Wavelets: a powerful tool for studying rotation, activity, and pulsation in Kepler and CoRoT stellar light curves

Aims. The wavelet transform has been used as a powerful tool for treating several problems in astrophysics. In this work, we show that the time-frequency analysis of stellar light curves using the wavelet transform is a practical tool for identifying rotation, magnetic activity, and pulsation signatures. We present the wavelet spectral composition and multiscale variations of the time series for four classes of stars: targets dominated by magnetic activity, stars with transiting planets, those with binary transits, and pulsating stars. Methods. We applied the Morlet wavelet (6th order), which offers high time and frequency resolution. By applying the wavelet transform to the signal, we obtain the wavelet local and global power spectra. The first is interpreted as energy distribution of the signal in time-frequency space, and the second is obtained by time integration of the local map. Results. Since the wavelet transform is a useful mathematical tool for nonstationary signals, this technique applied to Kepler and CoRoT light curves allows us to clearly identify particular signatures for different phenomena. In particular, patterns were identified for the temporal evolution of the rotation period and other periodicity due to active regions affecting these light curves. In addition, a beat-pattern signature in the local wavelet map of pulsating stars over the entire time span was also detected.Comment: Accepted for publication on A&

Bioclimatic modelling in the holocene and in future warming scenarios in Arbutus unedo L.

Growing forests wildfires in Portugal are an increasing concern since forests in the Mediterranean region are vulnerable to recent global warming. Long-term negative effects are expected on the vegetation with the coming increasing drought. The strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) displays potential to be a successfully business-like cultured in several regions of Portugal and southern Europe, as it is well adapted to climate and soils. In Portugal, this species has been used by local populations particularly for spirit production and for fruit consumption, although it has different possible commercial uses, from processed and fresh fruit production to ornamental, pharmaceutical and chemical applications. In addition, due to its pioneer status, it is valuable for land recovery and desertification avoidance, besides being fire resistant. The available strawberry tree’s data is presence-only. For modelling purposes, a set of placements within the landscape of interest (Portugal) was applied. The species, observed in 318 plots, together with a vector of environmental covariates (7 bioclimatic attributes, slope and altitude) and a defined background were used for modeling purposes. Maxent 3.4.1 was the used software, where the estimated quantity is the probability of the presence of the species, conditioned on the environment. Maxent uses the environmental covariate data from the occurrence records and the background sample, to estimate the ratio between the conditional density of the covariates at the presence sites and the marginal (i.e., unconditional) density of covariates across the study area and so, estimating the relative suitability of one place vs. another. Three different climate scenarios (control run; 2050 and 2070) were tested for two emission scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5, WorldClim), besides the past, 6,000 BP (Mid-Holocene). The reduction of habitat suitable for this species is very significant in the southern regions, even for the best warming scenario (RCP 4.5) in 2050. Central and Northern mountain regions are predicted refuge for this species. Forest policies and management should consider the impact of climate change on the usable areas for forestry, seeing a case-study species particularly adapted to the Mediterranean regions and wildfires, such as strawberry tree. The distribution of the species in the Middle Holocene agrees with previous genetic and fossils studies in the region, which supported two putative refuges for the species since the Last Glacial Maximum and a cryptic refugia in the East-Central mountain region.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Relation among satisfaction and loyalty of the users of nautical camps

