30.0% wet corn gluten feed, 8.0% roughage, and supplement (0% flaxseed). In treatments 2 and 3, a proportion of SFC was replaced with 3 and 6% flaxseed, respectively; in treatments 4, 5, and 6, SFC was replaced with 2, 4, or 6% L-Flaxseed, respectively. Cattle were fed for 140 or 168 d and then harvested in a commercial abattoir where carcass data were collected. Approximately 24 h after harvest, carcasses were evaluated for 12th-rib fat thickness, KPH, LM area, marbling score, and USDA yield and quality grades. Samples of LM were also obtained for determination of long-chain fatty acid profiles. Cattle that were fed diets with 4 and 6% L-Flaxseed consumed less feed than other treatments (P 0.05). Supplementation with flaxseed increased (P 99%; increases for Flaxseed and L-Flaxseed of 0.095 and 0.140 mg of ALA/g of tissue for each percentage of flaxseed added). This study indicates that a matrix consisting of dolomitic lime hydrate is an effective barrier to ruminal biohydrogenation of PUFA; however, adverse effects on DMI limit the amounts that can be fed