NGC 6309, a Planetary Nebula that Shifted from Round to Multipolar

We present new narrow-band Ha, [N II], and [O III] high-resolution images of the quadrupolar planetary nebula (PN) NGC 6309 that show in great detail its bipolar lobes and reveal new morphological features. New high- and low-dispersion long-slit spectra have been obtained to help in the investigation of the new nebular components. The images and spectra unveil two diffuse blobs, one of them located at 55 arcsec from the central star along the NE direction (PA= +71) and the other at 78 arcsec in the SW direction (PA= -151). Therefore, these structures do not share the symmetry axes of the inner bipolar outflows. Their radial velocities relative to the system are quite low: +3 and -4 km/s, respectively. Spectroscopic data confirm a high [O III] to Ha ratio, indicating that the blobs are being excited by the UV flux from the central star. Our images convincingly show a spherical halo 60 arcsec in diameter encircling the quadrupolar nebula. The expansion velocity of this shell is low, 66 km/s. The software SHAPE has been used to construct a morpho-kinematic model for the ring and the bipolar flows that implies an age of 4,000 yrs, the expansion of the halo sets a lower limit for its age 46,000 yrs, and the very low expansion of the blobs suggests they are part of a large structure corresponding to a mass ejection that took place 150,000 yrs ago. In NGC 6309 we have direct evidence of a change in the geometry of mass-loss, from spherical in the halo to axially-symmetric in the two pairs of bipolar lobes.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA

ETHNOBOTANICAL STUDY IN TOLEDO-PR DISTRICT: AN APPROACH ABOUT USED SPECIES VARIABILITY WITH THE SAME POPULAR NAME

The ethnopharmacological knowledge acquired throughout human evolution culminated in the development of high therapeutic relevance drugs. In ethnobotanical survey conducted in the city of Toledo in 2007, it was found that 79% of the population often use plants for medicinal purposes, mostly in the tea form, originated from own crops. They claimed that the consumption of these plants improved their health conditions. The plants mainly cited were: balm, chamomile and marcela. This study aimed to verify if the population habits related to medicinal plants have changed, also  proceed a literature review to find out if the most used plants have their biological activity scientifically proven and looking for  reports of homonymous to the most cited medicinal plants. There was small change in the species used by the population. In the literature, it was found out that different species are used with the same popular name, in practice, it was detected the use of two different species, Piper amalago L. (UNOP 7972) and Piper mikanianum (Kunth) (UNOP 7971), for  the medicinal plant commonly known as pariparoba, although none of them is recognized for the Brazilian Pharmacopoeia

Observations of the planetary nebula RWT 152 with OSIRIS/GTC

10 pages, 6 figuresRWT 152 is one of the few known planetary nebulae with an sdO central star. We present subarcsecond red tunable filterHa imaging and intermediate-resolution, long-slit spectroscopy of RWT 152 obtained with OSIRIS/GTC (Optical System for Imaging and low-Intermediate-Resolution Integrated Spectroscopy/Gran Telescopio Canarias) with the goal of analysing its properties. The Ha image reveals a bipolar nebula with a bright equatorial region and multiple bubbles in the main lobes. A faint circular halo surrounds the main nebula. The nebular spectra reveal a very low excitation nebula with weak emission lines from H+, He+ and double-ionized metals, and absence of emission lines from neutral and single-ionized metals, except for an extremely faint [NII] lambda 6584 emission line. These spectra may be explained if RWT 152 is a density-bounded planetary nebula. Low nebular chemical abundances of S, O, Ar, N and Ne are obtained in RWT 152, which, together with the derived high peculiar velocity (similar to 92-131 km s(-1)), indicate that this object is a halo planetary nebula. The available data are consistent with RWT 152 evolving from a low-mass progenitor (similar to 1 M-circle dot) formed in a metal-poor environment.This paper has been partially supported by grant AYA 2011-24052 (AA, ES), AYA 2011-30228-C3-01 (LFM), ESP2014-55996-C2-2-R (AU) and AYA2014-57369-C3-3-P (LFM) of the Spanish MINECO (all them co-funded by FEDER funds). We also acknowledge support from grant IN-CITE09 312191PR (AU, LFM, AA) of Xunta de Galicia, partially funded by FEDER funds, from grant PRX15/00511 (AU) of the Spanish MECD, and from grant 12VI20 (AU, LFM, AA) of the University of Vigo. AA also acknowledges support from FONDECYT through postdoctoral grant 3160364. This research has made use of the SIMBAD data base, operated at the CDS, Strasbourg (France), Aladin, NASA's Astrophysics Data System Bibliographic Services and the Spanish Virtual Observatory supported from the Spanish MINECO through grant AYA2011-24052.Peer reviewe

