Analysis of a silvopastoral system with animals of the autochtonous swine breed Porco Celta in Galicia (NW Spain)

PosterPig traditional production systems in Galicia (NW Spain) are based on seasonal resources us like chestnut and pastures. The Breeders' Association of the autochthonous Celtic breed of pigs (ASOPORCEL) has developed a novel system within the traditional Galicia grazed forest areas in order to preserve landscape quality and biologic diversity, minimizing therefore the environmental impact of pig production. One of the main concerns of silvopastoral system implementation is the need of fencing. Fencing costs could be reduced if animals are rearing with infrastructures based on Pavlov animal condition reflex management in an extensive system. Therefore, cost reduction is obtained thanks to the clear reduction of personnel needs to feed animals, fencing costs and understorey clearance to reduce forest fires. In 2013 an experiment was carried out in Nebra (NW of Spain) in a young Pinus pinaster plantation. Pig stocking rate was around 3.85 pigs per ha (25 males and 25 females) in a total surface of 13 ha. Forest grazing program was initiated when animals were three months old in March 2013 and finished in December 2013. They were allowed access the whole plot. Concentrate was provided twice every day after sounding an alarm to attract pigs. All the animals adapted rapidly to the system. Two types o understory vegetation (Ulex and Pteridium) was sampled following a transect from close to far away feeding areas (three distances). Fern control was intense, being gorse less consumed. After nine months, average animal daily gain (ADG) obtained was 290 ± 4 gr. We can conclude that the used method is perfectly adaptable to the systems of exploitation suggested for the Celtic pig breed. This will be highly relevant to preserve this autochthonous breed and increase the number of extensive farms in the area while contributing to fix population dedicated to use silvopastoral systems

Monopile-mounted wave energy converter for a hybrid wind-wave system

Multipurpose platforms are innovative solutions to combine the sustainable exploitation of multiple marine resources. Among them, hybrid wind-wave systems stand out due to the multiple synergies between these two forms of marine renewable energy. The objective of this work is to develop a hybrid system for monopile substructures, which are currently the prevailing type of substructure for offshore wind turbines, and more specifically to focus on the wave energy converter sub-system, which consists in an oscillating water column. For this purpose, an in-depth experimental campaign was carried out using a 1:40 scale model of the wave energy converter sub-system and the monopile substructure, considering regular and irregular waves. Based on the experimental results the performance of the device and its interaction with the wave field were characterised – a fundamental step to fully understand the benefits and limitations of this hybrid wind-wave system, which sets the basis for its future development. Regarding the performance, the best efficiency was obtained with the turbine damping corresponding to a 0.5% orifice size, and two resonance peaks were identified (T = 9 and 6 s). As for the interaction of the hybrid system with the wave field, between 5% and 66% of the incident wave power is reflected and between 3% and 45%, transmitted. The wave period was found to be the parameter that most influenced wave run-up on the substructure. This characterisation of the behaviour of the hybrid system shows that it is indeed a promising option for further development.University of Plymout

Properties of five z~0.3-0.4 confirmed LyC leakers: VLT/XShooter observations

Using new VLT/XShooter spectral observations we analyse the physical properties of five z~0.3-0.4 confirmed LyC leakers. Strong resonant MgII 2796,2803 emission lines (I(2796,2803)/I(Hbeta)=10-38 per cent) and non-resonant FeII* 2612,2626 emission lines are observed in spectra of five and three galaxies, respectively. We find high electron densities Ne~400cm-3, significantly higher than in typical low-z, but comparable to those measured in z~2-3 star-forming galaxies. The galaxies have a mean value of logN/O=-1.16, close to the maximum values found for star-forming (SF) galaxies in the metallicity range of 12+logO/H=7.7-8.1. All 11 low-z LyC emitting galaxies found by Izotov et al. (2016, 2018), including the ones considered in the present study, are characterised by high EW(Hbeta)~200-400A, high ionisation parameter (log(U)=-2.5 to -1.7), high average ionising photon production efficiency \xi= 10^{25.54} Hz erg-1 and hard ionising radiation. On the BPT diagram we find the same offset of our leakers from low-$z$ main-sequence SFGs as that for local analogues of LBGs and extreme SF galaxies at z~2-3. We confirm the effectiveness of the HeI emission lines diagnostics proposed by Izotov et al. (2017) in searching for LyC leaker candidates and find that their intensity ratios correspond to those in a median with low neutral hydrogen column density N(HI)=10^{17}-5x10^{17} cm-2 that permit leakage of LyC radiation, likely due to their density-bounded HII regions.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ

