A Cultural Comparison of the ''Dark Constellations'' in the Milky Way

Cultures around the world find meaning in the groupings of stars and features in the Milky Way. The striking appearance of our Galaxy in the night sky serves as a reference to traditional knowledge, encoding science and culture to a memory space, becoming part of their overarching cosmologies. This paper examines traditional views of the Milky Way from cultures around the world, primarily in the Southern Hemisphere. These views comprise dark constellations: familiar shapes made up of the dark dust lanes in the Milky Way, rather than the bright stars. Some of the better-known examples include the celestial emu from Aboriginal traditions of Australia, and the llama in Inca traditions of the Andes. We conduct a comparative analysis of cultural perceptions of ‘dark constellations’ in the Milky Way, examining common cultural themes and meanings at the crossroads of Indigenous Knowledge and Western science with applications to topics ranging from Indigenous Studies to psychology.Fil: Gullberg, Steven R.. Oklahoma State University; Estados UnidosFil: Hamacher, Duane. University of Melbourne; AustraliaFil: Lopez, Alejandro Martin. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Instituto de Ciencias Antropológicas. Sección de Etnología y Etnografía; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Mejuto, Javier. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras; HondurasFil: Munro, Andrew M.. University of Oklahoma; Estados UnidosFil: Orchiston, Wayne. University of Southern Queensland; Australia. National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand; Tailandi

Distribution patterns and population structure of the blue shark (Prionace glauca) in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans

The blue shark (Prionace glauca) is the most frequently captured shark in pelagic oceanic fisheries, especially pelagic longlines targeting swordfish and/or tunas. As part of cooperative scientific efforts for fisheries and biological data collection, information from fishery observers, scientific projects and surveys, and from recreational fisheries from several nations in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans was compiled. Data sets included information on location, size and sex, in a total of 478,220 blue shark records collected between 1966 and 2014. Sizes ranged from 36 to 394 cm fork length. Considerable variability was observed in the size distribution by region and season in both oceans. Larger blue sharks tend to occur in equatorial and tropical regions, and smaller specimens in higher latitudes in temperate waters. Differences in sex ratios were also detected spatially and seasonally. Nursery areas in the Atlantic seem to occur in the temperate south-east off South Africa and Namibia, in the south-west off southern Brazil and Uruguay, and in the north-east off the Iberian Peninsula and the Azores. Parturition may occur in the tropical north-east off West Africa. In the Indian Ocean, nursery areas also seem to occur in temperate waters, especially in the south-west Indian Ocean off South Africa, and in the south-east off south-western Australia. The distributional patterns presented in this study provide a better understanding of how blue sharks segregate by size and sex, spatially and temporally, and improve the scientific advice to help adopt more informed and efficient management and conservation measures for this cosmopolitan species.Postprin

Evolución de las capacidades físicas en jugadores jóvenes de baloncesto de medio nivel

El objetivo de estudio fue analizar la evolución de las capacidades físicas de jugadores de medio nivel a lo largo de 2 años (categoría: cadete y júnior). Metodo. 15 jugadores fueron evaluados durante 2 años: en el ultimo año de la etapa cadete (U16) y el primer año de la etapa junior (U18). Los tests fueron realizados en 4 momentos (M) de cada temporada [1.Septiembre (pre-temporada), 2. Diciembre, 3. Abril y 4. Julio, para un total de 8 pruebas]. La batería consistió en un test de 20 m sprint (MST), un test de agilidad T (AGIT), un lanzamiento de balón medicinal de 5 kg (5KGT), un salto (CMJ), un test Sit and Reach (SAR) y la Course Navette (CN). Resultados. Los principales resultados fueron:,los jugadores mejoraron en MST: [1º M: 3.16 ± 0.27 m/s Vs. 4º M: 2.87 ± 0.17 m/s; (p<0.05)]; en CMJ,observamos diferencias estadísticas entre el 1º y 8º M [1º M: 32.57 ± 2.8 cm Vs. 8º M: 42.14 ± 3.8 cm;(p<0.05)]; los resultados en SAR mostraron que los valores decrecieron (1º M: 13.14 ± 12.27 cm al 8º M: 6.42 ± 7.36 cm); finalmente, observamos diferencias significativas entre 1º M y el 8º M en CNT [1º M: 10.36 ± 1.7 paliers Vs. 8º M: 12.5 ± 1.4 paliers; (p<0.05)]. Conclusiones. Se constataron mejoras significativas en las capacidades neuromusculares, la potencia aeróbica y la flexibilidad

