T35: a small automatic telescope for long-term observing campaigns

The T35 is a small telescope (14") equipped with a large format CCD camera installed in the Sierra Nevada Observatory (SNO) in Southern Spain. This telescope will be a useful tool for the detecting and studying pulsating stars, particularly, in open clusters. In this paper, we describe the automation process of the T35 and show also some images taken with the new instrumentation.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in the special issue "Robotic Astronomy" of Advances of Astronom

The Halo and Rings of the Planetary Nebula NGC 40 in the Mid-Infrared

We present imaging and spectroscopy of NGC 40 acquired using the Spitzer Space Telescope (Spitzer), and the Infrared Space observatory (ISO). These are used to investigate the nature of emission from the central nebular shell, from the nebular halo, and from the associated circumnebular rings. It is pointed out that a variety of mechanisms may contribute to the mid-infrared (MIR) fluxes, and there is evidence for a cool dust continuum, strong ionic transitions, and appreciable emission by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Prior observations at shorter wavelengths also indicate the presence of warmer grains, and the possible contribution of H2 transitions. It is suggested that an apparent jet-like structure to the NE of the halo represents one of the many emission spokes that permeate the shell. The spokes are likely to be caused by the percolation of UV photons through a clumpy interior shell, whilst the jet-like feature is enhanced due to locally elevated electron densities; a result of interaction between NGC 40 and the interstellar medium. It is finally noted that the presence of the PAH, 21 microns and 30 microns spectral features testifies to appreciable C/O ratios within the main nebular shell. Such a result is consistent with abundance determinations using collisionally excited lines, but not with those determined using optical recombination linesComment: 13 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 37 pages in arXi

Analyzing the House Fly's Exploratory Behavior with Autoregression Methods

This paper presents a detailed characterization of the trajectory of a single housefly with free range of a square cage. The trajectory of the fly was recorded and transformed into a time series, which was fully analyzed using an autoregressive model, which describes a stationary time series by a linear regression of prior state values with the white noise. The main discovery was that the fly switched styles of motion from a low dimensional regular pattern to a higher dimensional disordered pattern. This discovered exploratory behavior is, irrespective of the presence of food, characterized by anomalous diffusion.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, 1 table, full pape

Diodos emisores de luz para irradiación de plantas

Los recientes desarrollos conseguidos en el área de la iluminación con diodos emisores de luz (LEDs, cuando son inorgánicos, y OLEDs, cuando son orgánicos) resultan de gran interés en horticultura, al permitir manipular el espectro radiante que va a incidir sobre las plantas, con el objetivo de aumentar su producción o de generar determinados efectos fisiológicos, sobre todo en invernaderos. Puesto que los vegetales crecen mejor cuando son iluminados (irradiados) en las regiones roja y azul del espectro, resulta aconsejable sustituir los sistemas de iluminación fotosintética actuales, fundamentalmente mediante lámparas de descarga en gases (vapor de sodio a alta presión y, en menor medida, halogenuros metálicos), por LEDs comerciales que emiten separadamente en esas regiones o por OLEDs susceptibles de emisión conjunta. Además, estos dispositivos son más eficientes que las lámparas incandescentes (consumen mucha menor energía eléctrica y poseen una vida media de uso mucho más larga), no generan exceso de calor (y por tanto no dañan a plantas térmicamente sensibles), e incluso, en el caso de los LEDs rojos, repelen insectos, por lo que contribuyen a la disminución en el uso de agrotóxicos. En el presente artículo, se revisan las últimas contribuciones en Fitofotónica relacionadas con los diodos emisores de luz, se aporta la experiencia existente sobre la aplicación de LEDs a invernaderos y se divulga el estado de las investigaciones que algunos grupos de investigación estamos realizando sobre OLEDs emisores bien en el rojo o bien en las regiones del rojo y el azul

Overview of progress in European medium sized tokamaks towards an integrated plasma-edge/wall solution

