NGC 2548: clumpy spatial and kinematic structure in an intermediate-age galactic cluster

NGC 2548 is a 400-500 Myr old open cluster with evidence of spatial substructures likely caused by its interaction with the Galactic disk. In this work we use precise astrometric data from the Carte du Ciel - San Fernando (CdC-SF) catalogue to study the clumpy structure in this cluster. We confirm the fragmented structure of NGC 2548 but, additionally, the relatively high precision of our kinematic data lead us to the first detection of substructures in the proper motion space of a stellar cluster. There are three spatially separated cores each of which has its own counterpart in the proper motion distribution. The two main cores lie nearly parallel to the Galactic plane whereas the third one is significantly fainter than the others and it moves toward the Galactic plane separating from the rest of the cluster. We derive core positions and proper motions, as well as the stars belonging to each core.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Valuing qalys at the end of life

There have been changes in the way that NICE evaluates medical treatments for patients who are in the last stages of their lives. If medicines fulfil some criteria to be considered “end of life” NICE considers if QALYs gained under these circumstances should receive an extra weight. In this paper we provide evidence about the social support that this policy may have. We present the result of three surveys conducted in the Spanish general population (n=813). Survey 1 compared increases in life expectancy for patients at the end of their lives with health gains from temporary health problems. Survey 2 compared health gains for temporary health problems with health gains from end of life palliative care. Survey 3 compared increases in life expectancy with palliative care in both cases for end of life patients. Preferences were elicited with Person Trade-Off and Willingness to pay techniques. Our results suggest that QALYs for end of life treatments have a higher social value than for temporary health problems. However, we also find that people discriminate between different ways of health gains within End of Life treatment. People seem to attach a greater weight to palliative care than to life extension.QALY weights, end of life, palliative care, life extension

LA COMPETENCIA DINÁMICA ENTRE PIONEROS Y SEGUIDORES. APLICACIÓN AL SECTOR DE LA TELEFONÍA MÓVIL EN EUROPA

El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar cómo las diferencias en la conducta competitiva de las empresas pioneras y seguidores afectan a la ventaja del primer entrante. Se plantea un modelo teórico a partir de la literatura sobre la estrategia basada en acciones y se contrasta empíricamente en el sector de la telefonía móvil en Europa en el período 1997-2000. La metodología utilizada ha sido la del “análisis de contenido estructurado”; que permite medir la estrategia como una secuencia de acciones en el tiempo. Los resultados obtenidos indican que el número de acciones que emprenden los nuevos entrantes influye positivamente en la erosión de la cuota de mercado de la empresa pionera. Asimismo, se comprueba que los clientes valoran positivamente la simplicidad competitiva de las empresas seguidoras. Finalmente, también se ha encontrado relevante en la erosión de la ventaja del pionero la experiencia previa en el sector de los nuevos entrantes.

Detection of growth-related QTLs in turbot (Scophtalmus maximux)

Background The turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) is a highly appreciated European aquaculture species. Growth related traits constitute the main goal of the ongoing genetic breeding programs of this species. The recent construction of a consensus linkage map in this species has allowed the selection of a panel of 100 homogeneously distributed markers covering the 26 linkage groups (LG) suitable for QTL search. In this study we addressed the detection of QTL with effect on body weight, length and Fulton's condition factor. Results Eight families from two genetic breeding programs comprising 814 individuals were used to search for growth related QTL using the panel of microsatellites available for QTL screening. Two different approaches, maximum likelihood and regression interval mapping, were used in order to search for QTL. Up to eleven significant QTL were detected with both methods in at least one family: four for weight on LGs 5, 14, 15 and 16; five for length on LGs 5, 6, 12, 14 and 15; and two for Fulton's condition factor on LGs 3 and 16. In these LGs an association analysis was performed to ascertain the microsatellite marker with the highest apparent effect on the trait, in order to test the possibility of using them for marker assisted selection. Conclusions The use of regression interval mapping and maximum likelihood methods for QTL detection provided consistent results in many cases, although the high variation observed for traits mean among families made it difficult to evaluate QTL effects. Finer mapping of detected QTL, looking for tightly linked markers to the causative mutation, and comparative genomics are suggested to deepen in the analysis of QTL in turbot so they can be applied in marker assisted selection programs

