Spectral observations at the CILBO observatory: calibration and data sets

Stars and planetary system

Opera and poison : a secret and enjoyable approach to teaching and learning chemistry

The storyline of operas, with historical or fictional characters, often include potions and poisons. This has prompted a study of the chemistry behind some operatic plots. The results were originally presented as a lecture given at the University of Minho in Portugal, within the context of the International Year of Chemistry. The same lecture was subsequently repeated at other universities as an invited lecture for science students and in public theaters for wider audiences. The lecture included a multimedia and interactive content that allowed the audience to listen to arias and to watch video clips with selected scenes extracted from operas. The present article, based on the lecture, demonstrates how chemistry and opera can be related and may also serve as a source of motivation and inspiration for chemistry teachers looking for alternative pedagogical approaches. Moreover, the lecture constitutes a vehicle that transports chemistry knowledge to wider audiences through examples of everyday molecules, with particular emphasis on natural products.The author is pleased to express his gratitude to Jorge Calado and Michael John Smith for useful discussions. The author also thanks the reviewers of the manuscript for their helpful comments and suggestions. Thanks are due to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT,Portugal), QREN and FEDER/EU for financial support through the research centers, CQ/UM PEst-C/QUI/UI0686/2011. Ciencia Viva, Portugal, is also acknowledged for financial support of the activities organized by the University of Minho during the International Year of Chemistry. The author also expresses his gratitude to Ana Paula Ferreira and Andre Cunha Leal from RTP Antena 2 who contributed immensely to the popularization of the lecture on which this paper is based on

Moral Realism and Political Decisions. Practical Rationality in Contemporary Public Contexts

The challenge of realism is one of the common features of current philosophical debates, across different cultural traditions, and in many areas of investigation (epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, aesthetics, theory of action, etc.). The implications of realism for political philosophy and political practice, though, are just starting to become an object of systematic discussions. Such implications, however, are significant, since the area of politics is contiguous with that of ethics and action, for example. This volume intends to contribute to debates on the relevance of realism – especially moral realism – for politics. The essays included in the collection address a number of related issues, ranging from foundational problems of realism in ethics, action theory and politics, to questions about pragmatics, to difficulties in political theory, and to political hindrances related to economics and legal theory. The common focus of all essays is the relevance of realism for a conception of practical rationality in political contexts.Die Herausforderungen, vor die uns der Realismus stellt, sind in aktuellen philosophischen Debatten gegenwärtig und sie machen sich durch unterschiedliche kulturelle Traditionen und viele Untersuchungsbereiche (Erkenntnistheorie, Metaphysik, Ethik, Ästhetik, Handlungstheorie, etc.) hindurch bemerkbar. Die Auswirkungen des Realismus auf die Politische Philosophie und die politische Praxis sind jedoch erst seit kurzem Gegenstand systematischer Diskussionen, obwohl sie von Bedeutung sind, denn letztlich steht der Bereich der Politik immer in einem Zusammenhang mit Fragen der Ethik und der Handlung. Dieser Band möchte einen Beitrag zu den Debatten über die Relevanz des Realismus für die Politik leisten und hat dabei insbesondere den moralischen Realismus im Blick. Die hier versammelten Aufsätze enthalten eine Reihe von Auseinandersetzungen mit damit zusammenhängenden Problemstellungen, die von grundlegenden Problemen des Realismus in der Ethik, Handlungstheorie und Politik, Fragen zur Pragmatik, über die Schwierigkeiten der Politischen Theorie, bis hin zu politischen Hindernissen für Wirtschaft und Recht reichen. Der gemeinsame Fokus aller Aufsätze liegt dabei in der Betrachtung der Relevanz eines Realismus‘ für eine Konzeption einer praktischen Vernunft im politischen Kontext

Bowel management for the treatment of pediatric fecal incontinence

Fecal incontinence is a devastating underestimated problem, affecting a large number of individuals all over the world. Most of the available literature relates to the management of adults. The treatments proposed are not uniformly successful and have little application in the pediatric population. This paper presents the experience of 30 years, implementing a bowel management program, for the treatment of fecal incontinence in over 700 pediatric patients, with a success rate of 95%. The main characteristics of the program include the identification of the characteristics of the colon of each patient; finding the specific type of enema that will clean that colon and the radiological monitoring of the process

Quadratic Variation of Martingales in Riesz Spaces

We derive quadratic variation inequalities for discrete-time martingales, sub- and supermartingales in the measure-free setting of Riesz spaces. Our main result is a Riesz space analogue of Austin\u2019s sample function theorem, on convergence of the quadratic variation processes of martingale

Influence of ablation on vacuum-ultraviolet radiation in a plasma wind tunnel flow

Plasma wind tunnel experiments have been performed simulating a Hayabusa reentry trajectory point at 78.8 km altitude with a velocity of 11.7  km/s corresponding to a local mass–specific enthalpy of 68.4  MJ/kg and a stagnation pressure of 2.44 kPa. Ablation–radiation coupling is investigated using a carbon preform sample, a lightweight carbon phenolic ablator sample, and cooled copper. Optical emission spectroscopic measurements in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) regime (116–197 nm) have been conducted through a bore hole in the stagnation point of the different samples. Optical emission spectroscopic measurements in the UV/VIS spectral range (320–810 nm) have been conducted viewing the plasma from the side. The stagnation point VUV radiation to the carbon preform sample is strongest, whereas it is weakest for the carbon phenolic sample. In the UV/VIS both carbon-based material samples lead to stronger plasma radiation than copper. Atomic number densities in front of the samples are largest for the carbon preform sample and lowest for the carbon phenolic sample. Rotational and vibrational temperatures are lower for both the carbon-based materials compared with copper. The measurements show for the first time experimentally the radiative heat flux mitigation by carbon phenolic materials

Vacuum Acceptance Tests for the UHV Room Temperature Vacuum System of the LHC during LS1

During the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) first long shut down (LS1), a large number of vacuum tests are carried out on consolidated or newly fabricated devices. In such a way, the vacuum compatibility is assessed before installation in the UHV system of the LHC. According to the equipment’s nature, the vacuum acceptance tests consist in functional checks, leak test, outgassing rate measurements, evaluation of contaminants by Residual Gas Analysis (RGA), pumping speed measurements and qualification of the H2 sticking probability of Non-Evaporable-Getter (NEG) coating. In this paper, the methods used for the tests and the acceptance criteria are described. A summary of the measured vacuum characteristics for the tested components is also given

Lawyers as 'gatekeepers' : the impact of preventative anti money laundering obligations on the legal profession in England and Wales

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