The origin of the LMC stellar bar: clues from the SFH of the bar and inner disk

We discuss the origin of the LMC stellar bar by comparing the star formation histories (SFH) obtained from deep color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) in the bar and in a number of fields in different directions within the inner disk. The CMDs, reaching the oldest main sequence turnoffs in these very crowded fields, have been obtained with VIMOS on the VLT in service mode, under very good seeing conditions. We show that the SFHs of all fields share the same patterns, with consistent variations of the star formation rate as a function of time in all of them. We therefore conclude that no specific event of star formation can be identified with the formation of the LMC bar, which instead likely formed from a redistribution of disk material that occurred when the LMC disk became bar unstable, and shared a common SFH with the inner disk thereafter. The strong similarity between the SFH of the center and edge of the bar rules out significant spatial variations of the SFH across the bar, which are predicted by scenarios of classic bar formation through buckling mechanisms.Comment: MNRAS Letters, accepte

A sweet deal? Sugarcane, water and agricultural transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa

Globally, the area of sugarcane is rising rapidly in response to growing demands for bioethanol and increased sugar demand for human consumption. Despite considerable diversity in production systems and contexts, sugarcane is a particularly “high impact” crop with significant positive and negative environmental and socio-economic impacts. Our analysis is focused on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), which is a critical region for continued expansion, due to its high production potential, low cost of production and proximity, and access, to European markets. Drawing on a systematic review of scientific evidence, combined with information from key informants, stakeholders and a research-industry workshop, we critically assess the impacts of sugarcane development on water, soil and air quality, employment, food security and human health. Our analysis shows that sugarcane production is, in general, neither explicitly good nor bad, sustainable nor unsustainable. The impacts of expansion of sugarcane production on the environment and society depend on the global political economy of sugar, local context, quality of scheme, nature of the production system and farm management. Despite threats from climate change and forthcoming changes in the trade relationship with the European Union, agricultural development policies are driving national and international interest and investment in sugarcane in SSA, with expansion likely to play an important role in sustainable development in the region. Our findings will help guide researchers and policy makers with new insights in understanding the situated environmental and social impacts associated with alternative sugar economy models, production technologies and qualities of management

Tomography of the Reionization Epoch with Multifrequency CMB Observations

We study the constraints that future multifrequency Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) experiments will be able to set on the metal enrichment history of the Inter Galactic Medium at the epoch of reionisation. We forecast the signal to noise ratio for the detection of the signal introduced in the CMB by resonant scattering off metals at the end of the Dark Ages. We take into account systematics associated to inter-channel calibration, PSF reconstruction errors and innacurate foreground removal. We develop an algorithm to optimally extract the signal generated by metals during reionisation and to remove accurately the contamination due to the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. Although demanding levels of foreground characterisation and control of systematics are required, they are very distinct from those encountered in HI-21cm studies and CMB polarization, and this fact encourages the study of resonant scattering off metals as an alternative way of conducting tomography of the reionisation epoch. An ACT-like experiment with optimistic assumtions on systematic effects, and looking at clean regions of the sky, can detect changes of 3%-12% (95% c.l.) of the OIII abundance (with respect its solar value) in the redshift range $z\in$ [12,22], for reionization redshift $z_{\rm re}>10$. However, for $z_{\rm re} <10$, it can only set upper limits on NII abundance increments of $\sim$ 60% its solar value in the redshift range $z\in$ [5.5,9], (95% c.l.). These constraints assume that inter-channel calibration is accurate down to one part in $10^{4}$, which constitutes the most critical technical requirement of this method, but still achievable with current technology.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Astrophysical Journal. Comments are welcom

Optimal management of the Jucar River and Turia River basins under uncertain drought conditions

This paper presents a methodology to assess the best behavior achievable for a water resources system, and we apply it to the joint system of the Jucar River and Turia River basins in Spain. The resources of the two rivers are used jointly to meet the different water uses within the region, especially urban demands and environmental requirements. The climate change effects in this area are predicted to be particularly severe in this area with great variability in drought patterns. The results are particularly suitable for evaluating the best performance of the system under uncertain conditions

Assessing future drought risks and wheat yield losses in England

Acknowledgement: The authors acknowledge the Class Stiftung Foundation their financial support, Cambridge NIAB for solar radiation data, Cranfield Soil and Agrifood Institute for the soil characteristics data, AHDB for access to their Recommended List Trial yield data. We are grateful for access to the UK Meteorological Office MIDAS Land Surface Stations data (1853-current) from the British Atmospheric Data Centre (http://badc.nerc.ac.uk/data/ukmo-midas). Rothamsted Research receives grant-aided support from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council through Designing Future Wheat [BB/P016855/1] and Achieving Sustainable Agricultural Systems [NE/N018125/1].Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Anatomical and genetic study of an ancient animal tooth showing brachyodont and hypsodont mixed taxonomical characteristics

A non-human dental piece was found in a Roman Empire tomb dated the 3rd century A.C. in Zaragoza (Spain). The morphology of this piece showed mixed brachyodont (carnivores) and hypsodont (herbivores) characteristics. As a result, the taxonomical assignation of the piece was impossible. Therefore, a protocolbased on the DNA sequence of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 mitochondrial region (COI) was applied. For this purpose, a pair of primers able to amplify thisregion in a large variety of animals was designed. The results point to a species of the Genus Bos (Family Bovidae). This assignation was later confirmed by these quencing of a short fragment of the mitochondrial D-loop region. A complete morphological description of the tooth is presented together with the DNA sequence study and comparison protocol

