Parallel

In this paper we present Parallel, a videogame with a powerful story of mystery, suspense and puzzle-solving. Parallel provides an interactive storyline where the actions players take throughout the game will define the course of the story and alter events. The environment created in the game is unique and it was improved from testing with several subjects on a prototype of the tutorial. Parallel’s main potential is the sense of immersion it can provide with its obscure environment, dynamic dialogs using an artificial intelligent agent and its interactive storyline.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

The distribution of [α\alpha/Fe] in the Milky Way disc

Using a sample of red giant stars from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) Data Release 16, we infer the conditional distribution $p([\alpha/\text{Fe}]\,|\,[\text{Fe/H}])$ in the Milky Way disk for the $\alpha$-elements Mg, O, Si, S, and Ca. In each bin of [Fe/H] and Galactocentric radius $R$, we model $p([\alpha/\text{Fe}])$ as a sum of two Gaussians, representing "low-$\alpha$" and "high-$\alpha$" populations with scale heights $z_1=0.45\,\text{kpc}$ and $z_2=0.95\,\text{kpc}$, respectively. By accounting for age-dependent and $z$-dependent selection effects in APOGEE, we infer the [$\alpha$/Fe] distributions that would be found for a fair sample of long-lived stars covering all $z$. Near the Solar circle, this distribution is bimodal at sub-solar [Fe/H], with the low-$\alpha$ and high-$\alpha$ peaks clearly separated by a minimum at intermediate [$\alpha$/Fe]. In agreement with previous results, we find that the high-$\alpha$ population is more prominent at smaller $R$, lower [Fe/H], and larger $|z|$, and that the sequence separation is smaller for Si and Ca than for Mg, O, and S. We find significant intrinsic scatter in [$\alpha$/Fe] at fixed [Fe/H] for both the low-$\alpha$ and high-$\alpha$ populations, typically $\sim 0.04$-dex. The means, dispersions, and relative amplitudes of this two-Gaussian description, and the dependence of these parameters on $R$, [Fe/H], and $\alpha$-element, provide a quantitative target for chemical evolution models and a test for hydrodynamic simulations of disk galaxy formation. We argue that explaining the observed bimodality will probably require one or more sharp transitions in the disk's gas accretion, star formation, or outflow history in addition to radial mixing of stellar populations.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA

Lipid peroxidation and seed emergency in progenies of the yellow passion fruit plant.

The objective was to evaluate the percentage of emergency plantlets and lipid peroxidation in seeds of 29 half-sib progenies of yellow passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims.) after 24 months under storage. The experimental design was completely randomized, with four replications of 50 seeds each, from which the treatments were the progenies (1-29). The evaluation of the percent plantlet emergency was accomplished at 14 and 28 days after sowing. The lipid peroxidation of the seeds was expressed as malondialdehyde (MDA) content that was determined by the TBARS method. Approximately 21% of those half-sib progenies maintained the viability of their seeds for twenty-four months under storage. The results point out a remarkable genetic variability for vigor and emergency of the yellow passion fruit plantlets, with occurrence of individuals with high and other ones with low capacity to maintaining the physiologic quality of their seeds after storage

Advanced electrically conductive adhesives for high complexity PCB assembly

Electronic packaging, or assembly of packed electronic components on printed circuit boards, present challenges that require innovative solder pastes and electrically conductive adhesives to face the increasing complexity of PCB assembly, with denser board occupation and demanding thermal management during assembly. Our aim is to prepare carbon particle based conductive adhesives. The first step to achieve this goal was to prepare composites with epoxy resin and a variety of nano to micron scale carbon particle, produced by mixing on a three roll mill. The percolation threshold for each particle type was determined as well as the conductivity level reached after percolation.This research is sponsored by the Portugal Incentive System for Research and Technological Development. Project in co-promotion nº 002814/2015 (iFACTORY 2015-2018)

Drop jumps versus sled towing and their effects on repeated sprint ability in young basketball players