A web-oriented application for 3D craniofacial reconstruction in forensic medicine

uman identification from a skull is a critical process in legal and forensic medicine, especially when no other means are available. Traditional clay-based methods attempt to generate the human face, in order to identify the corresponding person. However, these reconstructions lack of objectivity and consistence, since they depend on the practitioner. Moreover, the results of the reconstruction cannot be easily distributed and consulted from everywhere. This paper presents a completely objective 3D craniofacial reconstruction automatic system that provides access to the reconstructions through the Web. The software tool is able to generate an individual facial reconstruction from the 3D image of the skull and three parameters: age, gender and Body Mass Index (BMI) of the individual. Afterwards, the reconstruction can be manually modified by changing any tissue depth value. Both entry data and the reconstructions generated by the tool will be stored in a database, so they are accessible from the Internet. Conclusions of this paper yield promising results: on the one hand, the scientific and technical feasibility of the presented craniofacial reconstruction technique is proved, and also its preference against traditional craniofacial reconstruction methods. On the other hand, this procedure means a remarkable advantage from the point of view of access, visualization and sharing of information, and also in terms of security, since it includes an authentication protocol

Place and sense of place on a road on the Atlantic coast of Patagonia, 1950-1970

El objetivo del trabajo es analizar cómo recolectores de pulpo (pulperos) construyeron lugar, y dieron sentido de lugar a un camino de terracería en un tramo paralelo y lindero a la costa atlántica patagónica de 1950 a 1970. Se utilizó una metodología cualitativa y participativa, basada en estas técnicas etnográficas: entrevistas, entrevistas en profundidad, recorridos de campo y referenciación geográfica de los parajes reconocidos por los pulperos. Como resultado, los informantes identificaron parajes donde se establecían los pulperos, que se cartografiaron, y se les asignó topónimos reconocidos por ellos. La limitante es que no se profundizó en las trasformaciones del camino, aunque la originalidad radica en el uso de los conceptos paraje (lugar), sentido de lugar y paisaje en la reconstrucción del camino, a partir de una actividad productiva artesanal. En conclusión, los afectos que residen en la memoria de los pulperos resultaron centrales en la construcción social del camino y los parajes como lugar, en el sentido geográfico.The purpose of this study is to analyze how octopus collectors (pulperos) built a place and gave a sense of place to a dirt road along a stretch paralleling and bordering the Atlantic coast of Patagonia from 1950 to 1970. A qualitative and participatory methodology was used, based on these ethnographic techniques: interviews, in-depth interviews, field trips and geographical referencing of the places recognized by the pulperos. As a result, informants identified places where pulperos used to settle down; these places were mapped and given toponyms recognized by them. The limitation of the study is that it did not delve into the transformations of the road, although its originality lies in the use of the concepts of paraje (place), sense of place and landscape in the reconstruction of the road on the basis of a artisanal production activity. In conclusion, affections residing in pulperos’ memory were central in the social construction of the road and the parajes as a place in the geographical senseFil: Bocco, Gerardo Hector Ruben. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico de Ciencias Sociales y Humanas; Argentina. Centro de Investigaciones En Geografía Ambiental, Unam;Fil: Cinti, Ana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos; ArgentinaFil: Vezub, Julio Esteban. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico de Ciencias Sociales y Humanas; ArgentinaFil: Sanchez Carnero, Noela Belen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos; ArgentinaFil: Chávez, Matías Rodrigo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico de Ciencias Sociales y Humanas; Argentin

Make it personal: a social explanation system applied to group recommendations

Recommender systems help users to identify which items from a variety of choices best match their needs and preferences. In this context, explanations act as complementary information that can help users to better comprehend the system’s output and to encourage goals such as trust, confidence in decision-making or utility. In this paper we propose a Personalized Social Individual Explanation approach (PSIE). Unlike other expert systems the PSIE proposal novelly includes explanations about the system’s group recommendation and explanations about the group’s social reality with the goal of inducing a positive reaction that leads to a better perception of the received group recommendations. Among other challenges, we uncover a special need to focus on “tactful” explanations when addressing users’ personal relationships within a group and to focus on personalized reassuring explanations that encourage users to accept the presented recommendations. Besides, the resulting intelligent system significatively increases users’ intent (likelihood) to follow the recommendations, users’ satisfaction and the system’s efficiency and trustworthiness

The influence of mixing water on the thermophysical properties of nanofluids based on solar salt and silica nanoparticles