Frecuencia del consumo de drogas legales: Diferencias de edad en la adolescencia

El consumo de drogas es especialmente relevante por sus efectos negativos sobre la salud psicofísica y el funcionamiento social de los jóvenes. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar las diferencias de edad respecto a las frecuencias de consumo de alcohol y tabaco en una muestra de 354 escolares (50.85% varones) de 12 a 18 años (M = 14.66; DT = 1.08) que cumplimentaron el Questionnarie about Consume of Alcohol and Tobacco (TNT). Los resultados muestran que el 82.4% de los adolescentes ha consumido bebidas alcohólicas en alguna ocasión y el 25.6% es consumidor actualmente. Respecto al consumo de tabaco, el 40.4% de estudiantes afirma haber fumado en alguna ocasión, siendo consumidores actuales el 8.2%. Asimismo, se hallaron diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre la adolescencia temprana y tardía, observándose un aumento sustancial del consumo actual de ambas sustancias con la edad. Estos resultados resaltan la importancia de la variable edad a la hora de planificar medidas preventivas y de promoción de la salud en población adolescente

Global Antifungal Profile Optimization of Chlorophenyl Derivatives against Botrytis cinerea and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides

Twenty-two aromatic derivatives bearing a chlorine atom and a different chain in the para or meta position were prepared and evaluated for their in vitro antifungal activity against the phytopathogenic fungi Botrytis cinerea and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. The results showed that maximum inhibition of the growth of these fungi was exhibited for enantiomers S and R of 1-(40-chlorophenyl)- 2-phenylethanol (3 and 4). Furthermore, their antifungal activity showed a clear structure-activity relationship (SAR) trend confirming the importance of the benzyl hydroxyl group in the inhibitory mechanism of the compounds studied. Additionally, a multiobjective optimization study of the global antifungal profile of chlorophenyl derivatives was conducted in order to establish a rational strategy for the filtering of new fungicide candidates from combinatorial libraries. The MOOPDESIRE methodology was used for this purpose providing reliable ranking models that can be used later

The galaxy cluster Ysz-Lx and Ysz-M relations from the WMAP 5-yr data

We use multifrequency matched filters to estimate, in the WMAP 5-year data, the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) fluxes of 893 ROSAT NORAS/REFLEX clusters spanning the luminosity range Lx,[0.1-2.4]keV = 2 10^{41} - 3.5 10^{45} erg s^{-1}. The filters are spatially optimised by using the universal pressure profile recently obtained from combining XMM-Newton observations of the REXCESS sample and numerical simulations. Although the clusters are individually only marginally detected, we are able to firmly measure the SZ signal (>10 sigma) when averaging the data in luminosity/mass bins. The comparison between the bin-averaged SZ signal versus luminosity and X-ray model predictions shows excellent agreement, implying that there is no deficit in SZ signal strength relative to expectations from the X-ray properties of clusters. Using the individual cluster SZ flux measurements, we directly constrain the Y500-Lx and Y500-M500 relations, where Y500 is the Compton y-parameter integrated over a sphere of radius r500. The Y500-M500 relation, derived for the first time in such a wide mass range, has a normalisation Y*500=[1.60 pm 0.19] 10^{-3} arcmin^2 at M500=3 10^{14} h^{1} Msun, in excellent agreement with the X-ray prediction of 1.54 10^{-3} arcmin^2, and a mass exponent of alpha=1.79 pm 0.17, consistent with the self-similar expectation of 5/3. Constraints on the redshift exponent are weak due to the limited redshift range of the sample, although they are compatible with self-similar evolution.Comment: Version accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Evaluación Estructural Mediante Ultrasonidos del Efecto del Espesor de la Junta de Mortero en Muros de Fábrica de Ladrillo Cerámino Sometidos a Esfuerzo de Compresión hasta su Rotura.

En este trabajo se analiza la influencia del espesor de la junta de mortero en el comportamiento estructural de probetas de fábrica de ladrillo cerámico bajo esfuerzos de compresión uniaxial. El ensayo de compresión reproduce la forma habitual de trabajo de estas estructuras. Se han ensayado nueve muros y nueve pilares, combinando tres espesores de junta de mortero, sometidos a carga de compresión hasta rotura. Con el fin de evaluar el progresivo agrietamiento del material durante el proceso de carga, se han realizado medidas con ultrasonidos. Además se han realizado medidas con extensómetros y esclerómetro para contrastar la validez de las medidas de ultrasonidos. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que existe una correlación entre los valores de la fuerza de compresión que soportan las probetas y el tamaño del espesor de la junta: a menor espesor de junta mayor carga de rotura. Del estudio también se desprende que esta relación es más clara en los muros que en los pilares, ya que la esbeltez de los muros es mayor y aparecen efectos de pandeo. La medida con ultrasonidos muestra una buena correlación con las medidas extenso métricas y permite una eficaz detección del agrietamiento interior del material durante el proceso de rotura