Perfect Necklaces

We introduce a variant of de Bruijn words that we call perfect necklaces. Fix a finite alphabet. Recall that a word is a finite sequence of symbols in the alphabet and a circular word, or necklace, is the equivalence class of a word under rotations. For positive integers k and n, we call a necklace (k,n)-perfect if each word of length k occurs exactly n times at positions which are different modulo n for any convention on the starting point. We call a necklace perfect if it is (k,k)-perfect for some k. We prove that every arithmetic sequence with difference coprime with the alphabet size induces a perfect necklace. In particular, the concatenation of all words of the same length in lexicographic order yields a perfect necklace. For each k and n, we give a closed formula for the number of (k,n)-perfect necklaces. Finally, we prove that every infinite periodic sequence whose period coincides with some (k,n)-perfect necklace for any n, passes all statistical tests of size up to k, but not all larger tests. This last theorem motivated this work

High radon levels in subterranean environments: monitoring and technical criteria to ensure human safety (case of Castañar cave, Spain)

Castañar cave contains the highest radon gas (222Rn) concentration in Spain with an annual average of 31.9 kBq m−3. Seasonal variations with summer minimums and maximum values in fall were recorded. The reduction of air-filled porosity of soil and rock by condensation or rainfalls hides the radon exchange by gas diffusion, determining this seasonal stair-step pattern of the radon activity concentration in underground air. The effective total dose and the maximum hours permitted have been evaluated for the guides and public safety with a highly detailed radon measurement along 2011 and 2012. A network of 12 passive detectors (kodalphas) has been installed, as well as, two radon continuous monitoring in the most interesting geological sites of the subterranean environment.A follow up of the recommended time (max. 50 min) inside the underground environment has been analysed since the reopen to public visitors for not surpassing the legal maximum effective dose for tourists and guides. Results shown that public visitors would receive in fall a 12.1% of the total effective dose permitted per visit, whereas in summer it is reduced to 8.6%, while the cave guide received a total effective dose of 6.41 mSv in four months.The spatial radon maps allow defining the most suitable touristic paths according to the radon concentration distribution and therefore, appropriate fall and summer touristic paths are recommended.This research was funded by the Regional Government of Extremadura (Spain) through EAFRD Axis 2 “Improving the environment and the countryside” and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through project CGL2013-43324R and the programme Torres Quevedo (PTQ 13-06296 and PTQ 12-05601).A.F-C is funded by an IEF Marie Curie Action (FP7/2007–2013) under REA grant agreement n° 624204Peer reviewe

Looking for blazars in a sample of unidentified high-energy emitting Fermi sources

Context. Based on their overwhelming dominance among associated Fermi γ-ray catalogue sources, it is expected that a large fraction of the unidentified Fermi objects are blazars. Through crossmatching between the positions of unidentified γ-ray sources from the First Fermi Catalog of γ-ray sources emitting above 10 GeV (1FHL) and the ROSAT and Swift/XRT catalogues of X-ray objects and between pointed XRT observations, a sample of 36 potential associations was found in previous works with less than 15 arcsec of positional offset. One-third of them have recently been classified; the remainder, though believed to belong to the blazar class, still lack spectroscopic classifications. Aims. We study the optical spectrum of the putative counterparts of these unidentified gamma-ray sources in order to find their redshifts and to determine their nature and main spectral characteristics. Methods. An observational campaign was carried out on the putative counterparts of 13 1FHL sources using medium-resolution optical spectroscopy from the Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna in Loiano, Italy; the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo and the Nordic Optical Telescope, both in the Canary Islands, Spain; and the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional San Pedro Mártir in Baja California, Mexico. Results. We were able to classify 14 new objects based on their continuum shapes and spectral features. Conclusions. Twelve new blazars were found, along with one new quasar and one new narrow line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) to be potentially associated with the 1FHL sources of our sample. Redshifts or lower limits were obtained when possible alongside central black hole mass and luminosity estimates for the NLS1 and the quasar.Fil: Marchesini, Ezequiel Joaquín. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; ArgentinaFil: Masetti, Nicola. Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Bologna; ItaliaFil: Chavushyan, V.. Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica; MéxicoFil: Cellone, Sergio Aldo. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Andruchow, Ileana. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Bassani, L.. Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Bologna; ItaliaFil: Bazzano, A.. Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali; ItaliaFil: Jiménez-Bailón, E.. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; MéxicoFil: Landi, R.. Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Bologna; ItaliaFil: Malizia, A.. Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Bologna; ItaliaFil: Palazzi, E.. Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Bologna; ItaliaFil: Patiño Álvarez, V.. Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica; MéxicoFil: Rodríguez Castillo, G. A.. Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma; ItaliaFil: Stephen, J. B.. Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Bologna; ItaliaFil: Ubertini, P.. Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali; Itali

