Do Concentration Cells Store Charge in Water? Comment on Can Water Store Charge?

In a recent article, Ovchinnikova and Pollack (O&P)(1) reported that the persistent pH gradients (>100 min after electrolysis) generated upon charging a simple electrolytic cell (Pt electrodes in dilute aqueous NaCl solutions) imply that “water can store charge”, in apparent violation of the principle of electroneutrality in bulk macroscopic fluid phases

Podarcis siculus latastei (Bedriaga, 1879) of the western pontine islands (italy) raised to the species rank, and a brief taxonomic overview of podarcis lizards

In recent years, great attention has been paid to many Podarcis species for which the observed intra-specific variability often revealed species complexes still characterized by an unresolved relationship. When compared to other species, P. siculus underwent fewer revisions and the number of species hidden within this taxon may have been, therefore, underestimated. However, recent studies based on genetic and morphological data highlighted a marked differentiation of the populations inhabiting the Western Pontine Archipelago. In the present work we used published genetic data (three mitochondrial and three nuclear gene fragments) from 25 Podarcis species to provide a multilocus phylogeny of the genus in order to understand the degree of differentiation of the Western Pontine populations. In addition, we analyzed new morphometric traits (scale counts) of 151 specimens from the main islands of the Pontine Archipelago. The phylogenetic analysis revealed five principal Podarcis groups with biogeographic consistency. The genetic distinctiveness of the Podarcis populations of the Western Pontine Islands is similar or even more ancient than those observed in numerous other pairs of Podarcis sister species. In the light of these evidences we raise the Western Pontine lizards to specific rank; thus they should be referred to as Podarcis latastei

A New Feature in the Spectrum of the Superluminous LMC Supergiant HDE 269896

We have found strong selective emission of the N II 5000A complex in the spectrum of the LMC hypergiant HDE 269896, ON9.7 Ia$^+$. Since this object also has anomalously strong He II $\lambda$4686 emission for its spectral type, an unusually wide range of ionization in its extended atmosphere is indicated. The published model of this spectrum does not reproduce these emission features, but we show that increased nitrogen and helium abundances, together with small changes in other model parameters, can do so. The morphological and possible evolutionary relationships of HDE 269896, as illuminated by the new spectral features, to other denizens of the OB Zoo are discussed. This object may be in an immediate pre-WNVL (Very Late WN) state, which is in turn the quiescent state of at least some Luminous Blue Variables. More generally, the N II spectrum in HDE 269896 provides a striking demonstration of the occurrence of two distinctly different kinds of line behavior in O-type spectra: normal absorption lines that develop P Cygni profiles at high wind densities, and selective emission lines from the same ions that do not. Further analysis of these features will advance understanding of both atomic physics and extreme stellar atmospheres.Comment: 12 pages, 2 tables, 4 figures (quality downgraded due to size constraints); to appear in PASP January 200

The Architecture of MEG Simulation and Analysis Software

MEG (Mu to Electron Gamma) is an experiment dedicated to search for the $\mu^+ \rightarrow e^+\gamma$ decay that is strongly suppressed in the Standard Model but predicted in several Super Symmetric extensions of it at an accessible rate. MEG is a small-size experiment ($\approx 50-60$ physicists at any time) with a life span of about 10 years. The limited human resource available, in particular in the core offline group, emphasized the importance of reusing software and exploiting existing expertise. Great care has been devoted to provide a simple system that hides implementation details to the average programmer. That allowed many members of the collaboration to contribute to the development of the software of the experiment with limited programming skill. The offline software is based on two frameworks: {\bf REM} in FORTRAN 77 used for the event generation and detector simulation package {\bf GEM}, based on GEANT 3, and {\bf ROME} in C++ used in the readout simulation {\bf Bartender} and in the reconstruction and analysis program {\bf Analyzer}. Event display in the simulation is based on GEANT 3 graphic libraries and in the reconstruction on ROOT graphic libraries. Data are stored in different formats in various stage of the processing. The frameworks include utilities for input/output, database handling and format conversion transparent to the user.Comment: Presented at the IEEE NSS Knoxville, 2010 Revised according to referee's remarks Accepted by European Physical Journal Plu

Anelastic relaxation and 139^{139}La NQR in La2−x_{2-x}Srx_xCuO4_4 around the critical Sr content x=0.02

Anelastic relaxation and $^{139}$La NQR relaxation measurements in La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ for Sr content x around 2 and 3 percent, are presented and discussed in terms of spin and lattice excitations and ordering processes. It is discussed how the phase diagram of La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ at the boundary between the antiferromagnetic (AF) and the spin-glass phase (x = 0.02) could be more complicate than previous thought, with a transition to a quasi-long range ordered state at T = 150 K, as indicated by recent neutron scattering data. On the other hand, the $^{139}$La NQR spectra are compatible with a transition to a conventional AF phase around T = 50 K, in agreement with the phase diagram commonly accepted in the literature. In this case the relaxation data, with a peak of magnetic origin in the relaxation rate around 150 K at 12 MHz and the anelastic counterparts around 80 K in the kHz range, yield the first evidence in La$_{1.98}$Sr$_{0.02}$CuO$_4$ of freezing involving simultaneously lattice and spin excitations. This excitation could correspond to the motion of charged stripes.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure

Documenting and modeling the accretion of surface and subsoil organic carbon in agricultural Inceptisols reclaimed from Mediterranean sea marshes in Sardinia

High input agriculture in productive Inceptisols that were reclaimed from sea marshes offers an opportunity to study the increase of soil organic carbon (SOC) in soils with originally low SOC. We documented the current SOC content and its distribution with depth for several soil profiles

Photometric and spectroscopic variations of the Be star HD 112999

Be objects are stars of B spectral type showing lines of the Balmer series in emission. The presence of these lines is attributed to the existence of an extended envelope, disk type, around them. Some stars are observed in both the Be and normal B-type spectroscopic states and they are known as transient Be stars. In this paper we show the analysis carried out on a new possible transient Be star, labelled HD 112999, using spectroscopic optical observations and photometric data.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in IBV