Umbral Dynamics in the Near Infrared Continuum

We detected peaks of oscillatory power at 3 and ~6.5 minutes in the umbra of the central sunspot of the active region NOAA AR 10707 in data obtained in the near infrared (NIR) continuum at 1565.7 nm. The NIR dataset captured umbral dynamics around 50 km below the photospheric level. The umbra does not oscillate as a whole, but rather in distinct parts that are distributed over the umbral surface. The most powerful oscillations, close to a period of ~ 6.5, do not propagate upward. We noted a plethora of large umbral dots that persisted for more than 30 minutes and stayed in the same locations. The peaks of oscillatory power above the detected umbral dots are located at 3 and 5 minutes oscillations, but are very weak in comparison with the oscillations of ~ 6.5 minutes.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, accepted in Ap

Fractura de Maisonneuve abierta: una entidad infrecuente: a propósito de un caso y revisión de la literatura

Introducción. La fractura de Maisonneuve representa aproximadamente el 5% de todas las fracturas de tobillo tratadas quirúrgicamente. Debido a que suelen ser fracturas cerradas, presentamos el caso de una fractura de Maisonneuve abierta por su infrecuencia. Caso Clínico. Varón de 63 años que acudió a urgencias tras traumatismo de miembro inferior derecho. En la exploración se evidenció una solución de continuidad de la piel en cara medial de tobillo con exposición de maléolo tibial. La radiografía mostró una apertura de la mortaja tibio-peronea y una fractura espiroidea en el tercio proximal del peroné. Se realizó osteosíntesis con dos tornillos canulados. Tras 12 meses de seguimiento, el paciente presenta una puntuación media de 86,8 puntos en la escala AOFAS. Conclusión. Ante una luxación abierta de tobillo, debe sospecharse una fractura de Maisonneuve aunque sea poco frecuente, siendo la osteosíntesis una opción terapéutica eficaz en este tipo de fracturas.Introduction. Maisonneuve fracture represents approximately 5% of all surgically treated ankle fractures. Because these fractures are usually closed, we present the case of a Maisonneuve open fracture owing to its rarity. Case report. A 63-year-old man presented to his emergency department after a right leg trauma. Physical examination revealed a skin solution of continuity above the ankle joint, with a medial tibial malleolus exposure. The radiography showed an opening of the tibiofibular mortise and a spiral fracture of the proximal third of the fibula. Fixation with two cannulated screws was performed. After 12 months of follow up, the patient has an average score of 86.8 points on the AOFAS scale. Conclusion. In the face of an open ankle dislocation, a Maisonneuve open fracture should be suspected in spite of its infrequency, being the osteosynthesis an effective therapeutic option in this type of fracture

Downflows in sunspot umbral dots

We study the velocity field of umbral dots at a resolution of 0.14". Our analysis is based on full Stokes spectropolarimetric measurements of a pore taken with the CRISP instrument at the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope. We determine the flow velocity at different heights in the photosphere from a bisector analysis of the Fe I 630 nm lines. In addtion, we use the observed Stokes Q, U, and V profiles to characterize the magnetic properties of these structures. We find that most umbral dots are associated with strong upflows in deep photospheric layers. Some of them also show concentrated patches of downflows at their edges, with sizes of about 0.25", velocities of up to 1000 m/s, and enhanced net circular polarization signals. The downflows evolve rapidly and have lifetimes of only a few minutes. These results appear to validate numerical models of magnetoconvection in the presence of strong magnetic fields.Comment: Final published version. For best quality figures, please download the PS versio

Geochemical influence of soil on leaf and grape (Vitis vinifera L. 'Cencibel') composition in La Mancha region (Spain)

The main purpose of the study was to evaluate major and trace elements contained in topsoil from representative plots of vineyards located in La Mancha, Spain, to obtain an elemental fingerprint of vines. The samples evaluated were obtained from topsoil in six different plots, belonging to the region of La Mancha, characterized by the cultivation of vineyards (near 189.127 ha). Twenty different vines from each plot were chosen to take samples from grapes, petioles and leaves. Analyses were carried out by X-ray Fluorescence applied on soils and dried vegetal matter. Biological Absorption Coefficient (BAC) was calculated to assess the uptake of minerals by vines as a function of their specific content in soil. The BAC in leaves and grapes was very similar for all studied elements. High contents of Ca, Sr, Ni and rare earth elements (La, Ce and Nd) were found along with low contents in Al, Zr, Ba, Cu, Zn and Pb, and normal contents in the rest of the elements. BAC in grapes was lower for the majority of the studied elements but it is interesting to underline the contents of Cs, K, Nb, Ce, Zn and Sr as possible markers of soil fingerprinting in the resulting wines.

