Pre-Tactical Prediction of Atfm Delay for Individual Flights

The day prior operations, the operation plan is drawn generating a first set of flight plans with the objective of identifying potential network issues and preparing pre-tactical preventing measures. During the day of operation flight plans will be updated and pre-tactical actions implemented if needed by the duty manager, in order to minimise the propagation of disruption in the network. This paper focuses on the estimation of ATFM delay for individual flights during the pre-tactical phase. The main objective is to anticipate which flights might be affected by ATFM regulations and the amount of delay will be assigned to them

The shear viscosity of the non-commutative plasma

We compute the shear viscosity of the non-commutative N=4 super Yang-Mills quantum field theory at strong coupling using the dual supergravity background. Special interest derives from the fact that the background presents an intrinsic anisotropy in space through the distinction of commutative and non-commutative directions. Despite this anisotropy the analysis exhibits the ubiquitous result \eta/s = 1/4\pi for two different shear channels. In order to derive this result, we show that the boundary energy momentum tensor must couple to the open string metric. As a byproduct we compute the renormalised holographic energy momentum tensor and show that it coincides with one in the commutative theory.Comment: 17 pages. v2: reference adde

Shear viscosity from R-charged AdS black holes

We compute the shear viscosity in the supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory dual to the STU background. This is a thermal gauge theory with a chemical potential. The quotient of the shear viscosity over the entropy density exhibits no deviation from the well known result 1/4\pi.Comment: 9 pages, some references updated, abstract and some typos correcte

p-branes on the waves

We present a large family of simple, explicit ten-dimensional supergravity solutions describing extended extremal supersymmetric Ramond-Ramond p-branes embedded into time-dependent dilaton-gravity plane waves of an arbitrary (isotropic) profile, with the brane world-volume aligned parallel to the propagation direction of the wave. Generalizations to the non-extremal case are not analyzed explicitly, but can be pursued as indicated.Comment: 11 pages; v.2 minor notation changes, minor typos corrected (published version

Analytical determination of coronal parameters using the period ratio P₁/2P₂

<p>Context. In transverse coronal loop oscillations, two periodicities have been measured simultaneously and are interpreted as the fundamental kink mode (with period P1) and the first harmonic (with period P2). Deviations of the period ratio P1/2P2 from unity provide information about the extent of longitudinal structuring within the loop.</p> <p>Aims. Here we develop an analytical approximation that describes the shift in P1/2P2 in terms of the ratio L/Λc of the length 2L of a coronal loop and the density scale height Λc.</p> <p>Methods. We study the MHD wave equations in a low β plasma using the thin tube approximation. Disturbances are described by a differential equation which may be solved for various equilibrium density profiles, obtaining dispersion relations in terms of Bessel functions. These dispersion relations may be used to obtain analytical approximations to the periods P1 and P2. We also present a variational approach to determining the period ratio and show how the WKB method may be used.</p> <p>Results. Analytical approximations to the period ratio P1/2P2 are used to shed light on the magnitude of longitudinal structuring in a loop, leading to a determination of the density scale height. We apply our formula to the observations in Verwichte et al. (2004) and Van Doorsselaere et al. (2007), obtaining the coronal density scale height.</p> <p>Conclusions. Our simple formula and approximate approaches highlight a useful analytical tool for coronal seismology. We demonstrate that P1/2P2 is linked to the density scale height, with no need for estimates of other external parameters. Given the accuracy of current observations, our formula provides a convenient means of determining density scale heights.</p&gt

The efficacy of the old way/new way methodology on the correction of an automated technical error and its impact on the athlete’s psychological skills: case study in tennis

