899 research outputs found
Effects of substituting ytterbium for scandium on the microstructure and age-hardening behaviour of AlâSc alloy
In order to reduce the cost of AlâSc alloys and maintain their mechanical properties, the microstructure and mechanical properties of Alâ0.24 wt% Scâ0.07 wt% Yb in comparison with Alâ0.28 wt% Sc alloys were studied. The aging behaviour, precipitate morphologies, precipitate coarsening and precipitation hardening of both alloys were investigated. The average diameter and the size distribution of nanoscale Al3Sc and Al3(Sc,Yb) precipitates at various aging conditions were measured. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution TEM were used to deeply understand the precipitate evolution. A maximum hardness around 73 (HV30) was obtained with a precipitate diameter from 4.3 to 5.6 nm for both alloys.This research was supported by The Project Bridging The Gap, funded by the Erasmus Mundus External Cooperation Window Program. Acknowledgements also to the University of Minho, for the provision of research facilitie
Identification of transitional disks in Chamaeleon with Herschel
Transitional disks are circumstellar disks with inner holes that in some
cases are produced by planets and/or substellar companions in these systems.
For this reason, these disks are extremely important for the study of planetary
system formation. The Herschel Space Observatory provides an unique opportunity
for studying the outer regions of protoplanetary disks. In this work we update
previous knowledge on the transitional disks in the Chamaeleon I and II regions
with data from the Herschel Gould Belt Survey. We propose a new method for
transitional disk classification based on the WISE 12 micron-PACS 70 micron
color, together with inspection of the Herschel images. We applied this method
to the population of Class II sources in the Chamaeleon region and studied the
spectral energy distributions of the transitional disks in the sample. We also
built the median spectral energy distribution of Class II objects in these
regions for comparison with transitional disks. The proposed method allows a
clear separation of the known transitional disks from the Class II sources. We
find 6 transitional disks, all previously known, and identify 5 objects
previously thought to be transitional as possibly non-transitional. We find
higher fluxes at the PACS wavelengths in the sample of transitional disks than
those of Class II objects. We show the Herschel 70 micron band to be an
efficient tool for transitional disk identification. The sensitivity and
spatial resolution of Herschel reveals a significant contamination level among
the previously identified transitional disk candidates for the two regions,
which calls for a revision of previous samples of transitional disks in other
regions. The systematic excess found at the PACS bands could be a result of the
mechanism that produces the transitional phase, or an indication of different
evolutionary paths for transitional disks and Class II sources.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A: 11 March 2013 11 pages, 15 figure
Modelling the Interaction Levels in HCI Using an Intelligent Hybrid System with Interactive Agents: A Case Study of an Interactive Museum Exhibition Module in Mexico
Technology has become a necessity in our everyday lives and essential for completing activities we typically take for granted; technologies can assist us by completing set tasks or achieving desired goals with optimal affect and in the most efficient way, thereby improving our interactive experiences. This paper presents research that explores the representation of user interaction levels using an intelligent hybrid system approach with agents. We evaluate interaction levels of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) with the aim of enhancing user experiences. We consider the description of interaction levels using an intelligent hybrid system to provide a decision-making system to an agent that evaluates interaction levels when using interactive modules of a museum exhibition. The agents represent a high-level abstraction of the system, where communication takes place between the user, the exhibition and the environment. In this paper, we provide a means to measure the interaction levels and natural behaviour of users, based on museum user-exhibition interaction. We consider that, by analysing user interaction in a museum, we can help to design better ways to interact with exhibition modules according to the properties and behaviour of the users. An interaction-evaluator agent is proposed to achieve the most suitable representation of the interaction levels with the aim of improving user interactions to offer the most appropriate directions, services, content and information, thereby improving the quality of interaction experienced between the user-agent and exhibition-agent
La ocupaciĂłn laboral de los convivientes con afectados por discapacidades : un anĂĄlisis multivariable
La relaciĂłn entre el rol de cuidador y la actividad laboral ha cambiado mucho durante las Ășltimas dĂ©cadas, influida por la evoluciĂłn del contexto demogrĂĄfico, sanitario y sociolĂłgico, pero tambiĂ©n por una polĂtica sociosanitaria que persigue la mĂĄxima implicaciĂłn de los familiares. utilizando la Encuesta sobre Discapacidades, Deficiencias y Estado de Salud, y mediante el anĂĄlisis de regresiĂłn logĂstica multivariable, investigamos cĂłmo se relacionan en los hogares la convivencia o cuidado de personas con discapacidad y la ocupaciĂłn laboral de los convivientes. Los resultados confirman que el determinante principal es la asunciĂłn del rol de cuidador y no el sexo, pero tambiĂ©n se comprueba que los roles complementarios, masculinos y femeninos, se hacen mĂĄs intensos en los hogares que deben afrontar la discapacidad de alguno de sus miembros, en detrimento de la igualaciĂłn entre hombres y mujeres.As a result of deep demographic, health and social changes, as well as adjustments to public health policy that now seeks the maximum involvement of family members, the relationship between the role of caregiver and employment has observed many changes during the past decades. Using the spanish Survey on Disability, Deficiency and Health Status we investigate the relationship between co-residing with or caring for people with disabilities and employment using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results indicate that it is not gender but the role as caregiver that is the main determinant of being employed. It is also found that both roles become more burdensome at the expense of gender equality in homes that have to cope with the disability of one of its members
Systematic characterisation of the Herschel SPIRE Fourier Transform Spectrometer
A systematic programme of calibration observations was carried out to monitor
the performance of the SPIRE FTS instrument on board the Herschel Space
Observatory. Observations of planets (including the prime point-source
calibrator, Uranus), asteroids, line sources, dark sky, and cross-calibration
sources were made in order to monitor repeatability and sensitivity, and to
improve FTS calibration. We present a complete analysis of the full set of
calibration observations and use them to assess the performance of the FTS.