Floating bare tether as upper atmosphere probe

Use of a conductive bare tape electrically floating in low Earth orbit as an effective electron beam source to produce artificial auroral effects, free of problems that mard tandard beams, is considered. Ambient ions impacting the tape with keV energies over most of its length liberate secondary electrons that race down the magnetic field, excite neutrals in the E layer, and result in auroral emissions. The tether would operate with both a power supply and a plasma contactor off at nighttime; power and contactor would be on at daytime for reboost. Tomographic analysis of auroral emissions from the footprint of the beam, as observed from the spacecraft, can provide density profiles of dominant neutral species in the E layer. A characteristic tether system, at altitude 300 km and moderate orbital inclination, would involve an aluminum tape with a length of 20 km, a width of 15 mm, and a thickness of 0.2 mm for a full-system mass around 1200 kg, with two thirds going into the power subsystem

Microemulsions for colorectal cancer treatments: general considerations and formulation of methotrexate

[Abstract] Microemulsions combine the advantages of emulsions with those of nanocarriers, overcoming the stability problems of the former and providing facile scalable systems with compartments adequate for high drug loadings. Recently, microemulsions are gaining attention in the formulation of anticancer drugs not only for topical treatment, but also for systemic delivery as well as for the development of theranostic systems. The aim of this paper is two-fold. First, an updated review about general features, preparation, characterization and pharmaceutical applications, with a special focus on colorectal cancer, is provided. Second, a case study of formulation of methotrexate in microemulsions is presented. Various essential oils (menthol, trans-anethole, α-tocopherol) and surfactants (TPGS-l000, Maxemul 6112, Noigen RN-20) were investigated for the preparation of o/w microemulsions for the delivery of methotrexate, and the ability of methotrexate-loaded microemulsions to inhibit cancer cell growth was then evaluated. Disregarding the surfactants used, menthol and trans-anethole led to cytotoxic microemulsions, whereas α-tocopherol based-formulations induced cell proliferation. These findings highlight the role that the oily component may play in the efficacy and safety of the microemulsions.México. Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia; No. CB-2011/ 168472Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad; SAF2014-52632-RRed Gallega de Investigación sobre Cáncer Colorrectal; R2014/03

Ammoniacal nitrogen recovery from pig slurry using a novel hydrophobic/ hydrophilic selective membrane

The implementation of the circular economy paradigm in intensive pig farming requires technologies able to recover ammoniacal nitrogen from pig slurries. This research explores the feasibility of a novel hydrophobic/ hydrophilic non-porous membrane to recover ammoniacal nitrogen from pig slurry at ambient temperature and using a H2SO4 solution as trapping agent. The influence of (i) the pH of the feed solution, (ii) the volume ratio between feed and trapping solution, and (iii) the trapping solution concentration on nitrogen recovery and flux were evaluated using a synthetic solution and pig slurry. The best performance was achieved when the pH of the feed solution was controlled at 9.0, where average fluxes of 145 and 116 g N/(m2⋅day) were achieved for the synthetic solution and pig slurry after 24 h, respectively. Decreasing the feed-to-trapping volume ratio improved the recovery efficiency after 24 h from 62% to 74% for the synthetic solution and from 32% to 46% for pig slurry. However, renewing the H2SO4 concentration of the trapping solution only led to minor improvements despite the higher reagent consumption. The diffusion coefficients of NH3 and NH+4 through the membrane at pH 9.0 were (7.3 ± 0.2)⋅10-11 and (2.1 ± 0.1)⋅10-11 m2/s for the synthetic solution and (2.7 ± 0.1)⋅10-11 and (1.0 ± 0.1)⋅ 10-11 m2/s for the pig slurry, respectively. The capacity of ions to diffuse through the membrane is a distinctive feature of this membrane and allowed recovering 33% of potassium and 21% of phosphate in pig slurry after 24 h

