ST/STIS Spectroscopy of the White Dwarfs in the Short-Period Dwarf Novae LL And and EF Peg

We present new HST/STIS observations of the short-period dwarf novae LL And and EF Peg during deep quiescence. We fit stellar models to the UV spectra and use optical and IR observations to determine the physical parameters of the whitedwarfs in the systems, the distances to the binaries, and the properties of thesecondary stars. Both white dwarfs are relatively cool, having T_{eff} near 15000K, and consistent with a mass of 0.6 M-sun. The white dwarf in LL And appears to be of solar abundance or slightly lower while that in EF Peg is near 0.1-0.3 solar. LL And is found to be 760 pc away while EF Peg is closer at 380 pc. EF Peg appears to have an ~M5V secondary star, consistent with that expected for its orbital period, while the secondary object in LL And remains a mystery.Comment: Accepted in Ap

Hlt1 Muon Alley Description

This note describes the LHCb Hlt1 muon alley, which is part of the High Level Trigger. It is intended to confirm the L0 muon trigger and reduce the bandwidth. The performance presented here is done using about 1000 simulated data of some relevant muon channels and 200k of minimum bias events

Comparação entre os índices espectrais EVI e EVI 2 para discriminação de pastagens plantadas e naturais.

A identificação e discriminação de espécies vegetais semelhantes, tais como pastagens plantadas (PP) e pastagens naturais (PN), constitui um desafio em decorrência da semelhança espectral entre essas classes. Assumindo-se uma premissa de que bandas espectrais na faixa do visível têm elevada correlação, os índices de vegetação (IVs) vêm contribuindo para a discriminação de classes. Portanto, este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar o comportamento do índice EVI 2 (índice de vegetação realçado, do inglês Enhanced Vegetation Index) na discriminação de alvos de PN e PP para dois períodos sazonais, comparando-o ao EVI. Para o desenvolvimento do trabalho, foram utilizadas 14 imagens do satélite TM/Landsat 5 em uma série temporal de sete anos, entre 2004 e 2010. De acordo com os resultados obtidos, pode-se concluir que, em geral, o EVI 2 mantém a correlação com dados do EVI, caracterizando sutilmente melhor a influência da sazonalidade nos dados

Motion clouds: model-based stimulus synthesis of natural-like random textures for the study of motion perception

Choosing an appropriate set of stimuli is essential to characterize the response of a sensory system to a particular functional dimension, such as the eye movement following the motion of a visual scene. Here, we describe a framework to generate random texture movies with controlled information content, i.e., Motion Clouds. These stimuli are defined using a generative model that is based on controlled experimental parametrization. We show that Motion Clouds correspond to dense mixing of localized moving gratings with random positions. Their global envelope is similar to natural-like stimulation with an approximate full-field translation corresponding to a retinal slip. We describe the construction of these stimuli mathematically and propose an open-source Python-based implementation. Examples of the use of this framework are shown. We also propose extensions to other modalities such as color vision, touch, and audition

Avaliação de procedimento para correção de efeitos da atmosfera em ambiente tropical utilizando dados Landsat TM 5.

Os constituintes da atmosfera interferem nos valores de reflectância captados pelos sensores imageadores. Essa interferência decorre da interação dos gases e aerossóis com a radiação eletromagnética. Assim, comparamos respostas espectrais de alvos em imagem Landsat com e sem correção atmosférica, visando atestar a importância da correção. Para tanto, utilizamos dados de reflectância no sensor, influenciados pela atmosfera, e dados de reflectância na superfície, nos quais essa influência foi eliminada. A reflectância apresentou maiores valores no sensor que na superfície, principalmente nas bandas do visível (0,45 a 0,69 μm), devido aos efeitos de espalhamento. Portanto, a correção se mostra de grande importância, pois os dados corrigidos são mais fidedignos

THEORETICAL ASSESSMENT OF A STIRLING ENGINE 'AMAZON' BY USING PROSA AND MATHCAD

This study describes how to build a prototype Stirling engine named Amazon, focusing on how to apply it to generate electric power in remote areas, with an expected power of 8 kW. Such engine was assessed theoretically by using two different computer software, i.e. PROSA and 'a model to simulate Stirling engines by the theory of Schmidt', which was formulated in Mathcad. The results from Mathcad software were on average 6.8% higher than the results from PROSA software. Such fact occurs since Mathcad does not consider the losses in a real system. Hence, the PROSA is generally more accurate in its results. Modeling performed in Mathcad presents higher values for partial loads and similar values for the project operating point