Distributional and reproductive aspects of the bigeye thresher shark (Alopias superciliosus) in the Atlantic ocean

Captura asociada a la pesquería de palangre de superficie dirigida a pez espadaThe bigeye thresher shark, Alopias supercilious is sometimes caught as bycatch in pelagic longline fisheries targeting tunas and swordfish in the Atlantic Ocean. As part of an ongoing cooperative program for fisheries and biological data collection, fishery observer data from various fishing nations and projects were compiled and analyzed. Those data sets include information on geographic location of the observations, as well as size, sex and in some cases maturity stage. A total of 4371 bigeye threshers were recorded throughout the Atlantic Ocean between 1992 and 2013, with the sizes ranging from 70 to 305 cm FL (fork length). Considerable variability was observed in the catchat- size, with particular emphasis on the tropical region where the mean sizes tended to be smaller than in the other regions. The expected distribution of juvenile and adult specimens also showed considerable variability, and the sex-ratios varied between regions and size classes. Maturity ogives were fitted to data from 642 specimens, with the median sizes at maturity estimated at 208.6 cm FL (corresponding to 349.1 cm TL) for females and 159.2 cm FL (corresponding to 269.8 cm TL) for males. In addition, a segmented regression model (SRM) was used for males, and two breakpoints (Bk1: 122.5cm FL, Bk2: 173.3cm FL) estimated, identifying transitions between the three different maturity stages for male sharks (immature, maturing and mature). Only a few pregnant females were recorded, always with the presence of two embryos (one per uterus), and were distributed predominantly in the tropical northeast Atlantic closer the African continent, and in the southwest region, with those regions possibly serving as nursery areas for this species. These reproductive parameters, and especially the estimated median sizes at maturity and low fecundity, highlight the vulnerability of this species, reinforcing that the bigeye thresher tends to mature at a larger size than the other species of the Alopiidae family. The biological and distributional patterns presented can help managers adopt more informed and efficient conservation measures for this species.En prensa0,000

Is the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) a coastal species? Expanding its distribution range in the Atlantic Ocean using at-sea observer data

captura asociada a la pesquería de palangre de superficie dirigida a pez espadaThe occurrence of tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) in the Atlantic Ocean was assessed using at-sea observer data from multiple pelagic longline fisheries (Japan, Portugal, Spain, United States and Uruguay). Geographic positions of 2,764 tiger sharks, recorded between 1993 and 2013 and covering a wide area of the Atlantic were compared with the currently accepted distribution ranges of the species. Most of our records fell outside the accepted distribution ranges in both the Southern and Northern hemispheres. These results strongly suggest that the distribution range of the tiger shark is considerably wider than previously described, particularly over the open oceanEn prensa1,834

Computational fluid dynamics modelling of an entire synchronous generator for improved thermal management

This study is the first in a series dedicated to investigating the airflow and thermal management of electrical machines. Owing to the temperature dependent resistive losses in the machine's windings, any improvement in cooling provides a direct reduction in losses and an increase in efficiency. This study focuses on the airflow which is intrinsically linked to the thermal behaviour of the machine as well as the windage power consumed to drive the air through the machine. A full computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model has been used to analyse the airflow around all major components of the machine. Results have been experimentally validated and investigated. At synchronous speed the experimentally tested mass flow rate and windage torque were under predicted by 4% and 7%, respectively, by the CFD. A break-down of torque by component shows that the fan consumes approximately 87% of the windage torque

Validation of electrodeposited 241Am alpha-particle sources for use in liquified gas detectors at cryogenic temperatures

This paper describes a procedure for the validation of alpha-particle sources (exempt unsealed sources) to be used in experimental setups with liquefied gases at cryogenic temperatures (down to -196 C) and high vacuum. These setups are of interest for the development and characterization of neutrino and dark matter detectors based on liquid argon, among others. Due to the high purity requirements, the sources have to withstand high vacuum and cryogenic temperatures for extended periods. The validation procedure has been applied to 241Am sources produced by electrodeposition.Comment: 5 page

First narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves from known pulsars in advanced detector data