Integrating the plasma core performance with an edge and scrape-off layer (SOL) that leads to tolerable heat and particle loads on the wall is a major challenge. The new European medium size tokamak task force (EU-MST) coordinates research on ASDEX Upgrade (AUG), MAST and TCV. This multi-machine approach within EU-MST, covering a wide parameter range, is instrumental to progress in the field, as ITER and DEMO core/pedestal and SOL parameters are not achievable simultaneously in present day devices. A two prong approach is adopted. On the one hand, scenarios with tolerable transient heat and particle loads, including active edge localised mode (ELM) control are developed. On the other hand, divertor solutions including advanced magnetic configurations are studied. Considerable progress has been made on both approaches, in particular in the fields of: ELM control with resonant magnetic perturbations (RMP), small ELM regimes, detachment onset and control, as well as filamentary scrape-off-layer transport. For example full ELM suppression has now been achieved on AUG at low collisionality with n = 2 RMP maintaining good confinement HH(98,y2) 0.95. Advances have been made with respect to detachment onset and control. Studies in advanced divertor configurations (Snowflake, Super-X and X-point target divertor) shed new light on SOL physics. Cross field filamentary transport has been characterised in a wide parameter regime on AUG, MAST and TCV progressing the theoretical and experimental understanding crucial for predicting first wall loads in ITER and DEMO. Conditions in the SOL also play a crucial role for ELM stability and access to small ELM regimes.European Commission (EUROfusion 633053

ALMA resolves the torus of NGC 1068: continuum and molecular line emission

We have used the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) to map the emission of the CO(6-5) molecular line and the 432 {\mu}m continuum emission from the 300 pc-sized circumnuclear disk (CND) of the nearby Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068 with a spatial resolution of ~4 pc. These observations spatially resolve the CND and, for the first time, image the dust emission, the molecular gas distribution, and the kinematics from a 7-10 pc-diameter disk that represents the submillimeter counterpart of the putative torus of NGC 1068. We fitted the nuclear spectral energy distribution of the torus using ALMA and near and mid-infrared (NIR/MIR) data with CLUMPY models. The mass and radius of the best-fit solution for the torus are both consistent with the values derived from the ALMA data alone: Mgas_torus=(1+-0.3)x10^5 Msun and Rtorus=3.5+-0.5 pc. The dynamics of the molecular gas in the torus show non-circular motions and enhanced turbulence superposed on the rotating pattern of the disk. The kinematic major axis of the CO torus is tilted relative to its morphological major axis. By contrast with the nearly edge-on orientation of the H2O megamaser disk, we have found evidence suggesting that the molecular torus is less inclined (i=34deg-66deg) at larger radii. The lopsided morphology and complex kinematics of the torus could be the signature of the Papaloizou-Pringle instability, long predicted to likely drive the dynamical evolution of active galactic nuclei (AGN) tori.Comment: Final version accepted by the Astrophysical Journal Letters (ApJLetters) on April 27th 2016, 6 pages, 5 figure

KH domains with impaired nucleic acid binding as a tool for functional analysis

In eukaryotes, RNA-binding proteins that contain multiple K homology (KH) domains play a key role in coordinating the different steps of RNA synthesis, metabolism and localization. Understanding how the different KH modules participate in the recognition of the RNA targets is necessary to dissect the way these proteins operate. We have designed a KH mutant with impaired RNA-binding capability for general use in exploring the role of individual KH domains in the combinatorial functional recognition of RNA targets. A double mutation in the hallmark GxxG loop (GxxG-to-GDDG) impairs nucleic acid binding without compromising the stability of the domain. We analysed the impact of the GDDG mutations in individual KH domains on the functional properties of KSRP as a prototype of multiple KH domain-containing proteins. We show how the GDDG mutant can be used to directly link biophysical information on the sequence specificity of the different KH domains of KSRP and their role in mRNA recognition and decay. This work defines a general molecular biology tool for the investigation of the function of individual KH domains in nucleic acid binding proteins

An effective mesh strategy for CFD modelling of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a major tool in PEM fuel cell research. Typical three-dimensional PEM fuel cell models involve more than 106 mesh elements. This makes the computation very intense and necessitates a methodology to mesh the computational domain that can keep the number of elements to a minimum while maintaining good accuracy. In this study, the effect of computational mesh in each direction on the accuracy of the solution is investigated in a systematic way. It is found that the mesh in different directions has a different degree of influence on the solution suggesting that the mesh in one direction can be coarser than the other. The proposed mesh strategy is capable of greatly reducing the number of mesh elements, hence computation time, while preserving the characteristics of important flow-field variables. Moreover, it is applicable to a wide range of cell sizes and flow-field configurations and should be used as a guideline for mesh generation

Strangeness at SIS energies

In this contribution we discuss the physics of strange hadrons in low energy ($\simeq 1-2 \rm AGeV$) heavy ion collision. In this energy range the relevant strange particle are the kaons and anti-kaons. The most interesting aspect concerning these particles are so called in-medium modifications. We will attempt to review the current status of understanding of these in medium modifications. In addition we will briefly discuss other issues related with kaon production, such as the nuclear equation of state and chemical equilibrium.Comment: Proceedings Strange Quark Matter 2003, Atlantic Beach, NC, USA, March 200