Disponibilidades climáticas para macieira na região de Vacaria, RS.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a variabilidade e as tendências temporais das principais variáveis climáticas - temperaturas máxima, mínima e média do ar, horas de frio (abaixo de 7°C), precipitação pluvial e umidade relativa do ar - no período 1983-2009 e confrontá-las com as necessidades de macieiras dos grupos Gala e Fuji, na região de Vacaria, RS. Foram utilizados dados diários de estação meteorológica da Embrapa, do período de 1983 a 2009, e comparados com as normais 1931-1960 e 1961-1990, para análise de tendência temporal. A precipitação pluvial apresentou diferenças significativas entre a média do período 1983-2009 e as normais, com aumentos de 479 e 256mm, respectivamente. Não houve diferenças significativas na temperatura do ar mensal entre os períodos analisados. A precipitação pluvial da primavera e a temperatura mínima do ar mensal apresentaram tendência significativa de aumento. O número médio de horas de frio foi de 657 de maio-agosto. O número mínimo de horas de frio delimitado no zoneamento agroclimático é atingido, na maioria dos anos, na região de Vacaria, no entanto, não significa a superação natural da dormência de gemas de macieiras. Além disso, o número de horas de frio apresentou tendência temporal de redução

Aerobic granules in a sequencing batch bioreactor under fluoroquinolone shock loadings

The growing occurrence of human and veterinary pharmaceuticals in the environment is causing increasing concern. Fluoroquinolones (FQs) are broad-spectrum antibiotics that play an important role in the treatment of serious bacterial infections. Antibiotics can reach wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) from different routes. Domestic effluents are considered the major contributor but effluents from pharmaceutical industries and hospitals are also of great concern. Granular sequencing batch reactors (SBR) constitute a novel biofilm technology for wastewater treatment extremely promising for the treatment of effluents containing toxic compounds. Aerobic granular sludge has several advantages over activated sludge, such as excellent settling properties, high biomass retention, ability to deal with high organic loading rates and to perform simultaneously diverse biological processes, such as Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), N and P removal. This study focused on the effect of intermittent and alternating feeding of different FQs, namely Ofloxacin (OFL), Norfloxacin (NOR) and Ciprofloxacin (CPF), on bioreactor performance and diversity of the microbial population. Activated sludge from a municipal WWTP was used as the inoculum for the start-up of the SBR. The aerobic granules grew under aerobic conditions and after ca. 3 months of reactor operation stable granules were observed. The FQs affected the granular sludge in terms of morphology, causing a decrease in granule size. The granules started to disintegrate and an increase in the levels of solids in the effluent after exposure to FQs occurred due to wash-out of unstable granules, concomitant with a decrease in the SBR bed volume. The effect of the target fluorinated pharmaceuticals on the main biological processes occurring in the granular sludge SBR, such as nitrification and phosphate removal, was evaluated. Ammonium and nitrite were practically not detected in the treated effluent (maximum concentration of 0.03 and 0.01 mM for NH4+-N and NO2--N, respectively) indicating that neither ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) nor nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) were inhibited by the presence of the FQs, whereas phosphate removal was affected. The phosphate released into the bulk liquid by the phosphate accumulating organisms (PAO) during the anaerobic feeding period was not completely removed and the levels of phosphate in the bioreactor effluent increased. The organic removal, measured by COD, was not markedly affected by FQ shock loads. Changes in the bacterial community from aerobic granules related to FQs shock loadings were examined using denaturing gradient electrophoresis (DGGE) of 16S rRNA. The clustering analysis suggested that samples clustered according to the temporal factor. The gradual succession observed in the bacterial assemblage composition was related with the exposure to FQs. Also, the microbial population present in the aerobic granules was also investigated by culture-dependent methods. Several bacterial isolates belonging to α- and ɣ-branch of the Proteobacteria phylum were retrieved from the granules. After ca. 2 months without FQs exposure, the SBR bed volume was recovered and the solid content at the bioreactor effluent returned to normal levels