The What and Why of Research on Reinforcement

Reinforcement - a process that helps prevent interbreeding between hybridising populations - is an important and little understood mechanism driving the completion of speciatio

Ensayos de eficiencia con macrófitas para la remoción de carga contaminante en aguas residuales de hatos lecheros para un subsector de la Laguna Fúquene

This research project was developed in two phases. In the fist phase the wastewater characterization was made in two milk´s production farms located in Susa (Cundinamarca), section of Funquene´s lagoon. The farm named ¨Las delicias¨ was determined as the most critical point; using their organic liquid residues to feed the wetlands system implemented in the second phase, in which the organic matter removal percentages and nutritious such as:BOD, COD, NO, POand total solids were evaluated using a pilot scale. The macrophytes specias used as base of the practice were Eichhornia crassipes (Buchón), Limnobium Laevigatum (Floating leaf) and Typha domingensis (Eneal), extracted of Fuquene´s lagoon. The statiscal analysis was made using a random simple block system and it shows that Eichhornia crassipes has a bigger efficiency in the organic load removal (65%) for these kind of liquid residues.El proyecto de investigación se desarrolló en dos fases. En la primera fase se realizó la caracterización de las aguas residuales de dos hatos lecheros ubicados en el municipio de Susa (Cundinamarca), subsector de la laguna de Fúneque. El hato lechero ¨Las delicias¨ se determinó como el vetimiento más crítico, usando sus residuos líquidos orgánicos para alimentas el sistema de humedales artificiales implementado en la segunda fase, en la cual se evaluaon en escala piloto los porcentajes de remoción de materia orgánica y nutriente tales como DBO, DQO, PO y Sólidos totales. Como base del ensayo fueron empleadas las especies macrófitas eichhornia crassipes (Buchón), Limnobium laevigatum (Hoja flotante) y Typha domingensis (Enea), estraídas de la laguna de Fúquene. Los resultados obtenidos a partir del análisis estadístico, empleando un diseño experimental de bloques simples al azar, indican que Eicchornia crassipes reportó mayor eficiencia en la remoción de carga orgánica (65%) para este tipo de resiudos líquidos

Prevalence and distribution of intestinal parasites in stray dogs in the northwest area of Mexico

Zoonotic parasitic infections are a major global public and veterinary health problem and widespread among stray dogs. The objective of this study was to establish the prevalence of intestinal parasites in stray dogs in the urban, rural and coastal areas of Mexicali County in northwest Mexico. In 2014, from January to December, 380 stray dogs were captured. The entire small intestine, cecum and faeces samples were collected and examined by using simple zinc sulfate flotation and Lugol’s solution staining. Data were statistically analysed. Overall, about 21.5% of examined dogs were found positive for intestinal parasites. Toxocara canis was the most frequent detected parasite, with a prevalence of 7.1%, followed by Toxascaris leonina (5.5%), Cystoisospora spp. (5.0%), Taenia spp. (3.9%) and Dipylidium caninum (2.8%). Dogs were more frequently found to be infected with a single genus of intestinal parasite (18.7%) than co-infected (2.8%). Intestinal parasites were more prevalent in samples from the coastal area (25%) than in those from the rural (24.4%) and urban (20.6%) areas, however, only statistical association was found between capture area and specific intestinal parasitic infection. There were significant differences in the prevalence of taeniasis among two age groups (P<0.01). A seasonal peak of prevalence for intestinal parasitic infections was found during spring (P<0.05), corresponding with a seasonal peak of prevalence of T. canis (P<0.05). The wide range of isolated parasites indicated that people residing in this area are at risk of exposure to these potentially hazardous zoonotic pathogens

Analytic structure factors and pair-correlation functions for the unpolarized homogeneous electron gas

We propose a simple and accurate model for the electron static structure factors (and corresponding pair-correlation functions) of the 3D unpolarized homogeneous electron gas. Our spin-resolved pair-correlation function is built up with a combination of analytic constraints and fitting procedures to quantum Monte Carlo data, and, in comparison to previous attempts (i) fulfills more known integral and differential properties of the exact pair-correlation function, (ii) is analytic both in real and in reciprocal space, and (iii) accurately interpolates the newest, extensive diffusion-Monte Carlo data of Ortiz, Harris and Ballone [Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 5317 (1999)]. This can be of interest for the study of electron correlations of real materials and for the construction of new exchange and correlation energy density functionals.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Integrating Curriculum-Based Dynamic Assessment in Computerized Adaptive Testing: Development and Predictive Validity of the EDPL-BAI Battery on Reading Competence

In recent decades there have been significant changes in the conceptualization of reading as well as in the perception of how this activity should be assessed. Interest in the analysis of reading processes has led to the emergence of new explanatory models based primarily on the contributions of cognitive psychology. In parallel, there have been notable advances in measurement procedures, especially in models based on Item Response Theory (IRT), as well as in the capacity and performance of specific software programs that allow data to be managed and analyzed. These changes have contributed significantly to the rise of testing procedures such as computerized adaptive tests (CATs), whose fundamental characteristic is that the sequence of items presented in the tests is adapted to the level of competence that the subject manifests. Likewise, the incorporation of elements of dynamic assessment (DA) as the prompts are gradually offered allows for obtaining information about the type and degree of support required to optimize the subject’s performance. In this sense, the confluence of contributions from DA and CATs offers a new possibility for approaching the assessment of learning processes. In this article, we present a longitudinal research developed in two phases, through which a computerized dynamic adaptive assessment battery of reading processes (EDPL-BAI) was configured. The research frame involved 1,831 students (46% girls) from 13 public schools in three regions of Chile. The purpose of this study was to analyze the differential contribution on reading competence of dynamic scores obtained in a subsample composed of 324 (47% girls) students from third to sixth grade after the implementation of a set of adaptive dynamic tests of morpho-syntactic processes. The results achieved in the structural equation modeling indicate a good global fit. Individual relationships show a significant contribution of calibrated score that reflects estimated knowledge level on reading competence, as well as dynamic scores based on the assigned value of graduated prompts required by the students. These results showed significant predictive values on reading competence and incremental validity in relation to predictions made by static criterion tests