Spinning neutron stars asymmetric with respect to their rotation axis are potential sources of continuous gravitational waves for ground-based interferometric detectors. In the case of known pulsars a fully coherent search, based on matched filtering, which uses the position and rotational parameters obtained from electromagnetic observations, can be carried out. Matched filtering maximizes the signalto- noise (SNR) ratio, but a large sensitivity loss is expected in case of even a very small mismatch between the assumed and the true signal parameters. For this reason, narrow-band analysis methods have been developed, allowing a fully coherent search for gravitational waves from known pulsars over a fraction of a hertz and several spin-down values. In this paper we describe a narrow-band search of 11 pulsars using data from Advanced LIGO’s first observing run. Although we have found several initial outliers, further studies show no significant evidence for the presence of a gravitational wave signal. Finally, we have placed upper limits on the signal strain amplitude lower than the spin-down limit for 5 of the 11 targets over the bands searched; in the case of J1813-1749 the spin-down limit has been beaten for the first time. For an additional 3 targets, the median upper limit across the search bands is below the spin-down limit. This is the most sensitive narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves carried out so far

Dry Needling for Spine Related Disorders: a Scoping Review

Introduction/Background: The depth and breadth of research on dry needling (DN) has not been evaluated specifically for symptomatic spine related disorders (SRD) from myofascial trigger points (TrP), disc, nerve and articular structures not due to serious pathologies. Current literature appears to support DN for treatment of TrP. Goals of this review include identifying research published on DN treatment for SRD, sites of treatment and outcomes studied. Methods: A scoping review was conducted following Levac et al.’s five part methodological framework to determine the current state of the literature regarding DN for patients with SRD. Results: Initial and secondary search strategies yielded 55 studies in the cervical (C) region (71.43%) and 22 in the thoracolumbar-pelvic (TLP) region (28.57%). Most were randomized controlled trials (60% in C, 45.45% in TLP) and clinical trials (18.18% in C, 22.78% in TLP). The most commonly treated condition was TrP for both the C and TLP regions. In the C region, DN was provided to 23 different muscles, with the trapezius as treatment site in 41.88% of studies. DN was applied to 31 different structures in the TLP region. In the C region, there was one treatment session in 23 studies (41.82%) and 2–6 treatments in 25 (45.45%%). For the TLP region, one DN treatment was provided in 8 of the 22 total studies (36.36%) and 2–6 in 9 (40.9%). The majority of experimental designs had DN as the sole intervention. For both C and TLP regions, visual analogue scale, pressure pain threshold and range of motion were the most common outcomes. Conclusion: For SRD, DN was primarily applied to myofascial structures for pain or TrP diagnoses. Many outcomes were improved regardless of diagnosis or treatment parameters. Most studies applied just one treatment which may not reflect common clinical practice. Further research is warranted to determine optimal treatment duration and frequency. Most studies looked at DN as the sole intervention. It is unclear whether DN alone or in addition to other treatment procedures would provide superior outcomes. Functional outcome tools best suited to tracking the outcomes of DN for SRD should be explored.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12998-020-00310-

GW170104: Observation of a 50-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence at Redshift 0.2

We describe the observation of GW170104, a gravitational-wave signal produced by the coalescence of a pair of stellar-mass black holes. The signal was measured on January 4, 2017 at 10: 11: 58.6 UTC by the twin advanced detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory during their second observing run, with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 13 and a false alarm rate less than 1 in 70 000 years. The inferred component black hole masses are 31.2(-6.0)(+8.4)M-circle dot and 19.4(-5.9)(+5.3)M(circle dot) (at the 90% credible level). The black hole spins are best constrained through measurement of the effective inspiral spin parameter, a mass-weighted combination of the spin components perpendicular to the orbital plane, chi(eff) = -0.12(-0.30)(+0.21) . This result implies that spin configurations with both component spins positively aligned with the orbital angular momentum are disfavored. The source luminosity distance is 880(-390)(+450) Mpc corresponding to a redshift of z = 0.18(-0.07)(+0.08) . We constrain the magnitude of modifications to the gravitational-wave dispersion relation and perform null tests of general relativity. Assuming that gravitons are dispersed in vacuum like massive particles, we bound the graviton mass to m(g) <= 7.7 x 10(-23) eV/c(2). In all cases, we find that GW170104 is consistent with general relativity