The use of nanofluids (NFs) based on Solar Salt (SS) and nanoparticles (NPs), either as Thermal Energy Storage (TES) material or as Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF), is attracting great interest in recent years. Many authors [1,3] have reported important improvements on the thermophysical properties (specific heat capacity cp,thermal conductivity k) of NFs based on SS and ceramic NPs. These improvements would lead to important savings and better performance of TES facilities on new Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants due to lower quantities of material required and smaller storage tanks. To achieve these advantageous features in the final NFs, it is essential to avoid NP agglomeration during their preparation. Different synthesis procedures have been reported: mixing of solid NPs within a SS solution by means of ultrasounds [1-3], direct mixing of solid NPs and molten salt [4]. In this work, NFs based on SS and 1% by wt. of silica NPs were synthetized from a SS-water solution and a commercial water-silica NF called Ludox HS 30% (Sigma-Aldrich). The influence of the mixing water volume (MW) on the cp of NFs was evaluated. With this aim, the cp of these samples was measured by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) both in the solid and the liquid state. In addition, the distribution of sizes was measured during the whole preparation process by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). Further information about sizes and uniformity of the final NFs was obtained from Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) patterns of the SS and final NF were performed.Basque Government's ETORTEK 201

Evaluacion economica de una plantacion de cerezas localizada en la VII Region

61 p.A nivel mundial los principales países consumidores de cerezas (Prunus avium L.) son Alemania, Rusia, Austria, Reino Unido y Canadá. En términos de producción Chile ocupa el décimo quinto lugar en el mundo y realiza aproximadamente el 10% de las exportaciones de cerezas del hemisferio sur, las que son comercializadas básicamente en EE.UU. y Canadá. Por lo tanto, dada la relevancia que tiene para Chile la producción de este fruto, el objetivo general de este trabajo fue determinar la rentabilidad económica de una plantación de cerezos localizada en la VII Región. Se estableció un horizonte de evaluación de 16 anos para el proyecto y se consideró como unidad de análisis I ha. Para la valorización de inversiones y costos dentro del horizonte de evaluación, los datos fueron agrupados según las etapas de establecimiento (año 0 del proyecto), formación (anos 1, 2 y 3) y producción (ano 4 hasta el año 16 del proyecto). Los precios a productor fueron estimados indirectamente a través de los precios FOB, obteniéndose un precio real promedio de 2,32 dólares kg"'. Este precio fue sensibilizado utilizando como medida de volatilidad la desviación estándar de la serie de precios reales, considerando esta ultima serie como el logaritmo natural de las diferencias de dichos precios. Para estimar la rentabilidad económica de la plantación se calcularon los siguientes indicadores: Valor Actual Neto (VAN), Valor Anual Equivalente (VAE), Tasa Interna de Retorno (TIR) e Índice de Valor Actual Neto (IVAN). Para medir la eficiencia económica se calculo el Costo Medio Total (CMET), Margen Unitario Ponderado (MU) y la Rentabilidad sobre Capital (RSC). En el análisis de sensibilidad se plantearon diferentes escenarios para las siguientes variables: precio de venta en el mercado externo, tipo de cambio, producción y tasa de descuento. Los indicadores de rentabilidad económica para la situación estándar fueron los siguientes: VAN de $23,4 millones, VAE de$2,76 millones, TIR de 25% e VAN de $2,81. Con respecto a los indicadores de eficiencia económica se obtuvo un CMET mínimo (ano 8) de$161,2 kg-' para luego alcanzar un valor de $180,1 kg-' (ano 16). El MU máximo fue de$852,3 kg-' (ano 8), el cual fue disminuyendo hasta llegar a $834 kg-' (ano 16). Por otra parte, la RSC también alcanzo el mayor valor (65%) durante el ano 8 del proyecto, para bajar hasta un 63% en el ano 16. La principal conclusión sugiere que bajo todos los escenarios planteados el proyecto es rentable desde el punto de vista económico

Preparation of nanofluids based on solar salt and boehmite nanoparticles: Characterization of starting materials

A nanofluid composed of Solar Salt (SS) and boehmite nanoparticles (A) in a concentration of 1% by weight, is proposed as thermal storage medium for Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants. A wide characterization of the raw materials has been done, focused on their thermal stability and the nanoparticle primary size and shape among other properties such as its specific heat and crystalline structure. Some features of the final nanofluids have been also investigated: thermal stability, nanoparticle sizes and their distribution and specific heat. The showed results confirm that these materials are thermally stable in the working temperature range both individually and combined. In addition, the synthesis procedure implemented is effective to keep the nanoparticle sizes in the nanometric range (<100 nm). These findings mean the first step to carry on research and characterization of this nanofluid.Basque Government's ETORTEK 201