[EN] Background: The aim of the investigation was to compare the occurrence of post-activation performance enhance- ment (PAPE) after drop jumps, or heavy sled towing, and the subsequent effect on repeated sprint ability (RSA). Methods: Ten young basketball players (17 ± 1 yrs) performed, in randomized order, RSA test with changes of direc- tion after a standardized warm up followed by drop jumps, heavy sled towing, or no exercise (control condition). Neuromuscular assessments composed of two maximal voluntary contractions of the knee extensors, peripheral nerve stimulation, and surface electromyography (EMG), responses were recorded before and immediately after the RSA. The EMG signal of leg muscles during sprinting were also recorded as well as the blood lactate concentration. Results: The drop jumps improved the RSA mean time (P = 0.033), total time (P = 0.031), and slowest time (P = 0.029) compared to control condition, while heavy sled towing did not change RSA outcomes (P > 0.05). All conditions exhibited a decrease of doublet high frequency stimulation force (pre-post measurement) (P = 0.023) and volun- tary activation (P = 0.041), evidencing the occurrence from peripheral and central components of fatigue after RSA, respectively, but no difference was evident between-conditions. There was a significantly greater EMG activity during sprints for the biceps femoris after drop jumps, only when compared to control condition (P = 0.013). Conclusion: Repeated drop jumps were effective to induce PAPE in the form of RSA, while heavy sled towing had no effect on RSA performance in young basketball players. Furthermore, both conditioning activities exhibited similar levels of fatigue following the RSA protocol. Thus, drop jumps may be used as an alternative to induce PAPE and thus improve performance during sprints in young male basketball players

SDSS-IV MaNGA:global stellar population and gradients for about 2000 early-type and spiral galaxies on the mass-size plane

We perform full spectrum fitting stellar population analysis and Jeans Anisotropic modelling (JAM) of the stellar kinematics for about 2000 early-type galaxies (ETGs) and spiral galaxies from the MaNGA DR14 sample. Galaxies with different morphologies are found to be located on a remarkably tight mass plane which is close to the prediction of the virial theorem, extending previous results for ETGs. By examining an inclined projection (‘the mass-size’ plane), we find that spiral and early-type galaxies occupy different regions on the plane, and their stellar population properties (i.e. age, metallicity and stellar mass-to-light ratio) vary systematically along roughly the direction of velocity dispersion, which is a proxy for the bulge fraction. Galaxies with higher velocity dispersions have typically older ages, larger stellar mass-to-light ratios and are more metal rich, which indicates that galaxies increase their bulge fractions as their stellar populations age and become enriched chemically. The age and stellar mass-to-light ratio gradients for low-mass galaxies in our sample tend to be positive ( centre<outer ), while the gradients for most massive galaxies are negative. The metallicity gradients show a clear peak around velocity dispersion log10σe ≈ 2.0, which corresponds to the critical mass ∼3 × 1010M⊙ of the break in the mass-size relation. Spiral galaxies with large mass and size have the steepest gradients, while the most massive ETGs, especially above the critical mass Mcrit≳2×1011M⊙ , where slow rotator ETGs start dominating, have much flatter gradients. This may be due to differences in their evolution histories, e.g. mergers

The Inviscid Limit and Boundary Layers for Navier-Stokes Flows

The validity of the vanishing viscosity limit, that is, whether solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations modeling viscous incompressible flows converge to solutions of the Euler equations modeling inviscid incompressible flows as viscosity approaches zero, is one of the most fundamental issues in mathematical fluid mechanics. The problem is classified into two categories: the case when the physical boundary is absent, and the case when the physical boundary is present and the effect of the boundary layer becomes significant. The aim of this article is to review recent progress on the mathematical analysis of this problem in each category.Comment: To appear in "Handbook of Mathematical Analysis in Mechanics of Viscous Fluids", Y. Giga and A. Novotn\'y Ed., Springer. The final publication is available at http://www.springerlink.co