El objetivo principal de este artículo es medir la satisfacción y la lealtad mediante el compromiso psicológico y el boca / oído. Se analizaron un total de 350 encuestas del segmento de consumidores comprendido entre 6 y 12 años de edad y en el contexto de los campamentos náuticos. La medición de estas variables para el establecimiento posterior de relaciones causales entre ellas, se ejecutó teniendo en cuenta la edad de los consumidores, adaptando tanto las condiciones de la recogida de datos como el vocabulario del instrumento de medida. Los resultados obtenidos hacen referencia al compromiso psicológico como un indicador más de la satisfacción y al boca / oído como el único indicador válido para medir la intención futura. Entre la satisfacción y el boca / oído se establece una relación causal positivaThe main objective of this paper is to measure satisfaction and loyalty through the psychological commitment and the word of mouth. We analyzed a total of 350 surveys of the consumer segment realized among 6 and 12 years of age, and in the context of the nautical camps. The measurement of these variables for the subsequent establishment of causal relationships between them, run taking into account the age of consumers, adapting both the conditions of data collection as the vocabulary of the measuring instrument. The results show to psychological commitment as one indicator of satisfaction and the word of mouth as the only valid indicator to measure the behavioural intentions. Between the satisfaction and the word of mouth a positive causal relationship is establishe

Assessing forest species biogeophysical suitability by spatial multicriteria analysis: a study case for the Centro region of Portugal.

It is generally agreed that the choice of the most suitable uses based in soil and climatic factors, complemented with socio-economic criteria, promotes sustainable use of rural land. There are, however, different methodologies for defining soil suitability to agroforestal systems or natural and seminatural ecosystems, including agricultural uses, forest plantations, agroforestry areas and priority areas for conservation. Many of these methods rely on decision support systems based on multicriteria spatial analysis. In this study it was intended to determine the different levels of suitability for the most representative forest species in the central region of Portugal. For that purpose a set of climatic, soil and topographic variables based in a geographic information system, soil and biogeographic mapping were used. A stochastic approach was undertaken in order to estimate several bioclimatic indices and the associated spatial uncertainty. Results were duly discussed and addressed in this framework. In the end, forest species suitability evaluation was performed using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), methodology that allows the exploitation of natural fitness of the territory, contributing to a reflection on the adequacy of current and future occupations face the carrying capacity of the environment. The use of this methodology will be important as a supporting tool to public administration agents that work in forestry planning and management.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Microfluidics in gas sensing and artificial olfaction

SCENT-ERC-2014-STG-639123 (2015-2020) UIDB/04378/2020 PTDC/BII-BIO/28878/2017Rapid, real-time, and non-invasive identification of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and gases is an increasingly relevant field, with applications in areas such as healthcare, agriculture, or industry. Ideal characteristics of VOC and gas sensing devices used for artificial olfaction include portability and affordability, low power consumption, fast response, high selectivity, and sensitivity. Microfluidics meets all these requirements and allows for in situ operation and small sample amounts, providing many advantages compared to conventional methods using sophisticated apparatus such as gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. This review covers the work accomplished so far regarding microfluidic devices for gas sensing and artificial olfaction. Systems utilizing electrical and optical transduction, as well as several system designs engineered throughout the years are summarized, and future perspectives in the field are discussed.publishersversionpublishe

Acquisition of the Possessive Determiners his and her in pre-adolescent L1 Catalan / Spanish children

The present TFG provides insight into the acquisition of possessive determiners his/her in English by L1 Catalan/Spanish speakers. Fourteen pre-adolescent children were tested through two elicited production tasks. Results show that the possessive determiner his cannot be claimed to be operative as an unmarked default form. In fact, a slight preference for her was found. On the other hand, because Catalan and Spanish agree the possessive determiners with the object and not with the subject, gender transfer was expected. However, results show that gender transfer does not seem to be an issue. The animacy hierarchy cannot account for the errors produced either. Further research concerning prepositional phrases should be pursued as well as concerning developmental sequences of the acquisition of possessive determiner.El present treball aporta dades sobre l'adquisició dels determinants possessius his/her en anglès per parlants nadius de català i castellà. Catorze nens pre-adolescents van ser avaluats amb dues tasques de producció. Els resultats demostren que el possessiu his no s'utilitza com a forma predeterminada. De fet, s'ha trobat una lleugera preferència pel possessiu her. D'altra banda, s'esperava transferència de gènere a causa de les maneres divergents de concordar el possessiu en català/castellà i anglès. No obstant, els resultats mostren que la transferència de gènere no és remarcable. La jerarquia d'animacitat tampoc sembla poder justificar els errors comesos. S'encoratja més recerca en el camp de frases preposicionals i de seqüències de desenvolupament en l''adquisició dels determinants possessius