Targeted next-generation sequencing provides novel clues for associated epilepsy and cardiac conduction disorder/SUDEP

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy is an unpredicted condition in patients with a diagnosis of epilepsy, and autopsy does not conclusively identify cause of death. Although the pathophysiological mechanisms that underlie this entity remain unknown, the fact that epilepsy can affect cardiac function is not surprising. The genetic factors involving ion channels co-expressed in the heart and brain and other candidate genes have been previously described. In the present study, 20 epilepsy patients with personal or family history of heart rhythm disturbance/cardiac arrhythmias/sudden death were sequenced using a custom resequencing panel. Twenty-six relatives were genetically analysed to ascertain the family segregation in ten individuals. Four subjects revealed variants with positive genotype-phenotype segregation: four missense variants in the CDKL5, CNTNAP2, GRIN2A and ADGRV1 genes and one copy number variant in KCNQ1. The potential pathogenic role of variants in new candidate genes will need further studies in larger cohorts, and the evaluation of the potential pathogenic role in the cardio-cerebral mechanisms requires in vivo/in vitro studies. In addition to family segregation, evaluation of the potential pathogenic roles of these variants in cardio-cerebral mechanisms by in vivo/in vitro studies should also be performed. The potential pathogenic role of variants in new candidate genes will need further studies in larger cohorts

Stellar Population gradients in galaxy discs from the CALIFA survey

While studies of gas-phase metallicity gradients in disc galaxies are common, very little has been done in the acquisition of stellar abundance gradients in the same regions. We present here a comparative study of the stellar metallicity and age distributions in a sample of 62 nearly face-on, spiral galaxies with and without bars, using data from the CALIFA survey. We measure the slopes of the gradients and study their relation with other properties of the galaxies. We find that the mean stellar age and metallicity gradients in the disc are shallow and negative. Furthermore, when normalized to the effective radius of the disc, the slope of the stellar population gradients does not correlate with the mass or with the morphological type of the galaxies. Contrary to this, the values of both age and metallicity at $\sim$2.5 scale-lengths correlate with the central velocity dispersion in a similar manner to the central values of the bulges, although bulges show, on average, older ages and higher metallicities than the discs. One of the goals of the present paper is to test the theoretical prediction that non-linear coupling between the bar and the spiral arms is an efficient mechanism for producing radial migrations across significant distances within discs. The process of radial migration should flatten the stellar metallicity gradient with time and, therefore, we would expect flatter stellar metallicity gradients in barred galaxies. However, we do not find any difference in the metallicity or age gradients in galaxies with without bars. We discuss possible scenarios that can lead to this absence of difference.Comment: 24 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Imprints of galaxy evolution on H ii regions Memory of the past uncovered by the CALIFA survey

H ii regions in galaxies are the sites of star formation and thus particular places to understand the build-up of stellar mass in the universe. The line ratios of this ionized gas are frequently used to characterize the ionization conditions. We use the Hii regions catalogue from the CALIFA survey (~5000 H ii regions), to explore their distribution across the classical [OIII]/Hbeta vs. [NII]/Halpha diagnostic diagram, and how it depends on the oxygen abundance, ionization parameter, electron density, and dust attenuation. We compared the line ratios with predictions from photoionization models. Finally, we explore the dependences on the properties of the host galaxies, the location within those galaxies and the properties of the underlying stellar population. We found that the location within the BPT diagrams is not totally predicted by photoionization models. Indeed, it depends on the properties of the host galaxies, their galactocentric distances and the properties of the underlying stellar population. These results indicate that although H ii regions are short lived events, they are affected by the total underlying stellar population. One may say that H ii regions keep a memory of the stellar evolution and chemical enrichment that have left an imprint on the both the ionizing stellar population and the ionized gasComment: 18 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publishing in A&

CALIFA, the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area survey: I. Survey presentation

