Recovering star formation histories: Integrated-light analyses vs stellar colour-magnitude diagrams

Accurate star formation histories (SFHs) of galaxies are fundamental for understanding the build-up of their stellar content. However, the most accurate SFHs - those obtained from colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of resolved stars reaching the oldest main sequence turnoffs (oMSTO) - are presently limited to a few systems in the Local Group. It is therefore crucial to determine the reliability and range of applicability of SFHs derived from integrated light spectroscopy, as this affects our understanding of unresolved galaxies from low to high redshift. To evaluate the reliability of current full spectral fitting techniques in deriving SFHs from integrated light spectroscopy by comparing SFHs from integrated spectra to those obtained from deep CMDs of resolved stars. We have obtained a high signal--to--noise (S/N $\sim$ 36.3 per \AA) integrated spectrum of a field in the bar of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) using EFOSC2 at the 3.6 meter telescope at La Silla Observatory. For this same field, resolved stellar data reaching the oMSTO are available. We have compared the star formation rate (SFR) as a function of time and the age-metallicity relation (AMR) obtained from the integrated spectrum using {\tt STECKMAP}, and the CMD using the IAC-star/MinnIAC/IAC-pop set of routines. For the sake of completeness we also use and discuss other synthesis codes ({\tt STARLIGHT} and {\tt ULySS}) to derive the SFR and AMR from the integrated LMC spectrum. We find very good agreement (average differences $\sim$ 4.1 $\%$) between the SFR(t) and the AMR obtained using {\tt STECKMAP} on the integrated light spectrum, and the CMD analysis. {\tt STECKMAP} minimizes the impact of the age-metallicity degeneracy and has the advantage of preferring smooth solutions to recover complex SFHs by means of a penalized $\chi^2$. [abridged]Comment: 23 pages, 24 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A (6 Sep 2015

EVALUATION OF A SLAM-BASED POINT CLOUD FOR DEFLECTION ANALYSIS IN HISTORIC TIMBER FLOORS

This paper aims at evaluating the possibility of using wearable mobile mapping solutions as a tool for detecting deflections in timber floors. These construction systems are prone to present this type of damage due to the mechanical properties of the wood (relatively low flexural stiffness and creep behaviour). During this study we have evaluated the chance of introducing an additional stage to the general workflow. This stage is devoted to reduce the noise of the 3D point cloud by using the Statistical Outlier Removal filter in combination with a noise-reduction filter such as the Anisotropic filter, the PointCleannet or the Scored-based denoised networks (Deep Learning methods). According with our results, the use of this strategies improves the quality of the 3D point cloud form a qualitative and quantitative point of view. However, these improvements seem to be not sufficient for using this product as a universal source of information for deflection analysis. In this sense, and according with the sensor and study case exploited, this type of point clouds could be used in floors with 5-8-meter length and a relative deflection of about L/200 or higher

The Role of Pediatricians in Providing Greater-Quality Care for Children: An Ongoing Debate

Child healthcare frequently is regarded as a secondary objective in the development of public health policies and not as a central issue. Cost-containment policies instead of quality of healthcare frequently have inspired strategic decisions in public health investments for pediatric structures and workforce. The negative implications of this decisional approach have been shown by the substantial unpreparedness of virtually all European health systems during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic,5 particularly in the area of primary care. The debate on the negative effects of cost-containment policies in the area of primary care in not new. In recent years, the role of pediatricians within the several European healthcare systems was variously reformed by governments, with an eye more to the budget than to the quality of care and its structural components, including staffing adequacy, training, and consistency as well as facility environment and size.1 As a result, the number of general pediatricians in Europe has decreased during the past 20 years.Data from the World Health Organization show that the average number of general pediatricians per 100 000 population in Europe declined 30.1% from 26.5% in 1998 to 18.5% in 2013.A further reduction in the pediatric workforce was reported in 2018 by the European Paediatric Association, the Union of National European Paediatric Societies and Associations (EPA-UNEPSA). During the past 20 years, due to different factors, including socioeconomic and political reasons, several European countries decided to reform their public health systems and the responsibility of pediatric healthcare delivery was moved from pediatricians to general and family practitioners. The aim of this commentary by the Spanish Primary Care Pediatrics Association (AEPap), in collaboration with the European Confederation of Primary Care Pediatricians and EPA-UNEPSA, is to discuss data supporting the essential role played in Europe by well-trained pediatricians vs other providers in delivering quality healthcare for children

Multimodal sensory reliance in the nocturnal homing of the amblypygid \u3ci\u3ePhrynus pseudoparvulus\u3c/i\u3e (Class Arachnida, Order Amblypygi)?

