Broadening of H2_2O rotational lines by collision with He atoms at low temperature

We report pressure broadening coefficients for the 21 electric-dipole transitions between the eight lowest rotational levels of ortho-H$_2$O and para-H$_2$O molecules by collisions with He at temperatures from 20 to 120 K. These coefficients are derived from recently published experimental state-to-state rate coefficients for H$_2$O:He inelastic collisions, plus an elastic contribution from close coupling calculations. The resulting coefficients are compared to the available experimental data. Mostly due to the elastic contribution, the pressure broadening coefficients differ much from line to line, and increase markedly at low temperature. The present results are meant as a guide for future experiments and astrophysical observations.Comment: 2 figures, 2 table

Special Olympics Fitness Assessment Project

Fitness is an important aspect of the Special Olympics mission. Physical activity, adequate nutrition, and hydration enhance athletes’ sports performance and improve health and overall quality of life. PURPOSE: The purpose of the study is under a service contract, assist Special Olympics International in data collection to evaluate the effectiveness of their Fit 5 program intervention. Analyze the health and fitness status of the Rio Grande Valley Special Olympics Athletes and the effectiveness of the Fit 5 program in the area. METHODS: Participant eligibility were current special Olympic athletes aged 18 and older in the Rio Grande Valley area. Forty-six special Olympic athletes (Mean±SD; 25.5±7yrs; 33±9kg/m2; 20 male) participated in the study; they completed a six-week exercise intervention consisting of 2 exercise sessions per week delivered remotely. The exercise sessions followed the Fit5 guidelines for endurance, strength, flexibility, and balance exercise recommendations. Three different measurements and surveys were taken: at the beginning of the implementation, after the six-week exercise intervention, and a month after. Special Olympics approved all surveys and exercises. Data were considered for statistical analysis if the participants completed the three measurements and surveys. Data collected included demographic information, healthy habits survey, resting heart rate, blood pressure, BMI, waist circumference, pushup and curl up endurance test, recovery heart rate for a step test, and a single leg balance test. One Way ANOVA was performed to compare the measurement in the three-time instances. RESULTS: Nine participants (25.77±5.8yrs; 36.9±7.8kg/mg2;3 male) completed the three sessions. There were small improvements in waist circumference and blood pressure, but One Way ANOVA showed no significant difference by the exercise interventions. CONCLUSION: Special Olympic Athletes in The Rio Grande Valley Area are an underserved population that can benefit from structured exercise implementations such as Fit5. Future interventions should aim to increase the exercise session and the retention of participants

Channel plasmon-polaritons: modal shape, dispersion, and losses

We theoretically study channel plasmon-polaritons (CPPs) with a geometry similar to that in recent experiments at telecom wavelengths (Bozhevolnyi et al., Nature 440, 508 (2006)). The CPP modal shape, dispersion relation, and losses are simulated using the multiple multipole method and the finite difference time domain technique. It is shown that, with the increase of the wavelength, the fundamental CPP mode shifts progressively towards the groove opening, ceasing to be guided at the groove bottom and becoming hybridized with wedge plasmon-polaritons running along the groove edges.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Oscillatory dynamics of a superconductor vortex lattice in high amplitude ac magnetic fields

In this work we study by ac susceptibility measurements the evolution of the solid vortex lattice mobility under oscillating forces. Previous work had already shown that in YBCO single crystals, below the melting transition, a temporarily symmetric magnetic ac field (e.g. sinusoidal, square, triangular) can heal the vortex lattice (VL) and increase its mobility, but a temporarily asymmetric one (e.g. sawtooth) of the same amplitude can tear the lattice into a more pinned disordered state. In this work we present evidence that the mobility of the VL is reduced for large vortex displacements, in agreement with predictions of recent simulations. We show that with large symmetric oscillating fields both an initially ordered or an initially disordered VL configuration evolve towards a less mobile lattice, supporting the scenario of plastic flow.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Social media disinformation in the pre-electoral period in Portugal

Since the North American presidential election of 2016, the role of social media on the propagation of misleading news and its instrumentalization by partisan groups has raised concerns. In this article we analyse the contents of 47 Facebook pages and 39 Facebook groups prior to the Portuguese parliamentary election of 6th of October of 2019 to track disinformation. Groups and pages to monitor were selected through a process that combined the number of fans or members, the proportion of political content, and the number of posts per week. We concluded that disinformative content was prevalent in the pages and groups monitored, that several political actors had a relevant influence on the debate and that most disinformation stemmed from the spinning of both mainstream and non-mainstream news to serve a political purpose

Evaluation of non-ohmic losses with overlap integrals

2 pages, 1 figure.In the main text of the paper corresponding to the present document, WPP--SPP conversion devices are considered. Reflection and radiation losses in such structures are evaluated by means of overlap integrals. In this Auxiliary Material section details of such procedure are provided.Peer reviewe

Rapid weight gain, infant feeding practices, and subsequent body mass index trajectories: The calina study

We aimed to study growth patterns according to rapid weight gain (RWG) and infant feeding practices during the first 120 days and whether infant feeding practices mediated the association between RWG in the first semester of life and subsequent body mass index (BMI) z-score in children from age 1 to 6. (1) Methods: 862 children from the Growth and Feeding during Lactation and Early Childhood in Children of Aragon study (CALINA in Spanish) were examined. Repeated-measures ANOVA analyses were conducted to assess growth trajectories according to RWG and type of feeding practice. The product of coefficients mediation method was used to assess the potential contribution of infant feeding practices to the association between RWG and BMI z-score. Mediation models were conducted using IBM SPSS-PROCESS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. (2) Results: BMI and weight z-score trajectories were significantly higher in the RWG group and the formula-fed group. No significant differences were found regarding height. Infant feeding practices did not mediate the association between RWG and BMI z-score but were associated with BMI at 6 years. (3) Conclusions: Infant feeding practices and RWG determine different growth trajectories of BMI and weight during childhood. Although infant feeding practices did not mediate the association between early RWG and BMI later in life, formula feeding is independently related to higher BMI growth patterns later in childhood

Polymer-solvent interaction parameters of SBS rubbers by inverse gas chromatography measurements

The solubility parameters of two SBS commercial rubbers with different structures (lineal and radial), and with slightly different styrene content have been determined by inverse gas chromatography technique. The Flory–Huggins interaction parameters of several polymer–solvent mixtures have also been calculated. The influence of the polymer composition, the solvent molecular weight and the temperature over these parameters have been discussed; besides, these parameters have been compared with previous ones, obtained by intrinsic viscosity measurements. From the Flory–Huggins interaction parameters, the infinite dilution activity coefficients of the solvents have been calculated and fitted to the well-known NRTL model. These NRTL binary interaction parameters have a great importance in modelling the separation steps in the process of obtaining the rubber

Guiding and Focusing of Electromagnetic Fields with Wedge Plasmon Polaritons

We study theoretically electromagnetic modes guided by metallic wedges at telecom wavelengths. These modes are found to exhibit superior confinement while showing similar propagation loss as compared to other subwavelength guiding configurations. It is also shown that mode focusing can be realized by gradual modification of the wedge geometry along the mode propagation direction