The aim of this study was to evaluated the efficacy of the OldWay/New Way methodology (Lyndon, 1989/2000) with regard to the permanentcorrection of a consolidated and automated technical error experiencedby a tennis athlete (who is 18 years old and has been engaged inpractice mode for about 6 years) in the execution of serves. Additionally,the study assessed the impact of intervention on the athlete’s psychologicalskills. An individualized intervention was designed using strategies thataimed to produce a) a detailed analysis of the error using video images;b) an increased kinaesthetic awareness; c) a reactivation of memory error;d) the discrimination and generalization of the correct motor action. Theathlete’s psychological skills were measured with a Portuguese version ofthe Psychological Skills Inventory for Sports (Cruz & Viana, 1993). Afterthe intervention, the technical error was corrected with great efficacy andan increase in the athlete’s psychological skills was verified. This study demonstratesthe methodology’s efficacy, which is consistent with the effects ofthis type of intervention in different contexts

Spectrophotometric investigations of Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxies: Markarian 35

We present results from a detailed spectrophotometric analysis of the blue compact dwarf galaxy Mrk 35 (Haro 3), based on deep optical (B,V,R,I) and near-IR (J,H,K) imaging, Halpha narrow-band observations and long-slit spectroscopy. The optical emission of the galaxy is dominated by a central young starburst, with a bar-like shape, while an underlying component of stars, with elliptical isophotes and red colors, extends more than 4 kpc from the galaxy center. High resolution Halpha and color maps allow us to identify the star-forming regions, to spatially discriminate them from the older stars, and to recognize several dust patches. We derive colors and Halpha parameters for all the identified star-forming knots. Observables derived for each knot are corrected for the contribution of the underlying older stellar population, the contribution by emission lines, and from interstellar extinction, and compared with evolutionary synthesis models. We find that the contributions of these three factors are by no means negligible and that they significantly vary across the galaxy. Therefore, careful quantification and subtraction of emission lines, galaxy host contribution, and interstellar reddening at every galaxy position, are essential to derive the properties of the young stars in BCDs. We find that we can reproduce the colors of all the knots with an instantaneous burst of star formation and the Salpeter initial mass function with an upper mass limit of 100 M_solar. In all cases the knots are just a few Myr old. The underlying population of stars has colors consistent with being several Gyr old.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ, tentatively scheduled for the ApJ November 1, 2007 v669n1 issu

Detection of an optical transient following the 13 March 2000 short/hard gamma-ray burst

We imaged the error box of a gamma-ray burst of the short (0.5 s), hard type (GRB 000313), with the BOOTES-1 experiment in southern Spain, starting 4 min after the gamma-ray event, in the I-band. A bright optical transient (OT 000313) with I = 9.4 +/- 0.1 was found in the BOOTES-1 image, close to the error box (3-sigma) provided by BATSE. Late time VRIK'-band deep observations failed to reveal an underlying host galaxy. If the OT 000313 is related to the short, hard GRB 000313, this would be the first optical counterpart ever found for this kind of events (all counterparts to date have been found for bursts of the long, soft type). The fact that only prompt optical emission has been detected (but no afterglow emission at all, as supported by theoretical models) might explain why no optical counterparts have ever been found for short, hard GRBs.This fact suggests that most short bursts might occur in a low-density medium and favours the models that relate them to binary mergers in very low-density enviroments.Comment: Revised version. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics Letters, 5 pages, 3 figure

INTEGRAL high energy monitoring of the X-ray burster KS 1741-293

KS 1741-293, discovered in 1989 by the X-ray camera TTM in the Kvant module of the Mir space station and identified as an X-ray burster, has not been detected in the hard X band until the advent of the INTEGRAL observatory. Moreover this source has been recently object of scientific discussion, being also associated to a nearby extended radio source that in principle could be the supernova remnant produced by the accretion induced collapse in the binary system. Our long term monitoring with INTEGRAL, covering the period from February 2003 to May 2005, confirms that KS 1741-293 is transient in soft and hard X band. When the source is active, from a simultaneous JEM-X and IBIS data analysis, we provide a wide band spectrum from 5 to 100 keV, that can be fit by a two component model, a multiple blackbody for the soft emission and a Comptonized or a cut-off power law model for the hard component. Finally, by the detection of two X-ray bursters with JEM-X, we confirm the bursting nature of KS 1741-293, including this source in the class of the hard tailed X-ray bursters.Comment: 7 pages, accepted for publication on MNRA