Desarrollo de una herramienta de apoyo a la enseñanza de biología: el caso del Microscopio Virtual de Histología

El microscopio de luz es una herramienta muy importante para enseñar sobre tejidos corporales. Sin embargo, no es siempre que este instrumento se encuentra disponible para uso en cursos de grado, posgrado y, en particular, en la educación básica. Con esto, la creación de un Atlas Virtual de Histología (el Microscopio Virtual de Histología), combinado con la amplia posibilidad de acceso de la Internet, permitirá ofrecer una fuente de información alternativa en la construcción del conocimiento científico. De manera diferente a los atlas disponibles en la literatura, que generalmente presentan la imagen de un tejido en un único aumento, el microscopio virtual propuesto en este estudio presenta la imagen en incrementos progresivos, intentando simular una visualización en un microscopio real. En este trabajo se presenta el estado actual de desarrollo del microscopio virtual y los próximos pasos.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativa (SADIO

Desarrollo de una herramienta de apoyo a la enseñanza de biología: el caso del Microscopio Virtual de Histología

El microscopio de luz es una herramienta muy importante para enseñar sobre tejidos corporales. Sin embargo, no es siempre que este instrumento se encuentra disponible para uso en cursos de grado, posgrado y, en particular, en la educación básica. Con esto, la creación de un Atlas Virtual de Histología (el Microscopio Virtual de Histología), combinado con la amplia posibilidad de acceso de la Internet, permitirá ofrecer una fuente de información alternativa en la construcción del conocimiento científico. De manera diferente a los atlas disponibles en la literatura, que generalmente presentan la imagen de un tejido en un único aumento, el microscopio virtual propuesto en este estudio presenta la imagen en incrementos progresivos, intentando simular una visualización en un microscopio real. En este trabajo se presenta el estado actual de desarrollo del microscopio virtual y los próximos pasos.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativa (SADIO

Local structure adaptability through multi cations for oxygen redox accommodation in Li-Rich layered oxides

Stable lattice oxygen redox (l-OR) is the key enabler for achieving attainable high energy density in Li-rich layered oxide cathode materials for Li-ion batteries. However, the unique local structure response to oxygen redox in these materials, resulting in energy inefficiency and hysteresis, still remains elusive, preventing their potential applications. By combining the state-of-the-art neutron pair distribution function with crystal orbital overlap analysis, we directly observe the distinct local structure adaption originated from the potential O–O chemical bonds. The structure adaptability is optimized based on the nature of multi transition metals in our model compound Li1.2Ni0.13Mn0.54Co0.13O2, which accommodates the oxygen redox and at the same time preserves the global layered structure. These findings not only advance the understanding of l-OR, but also provide new perspectives in the rational design of high-energy-density cathode materials with reversible and stable l-OR

Desarrollo de una herramienta de apoyo a la enseñanza de biología: el caso del Microscopio Virtual de Histología

El microscopio de luz es una herramienta muy importante para enseñar sobre tejidos corporales. Sin embargo, no es siempre que este instrumento se encuentra disponible para uso en cursos de grado, posgrado y, en particular, en la educación básica. Con esto, la creación de un Atlas Virtual de Histología (el Microscopio Virtual de Histología), combinado con la amplia posibilidad de acceso de la Internet, permitirá ofrecer una fuente de información alternativa en la construcción del conocimiento científico. De manera diferente a los atlas disponibles en la literatura, que generalmente presentan la imagen de un tejido en un único aumento, el microscopio virtual propuesto en este estudio presenta la imagen en incrementos progresivos, intentando simular una visualización en un microscopio real. En este trabajo se presenta el estado actual de desarrollo del microscopio virtual y los próximos pasos.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativa (SADIO