Like many other nocturnal arthropods, the amblypygid Phrynus pseudoparvulus is capable of homing. The environment through which these predators navigate is a dense and heterogeneous tropical forest understory and the mechanism(s) underlying their putatively complex navigational abilities are presently unknown. This study explores the sensory inputs that might facilitate nocturnal navigation in the amblypygid P. pseudoparvulus. Specifically, we use sensory system manipulations in conjunction with field displacements to examine the potential involvement of multimodal—olfactory and visual—stimuli in P. pseudoparvulus’ homing behavior. In a first experiment, we deprived individuals of their olfactory capacity and displaced them to the opposite side of their home trees (\u3c5 m). We found that olfaction-intact individuals were more likely to be re-sighted in their home refuges than olfaction-deprived individuals. In a second experiment, we independently manipulated both olfactory and visual sensory capacities in conjunction with longer-distance displacements (8 m) from home trees. We found that sensory-intact individuals tended to be re-sighted on their home tree more often than sensory-deprived individuals, with a stronger effect of olfactory deprivation than visual deprivation. Comparing across sensory modality manipulations, olfaction-manipulated individuals took longer to return to their home trees than vision-manipulated individuals. Together, our results indicate that olfaction is important in the nocturnal navigation of P. pseudoparvulus and suggest that vision may also play a more minor role

Herschel FIR counterparts of selected Ly-alpha emitters at z~2.2. Fast evolution since z~3 or missed obscured AGNs?

Ly-alpha emitters (LAEs) are seen everywhere in the redshift domain from local to z~7. Far-infrared (FIR) counterparts of LAEs at different epochs could provide direct clues on dust content, extinction, and spectral energy distribution (SED) for these galaxies. We search for FIR counterparts of LAEs that are optically detected in the GOODS-North field at redshift z~2.2 using data from the Herschel Space Telescope with the Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS). The LAE candidates were isolated via color-magnitude diagram using the medium-band photometry from the ALHAMBRA Survey, ancillary data on GOODS-North, and stellar population models. According to the fitting of these spectral synthesis models and FIR/optical diagnostics, most of them seem to be obscured galaxies whose spectra are AGN-dominated. From the analysis of the optical data, we have observed a fraction of AGN or composite over source total number of ~0.75 in the LAE population at z~2.2, which is marginally consistent with the fraction previously observed at z=2.25 and even at low redshift (0.2<z<0.45), but significantly different from the one observed at redshift ~3, which could be compatible either with a scenario of rapid change in the AGN fraction between the epochs involved or with a non detection of obscured AGN in other z=2-3 LAE samples due to lack of deep FIR observations. We found three robust FIR (PACS) counterparts at z~2.2 in GOODS-North. This demonstrates the possibility of finding dust emission in LAEs even at higher redshifts.Comment: 11 pages (including Appendices), 6 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics Letters (two references added

Wind-induced changes in the dynamics of fluorescent organic matter in the coastal NW Mediterranean

Original research paperMarine biogeochemistry dynamics in coastal marine areas is strongly influenced by episodic events such as rain, intense winds, river discharges and anthropogenic activities. We evaluated in this study the importance of these forcing events on modulating seasonal changes in the marine biogeochemistry of the northwestern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, based on data gathered from a fixed coastal sampling station in the area. A 4-year (2011–2014) monthly sampling at four depths (0.5 m, 20 m, 50 m and 80 m) was performed to examine the time variability of several oceanographic variables: seawater temperature, salinity, inorganic nutrient concentrations (NO3−, PO43 − and SiO2), chlorophyll a (Chl a), dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM). FDOM dynamics was predominantly influenced by upwelling events and mixing processes, driven by strong and characteristic wind episodes. SW wind episodes favored the upwelling of deeper and denser waters into the shallower shelf, providing a surplus of autochthonous humic-like material and inorganic nutrients, whereas northerlies favored the homogenization of the whole shelf water column by cooling and evaporation. These different wind-induced processes (deep water intrusion or mixing), reported along the four sampled years, determined a high interannual environmental variability in comparison with other Mediterranean sampling sites. Graphical abstract Image 1 Download : Download high-res image (344KB)Download : Download full-size imageECOSER (CTM2011-15937-E), DOREMI (CTM2012-342949), SUAVE (CTM2014/ 23456/1) and ANIMA (CTM2015-65720) from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) and the Grup de Recerca Consolidat 2014SGR1179 and 2014SGR1029 financed by the Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR) from the Generalitat de Catalunya; (JAEPre_2011_00923) from the Agencia Estatal Consejo Su perior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) and the project FERMIO (MINECO, CTM2014-57334-JIN) co-financed with FEDER fundsVersión del editor3,25

Revisión bibliográfica de implantología bucofacial del año 2011. Segunda parte

La gran diversidad de fuentes de información que nos proporciona la literatura científica junto al escaso tiempo de que disponen los profesionales de la Odontología para consultarlas, ha motivado a los autores a efectuar una revisión de la literatura científica publicada a lo largo del año 2011 en el campo de la Implantología Bucofacial. Con este fin se han agrupado los diferentes artículos indexados consultados en distintos apartados (elevación del seno maxilar, cirugía guiada y cirugía mínimamente invasiva, regeneración ósea guiada, implantes ci-gomáticos y factores de crecimiento), con el fin de facilitar una buena puesta al día