Particular care is taken to understand and separate out the effect of pointing
uncertainties, including the position of the internal beam steering mirror for
sparse observations in the early part of the mission. The repeatability of
spectral line centre positions is <5km/s, for lines with signal-to-noise ratios
>40, corresponding to <0.5-2.0% of a resolution element. For spectral line
flux, the repeatability is better than 6%, which improves to 1-2% for spectra
corrected for pointing offsets. The continuum repeatability is 4.4% for the SLW
band and 13.6% for the SSW band, which reduces to ~1% once the data have been
corrected for pointing offsets. Observations of dark sky were used to assess
the sensitivity and the systematic offset in the continuum, both of which were
found to be consistent across the FTS detector arrays. The average point-source
calibrated sensitivity for the centre detectors is 0.20 and 0.21 Jy [1 sigma; 1
hour], for SLW and SSW. The average continuum offset is 0.40 Jy for the SLW
band and 0.28 Jy for the SSW band.Comment: 41 pages, 37 figures, 32 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Mangarara Formation: exhumed remnants of a middle Miocene, temperate carbonate, submarine channel-fan system on the eastern margin of Taranaki Basin, New Zealand
The middle Miocene Mangarara Formation is a thin (1â60 m), laterally discontinuous unit of moderately to highly calcareous (40â90%) facies of sandy to pure limestone, bioclastic sandstone, and conglomerate that crops out in a few valleys in North Taranaki across the transition from King Country Basin into offshore Taranaki Basin. The unit occurs within hemipelagic (slope) mudstone of Manganui Formation, is stratigraphically associated with redeposited sandstone of Moki Formation, and is overlain by redeposited volcaniclastic sandstone of Mohakatino Formation. The calcareous facies of the Mangarara Formation are interpreted to be mainly mass-emplaced deposits having channelised and sheet-like geometries, sedimentary structures supportive of redeposition, mixed environment fossil associations, and stratigraphic enclosure within bathyal mudrocks and flysch. The carbonate component of the deposits consists mainly of bivalves, larger benthic foraminifers (especially Amphistegina), coralline red algae including rhodoliths (Lithothamnion and Mesophyllum), and bryozoans, a warm-temperate, shallow marine skeletal association. While sediment derivation was partly from an eastern contemporary shelf, the bulk of the skeletal carbonate is inferred to have been sourced from shoal carbonate factories around and upon isolated basement highs (Patea-Tongaporutu High) to the south. The Mangarara sediments were redeposited within slope gullies and broad open submarine channels and lobes in the vicinity of the channel-lobe transition zone of a submarine fan system. Different phases of sediment transport and deposition (lateral-accretion and aggradation stages) are identified in the channel infilling. Dual fan systems likely co-existed, one dominating and predominantly siliciclastic in nature (Moki Formation), and the other infrequent and involving the temperate calcareous deposits of Mangarara Formation. The Mangarara Formation is an outcrop analogue for middle Miocene-age carbonate slope-fan deposits elsewhere in subsurface Taranaki Basin, New Zealand
Effect of grain and secondary phase morphologies in the mechanical and damping behavior of Al7075 alloys
The present study evaluates the role of the microstructure in the static and dynamic mechanical behavior of as-cast Al7075 alloy promoted by ultrasonic treatment (US) during solidification. The characterization of samples revealed that US treatment promoted grain and intermetallics refinement, changed the shape of the intermetallic phases (equilibrium phases of soluble M and/or T (Al, Cu, Mg, Zn) and their insoluble Al-Cu-Fe compounds) and lead to their uniform distribution along the grain boundaries. Consequently, the mechanical properties and damping capacity above critical strain values were enhanced by comparison with values obtained for castings produced without US vibration. This results suggest that the grain and secondary phases refinement by US can be a promising solution to process materials to obtain high damping and high strength characteristics.This research was supported by FEDER/COMPETE funds and by national funds through FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and was developed on the aim of the research Post-Doctoral grant SFRH/BPD/76680/2011. Also, this work has been supported by the FCT in the scope of the project: UID/EEA/04436/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Probing the Early Evolution of Young High-Mass Stars
Near-infrared imaging surveys of high-mass star-forming regions reveal an
amazingly complex interplay between star formation and the environment
(Churchwell et al. 2006; Alvarez et al. 2004). By means of near-IR spectroscopy
the embedded massive young stars can be characterized and placed in the context
of their birth site. However, so far spectroscopic surveys have been hopelessly
incomplete, hampering any systematic study of these very young massive stars.
New integral field instrumentation available at ESO has opened the possibility
to take a huge step forward by obtaining a full spectral inventory of the
youngest massive stellar populations in star-forming regions currently
accessible. Simultaneously, the analysis of the extended emission allows the
characterization of the environmental conditions. The Formation and Early
Evolution of Massive Stars (FEMS) collaboration aims at setting up a large
observing campaign to obtain a full census of the stellar content, ionized
material, outflows and PDR's over a sample of regions that covers a large
parameter space. Complementary radio, mm and infrared observations will be used
for the characterization of the deeply embedded population. For the first eight
regions we have obtained 40 hours of SINFONI observations. In this
contribution, we present the first results on three regions that illustrate the
potential of this strategy.Comment: To appear in ASP Conf. Proceedings of "Massive Star Formation:
Observations confront Theory", H. Beuther et al. (eds.), held in Heidelberg,
September 200
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