On the changes in the physical properties of the ionized region around the Weigelt structures in Eta Carinae over the 5.54-yr spectroscopic cycle

We present HST/STIS observations and analysis of two prominent nebular structures around the central source of Eta Carinae, the knots C and D. The former is brighter than the latter for emission lines from intermediate or high ionization potential ions. The brightness of lines from intermediate and high ionization potential ions significantly decreases at phases around periastron. We do not see conspicuous changes in the brightness of lines from low ionization potential (<13.6 eV) that the total extinction towards the Weigelt structures is that the total extinction towards the Weigelt structures is AsubV =2/0. that the total extinction towards the Weigelt structures is AV = 2.0. Weigelt C and D are characterized by an electron density of that the total extinction towards the Weigelt structures is AV = 2.0. Weigelt C and D are characterized by an electron density of 10exp6.9 cm-3 that does not significantly change throughout the orbital cycle. The electron temperature varies from 5500 K (around periastron) to 7200 K (around apastron). The relative changes in the brightness of He I lines are well reproduced by the variations in the electron temperature alone. We found that, at phases around periastron, the electron temperature seems to be higher for Weigelt C than that of D. The Weigelt structures are located close to the Homunculus equatorial plane, at a distance of about 1240 AU from the central source. From the analysis of proper motion and age, the Weigelt complex can be associated with the equatorial structure called the Butterfly Nebula surrounding the central binary system.Comment: 19 pages, 18 figure

Management of functional neurological disorder.

Functional neurological disorder (FND) is a common cause of persistent and disabling neurological symptoms. These symptoms are varied and include abnormal control of movement, episodes of altered awareness resembling epileptic seizures and abnormal sensation and are often comorbid with chronic pain, fatigue and cognitive symptoms. There is increasing evidence for the role of neurologists in both the assessment and management of FND. The aim of this review is to discuss strategies for the management of FND by focusing on the diagnostic discussion and general principles, as well as specific treatment strategies for various FND symptoms, highlighting the role of the neurologist and proposing a structure for an interdisciplinary FND service

Analysis of decomposition parameters of green manure in the Brazilian Northeast with Association Rules Networks.

Modern agricultural processes are increasingly looking at the use of chemicals, so the constant search for organic alternatives to fertilization becomes frequent. The use of data mining using association rule networks (ARN) can aid in the analysis of the parameters involved in choosing which plant to use as green manure. In this work, an analysis of the parameters of green manures used in the Brazilian Northeast is presented, demonstrating the applicability of the computational technique as well as its use to gain in productivity

A multispectral view of the periodic events in eta Carinae

A full description of the 5.5-yr low excitation events in Eta Carinae is presented. We show that they are not as simple and brief as previously thought, but a combination of two components. The first, the 'slow variation' component, is revealed by slow changes in the ionization level of circumstellar matter across the whole cycle and is caused by gradual changes in the wind-wind collision shock-cone orientation, angular opening and gaseous content. The second, the 'collapse' component, is restricted to around the minimum, and is due to a temporary global collapse of the wind-wind collision shock. High energy photons (E > 16 eV) from the companion star are strongly shielded, leaving the Weigelt objects at low ionization state for >6 months. High energy phenomena are sensitive only to the 'collapse', low energy only to the 'slow variation' and intermediate energies to both components. Simple eclipses and mechanisms effective only near periastron (e.g., shell ejection or accretion onto the secondary star) cannot account for the whole 5.5-yr cycle. We find anti-correlated changes in the intensity and the radial velocity of P Cygni absorption profiles in FeII 6455 and HeI 7065 lines, indicating that the former is associated to the primary and the latter to the secondary star. We present a set of light curves representative of the whole spectrum, useful for monitoring the next event (2009 January 11).Comment: 16 pages, 7 EPS figures, accepted for publication on MNRA

Effect of low level contamination on TiAl alloys studied by SIMS

Titanium aluminides are a valuable alternative to superalloys in applications where the ratio resistance/density is important. Since the ordinary production routes lead to high final costs, an alternative might be the use of traditional casting techniques by induction melting of the alloy in a ceramic crucible and pouring into ceramic moulds, made by the investment casting process. However, due to the high reactivity of Ti alloys, traditional ceramic materials cannot be used, as they lead to oxide formation and oxygen pick up from both the crucible and the moulding materials. In this work, the effect of low level contaminations was studied by SIMS. Special attention was given to the oxygen concentration of samples obtained with different mould materials. The comparison of SIMS in-depth profiles with hardness profiles, give insight concerning the significance of the oxygen concentration in the properties of the alloy and regarding the choice of the most suitable materials for TiAl production

Precision Determination of the Mass Function of Dark Matter Halos

The predicted mass function of dark matter halos is essential in connecting observed galaxy cluster counts and models of galaxy clustering to the properties of the primordial density field. We determine the mass function in the concordance $\Lambda$CDM cosmology, as well as its uncertainty, using sixteen $1024^3$-particle nested-volume dark-matter simulations, spanning a mass range of over five orders of magnitude. Using the nested volumes and single-halo tests, we find and correct for a systematic error in the friends-of-friends halo-finding algorithm. We find a fitting form and full error covariance for the mass function that successfully describes the simulations' mass function and is well-behaved outside the simulations' resolutions. Estimated forecasts of uncertainty in cosmological parameters from future cluster count surveys have negligible contribution from remaining statistical uncertainties in the central cosmology multiplicity function. There exists a potentially non-negligible cosmological dependence (non-universality) of the halo multiplicity function.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to ApJ

Birefringence in nonlinear anisotropic dielectric media

Light propagation is investigated in the context of local anisotropic nonlinear dielectric media at rest with the dielectric coefficients $\epsilon^\mu{}_\nu = \epsilon^\mu{}_\nu (\vec{E},\vec{B})$ and constant $\mu$, in the limit of geometrical optics. Birefringence was examined and the general conditions for its occurrence were presented. A toy model is exhibited, in which uniaxial birefringent media with nonlinear dielectric properties could be driven by external fields in such way that birefringence may be artificially controlled. The effective geometry interpretation is also addressed.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Identification of pegmatite bodies, at a province scale, using machine learning algorithms: preliminary results

Several raw materials for green energy production, such as high purity quartz, lithium, rare earth elements, beryllium, tantalum, and caesium, can be sourced from a rock type known as pegmatite. The GREENPEG project (https://www.greenpeg.eu/), started in May 2020, is developing and testing new and advanced exploration technologies and algorithms to be integrated and upscaled into flexible, ready-to-use economically efficient and sustainable methods for finding buried pegmatites and their green technology raw materials. One of the tasks of this project aims to apply different image processing techniques to different satellite images (Landsat, ASTER, and Sentinel-2) in order to automatically identify pegmatite bodies. In this work, we will present the preliminary results, regarding the application of machine learning algorithms (ML), more specifically, random forests (RF) and support vector machines (SVM) to one of the study areas of the project in Tysfjord, northern Norway, to identify pegmatite bodies. To be able to determine the classes that would make up the study area, geological data of the region, such as lithological maps, aeromagnetic data, and high-resolution aerial photographs, were used to define the four classes (1. pegmatites, 2. water bodies, 3. vegetation, 4. granite). All training locations were randomly selected, with 25% of the samples split into testing, and the remaining 75% split for training. The SVM algorithm presented more promising results in relation to overfitting and final image classification than RF. Testing the algorithms with several variables of parameters was able to make the process more efficient