We present here the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey, which has been designed to provide a first step in this direction.We summarize the survey goals and design, including sample selection and observational strategy.We also showcase the data taken during the first observing runs (June/July 2010) and outline the reduction pipeline, quality control schemes and general characteristics of the reduced data. This survey is obtaining spatially resolved spectroscopic information of a diameter selected sample of $\sim600$ galaxies in the Local Universe (0.005< z <0.03). CALIFA has been designed to allow the building of two-dimensional maps of the following quantities: (a) stellar populations: ages and metallicities; (b) ionized gas: distribution, excitation mechanism and chemical abundances; and (c) kinematic properties: both from stellar and ionized gas components. CALIFA uses the PPAK Integral Field Unit (IFU), with a hexagonal field-of-view of \sim1.3\sq\arcmin', with a 100% covering factor by adopting a three-pointing dithering scheme. The optical wavelength range is covered from 3700 to 7000 {\AA}, using two overlapping setups (V500 and V1200), with different resolutions: R\sim850 and R\sim1650, respectively. CALIFA is a legacy survey, intended for the community. The reduced data will be released, once the quality has been guaranteed. The analyzed data fulfill the expectations of the original observing proposal, on the basis of a set of quality checks and exploratory analysis. We conclude from this first look at the data that CALIFA will be an important resource for archaeological studies of galaxies in the Local Universe.Comment: 32 pages, 29 figures, Accepted for publishing in Astronomy and Astrophysic

CALIFA : a diameter-selected sample for an integral field spectroscopy galaxy survey

JMA acknowledges support from the European Research Council Starting Grant (SEDmorph; P.I. V. Wild).We describe and discuss the selection procedure and statistical properties of the galaxy sample used by the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey, a public legacy survey of 600 galaxies using integral field spectroscopy. The CALIFA "mother sample" was selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR7 photometric catalogue to include all galaxies with an r-band isophotal major axis between 45 '' and 79 : 2 '' and with a redshift 0 : 005 M-r > -23 : 1 and over a stellar mass range between 10(9.7) and 10(11.4) M-circle dot. In particular, within these ranges, the diameter selection does not lead to any significant bias against - or in favour of - intrinsically large or small galaxies. Only below luminosities of M-r = -19 (or stellar masses <10(9.7) M-circle dot) is there a prevalence of galaxies with larger isophotal sizes, especially of nearly edge-on late-type galaxies, but such galaxies form <10% of the full sample. We estimate volume-corrected distribution functions in luminosities and sizes and show that these are statistically fully compatible with estimates from the full SDSS when accounting for large-scale structure. For full characterization of the sample, we also present a number of value-added quantities determined for the galaxies in the CALIFA sample. These include consistent multi-band photometry based on growth curve analyses; stellar masses; distances and quantities derived from these; morphological classifications; and an overview of available multi-wavelength photometric measurements. We also explore different ways of characterizing the environments of CALIFA galaxies, finding that the sample covers environmental conditions from the field to genuine clusters. We finally consider the expected incidence of active galactic nuclei among CALIFA galaxies given the existing pre-CALIFA data, finding that the final observed CALIFA sample will contain approximately 30 Sey2 galaxies.Peer reviewe

Mapping the ionized gas of the metal-poor HII galaxy PHL 293B with MEGARA

Here we report the first spatially resolved spectroscopic study for the galaxy PHL293B using the high-resolution GTC/MEGARA IFU. PHL293B is a local, extremely metal-poor, high ionization galaxy. This makes PHL 293B an excellent analogue for galaxies in the early Universe. The MEGARA aperture (~12.5''x 11.3'') covers the entire PHL 293B main body and its far-reaching ionized gas. We created and discussed maps of all relevant emission lines, line ratios and physical-chemical properties of the ionized ISM. The narrow emission gas appears to be ionized mainly by massive stars according to the observed diganostic line ratios, regardless of the position across the MEGARA aperture. We detected low intensity broad emission components and blueshifted absorptions in the Balmer lines (H$\alpha$,H$\beta$) which are located in the brightest zone of the galaxy ISM. A chemically homogeneity, across hundreds of parsecs, is observed in O/H. We take the oxygen abundance 12+log(O/H)=7.64 $\pm$ 0.06 derived from the PHL293B integrated spectrum as the representative metallicity for the galaxy. Our IFU data reveal for the first time that the nebular HeII4686 emission from PHL 293B is spatially extended and coincident with the ionizing stellar cluster, and allow us to compute its absolute HeII ionizing photon flux. Wolf-Rayet bumps are not detected excluding therefore Wolf-Rayet stars as the main HeII excitation source. The origin of the nebular HeII4686 is discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 9 Figures, 3 Tables; Accepted for publication in MNRA