Método objetivo para analizar dos modelos de la línea de tres puntos en Minibasket

The aim of this manuscript was to show the methodology used to design a category system that allows analyzing the game in mini-basketball, to compare two shapes of the three-point line. Six experts and 123 girls from 12 teams participated. The methodology used to design the category system was qualitative and followed four stages: a) to identify a criteria list, b) to delimit and to define each criteria and its categories, c) to improve the category system y d) to analyse its validity and reliability. The category system was exhaustive and mutually exclusive, it had content validity and it made possible the reliability of the observation.El objetivo de este trabajo fue presentar el procedimiento seguido para la elaboración de un sistema de categorías que permitiera analizar las acciones de juego con dos modelos diferentes de la línea de tres puntos en minibasket. Participaron seis expertos y 123 niñas de 12 equipos. La metodología seguida para diseñar el sistema de categorías fue cualitativa y siguió cuatro etapas: a) identificación de una lista de criterios, b) delimitación y definición operacional de cada criterio y de sus categorías, c) perfeccionamiento del sistema de categorías y d) análisis de su validez y fiabilidad. El sistema de categorías final fue exhaustivo y mutuamente excluyente, tuvo validez de contenido y posibilitó la fiabilidad de la observación

Stable and oriented liquid crystal droplets stabilized by imidazolium ionic liquids

SCENT-ERC-2014-STG-639123(2015-2022) UIDP/04378/2020 UIDB/04378/2020 LA/P/0140/2020Liquid crystals represent a fascinating intermediate state of matter, with dynamic yet or-ganized molecular features and untapped opportunities in sensing. Several works report the use of liquid crystal droplets formed by microfluidics and stabilized by surfactants such as sodium do-decyl sulfate (SDS). In this work, we explore, for the first time, the potential of surface-active ionic liquids of the imidazolium family as surfactants to generate in high yield, stable and oriented liquid crystal droplets. Our results show that [C12MIM][Cl], in particular, yields stable, uniform and mon-odisperse droplets (diameter 74 ± 6 µm; PDI = 8%) with the liquid crystal in a radial configuration, even when compared with the standard SDS surfactant. These findings reveal an additional application for ionic liquids in the field of soft matter.publishersversionpublishe

Barn owl feathers as biomonitors of mercury: sources of variation in sampling procedures.

Given their central role in mercury (Hg) excretion and suitability as reservoirs, bird feathers are useful Hg biomonitors. Nevertheless, the interpretation of Hg concentrations is still questioned as a result of a poor knowledge of feather physiology and mechanisms affecting Hg deposition. Given the constraints of feather availability to ecotoxicological studies, we tested the effect of intra-individual differences in Hg concentrations according to feather type (body vs. flight feathers), position in the wing and size (mass and length) in order to understand how these factors could affect Hg estimates. We measured Hg concentration of 154 feathers from 28 un-moulted barn owls (Tyto alba), collected dead on roadsides. Median Hg concentration was 0.45 (0.076-4.5) mg kg(-1) in body feathers, 0.44 (0.040-4.9) mg kg(-1) in primary and 0.60 (0.042-4.7) mg kg(-1) in secondary feathers, and we found a poor effect of feather type on intra-individual Hg levels. We also found a negative effect of wing feather mass on Hg concentration but not of feather length and of its position in the wing. We hypothesize that differences in feather growth rate may be the main driver of between-feather differences in Hg concentrations, which can have implications in the interpretation of Hg concentrations in feathers. Finally, we recommend that, whenever possible, several feathers from the same individual should be analysed. The five innermost primaries have lowest mean deviations to both between-feather and intra-individual mean Hg concentration and thus should be selected under restrictive sampling scenarios