Biodiversity of ecosystems in an arid setting: The late Albian plant communities and associated biota from eastern Iberia

Deserts are stressful environments where the living beings must acquire different strategies to survive due to the water stress conditions. From the late Albian to the early Cenomanian, the northern and eastern parts of Iberia were the location of the desert system represented by deposits assigned to the Utrillas Group, which bear abundant amber with numerous bioinclusions, including diverse arthropods and vertebrate remains. In the Maestrazgo Basin (E Spain), the late Albian to early Cenomanian sedimentary succession represents the most distal part of the desert system (fore-erg) that was characterised by an alternation of aeolian and shallow marine sedimentary environments in the proximity of the Western Tethys palaeo-coast, with rare to frequent dinoflagellate cysts. The terrestrial ecosystems from this area were biodiverse, and comprised plant communities whose fossils are associated with sedimentological indicators of aridity. The palynoflora dominated by wind-transported conifer pollen is interpreted to reflect various types of xerophytic woodlands from the hinterlands and the coastal settings. Therefore, fern and angiosperm communities abundantly grew in wet interdunes and coastal wetlands (temporary to semi-permanent freshwater/salt marshes and water bodies). In addition, the occurrence of low-diversity megafloral assemblages reflects the existence of coastal salt-influenced settings. The palaeobotanical study carried out in this paper which is an integrative work on palynology and palaeobotany, does not only allow the reconstruction of the vegetation that developed in the mid-Cretaceous fore-erg from the eastern Iberia, in addition, provides new biostratigraphic and palaeogeographic data considering the context of angiosperm radiation as well as the biota inferred in the amber-bearing outcrops of San Just, Arroyo de la Pascueta and La Hoya (within Cortes de Arenoso succesion). Importantly, the studied assemblages include Afropollis, Dichastopollenites, Cretacaeiporites together with pollen produced by Ephedraceae (known for its tolerance to arid conditions). The presence of these pollen grains, typical for northern Gondwana, associates the Iberian ecosystems with those characterising the mentioned region.Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y PaleontologíaFac. de Ciencias GeológicasTRUEMinisterio de Ciencia, Innovacio ́n y UniversidadesIGME-CSICSecretaria d’Universitats i Recerca de la Generalitat de CataloniaEuropean Social Fundpu

Evaluación de las propiedades de tracción mediante ensayos Small Punch en la zona afectada por los cortes térmicos

Los sistemas de corte térmico provocan una alteración de la zona de material anexa a los bordes de corte, pudiendo así afectar a su comportamiento en servicio. Este artículo pretende aplicar la técnica Small Punch para comparar las propiedades a tracción en el material base y en la Zona Afectada Térmicamente (ZAT) generada por los distintos procesos de corte. El material seleccionado es un acero estructural S460M y se consideran tres métodos de corte térmico con gran trascendencia en ingeniería (oxicorte, corte por plasma y corte por láser). En los bordes de corte resultantes tras cada uno de estos tres procedimientos se ha obtenido la microestructura, se han realizado perfiles de dureza y se han determinado las propiedades de tracción mediante probetas Small Punch. Se ha observado una modificación significativa de las propiedades en la ZAT respecto de las obtenidas en el material base y una variación de las mismas en función de la técnica de corte seleccionada.Thermal cutting processes cause variations in the material next to cutting edges, which may affect its subsequent inservice behaviour. The aim of this paper is to apply the Small Punch technique in order to compare the tensile properties of the base material and the Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) generated by different cutting processes. S460M structural steel has been chosen for this purpose, analysing three different thermal cutting methods of great influence in engineering (oxy-fuel, plasma and laser cutting). Microstructure, hardness profiles and tensile properties by means of Small Punch specimens have been obtained at the resulting cutting edges after the employment of each of these three processes. As a result, a significant deviation of the HAZ properties from the ones obtained for the base material has been observed, as well as an influence of the applied cutting method on the alteration of these properties

Contribution of the Twin-Arginine Translocation System to the Intracellular Survival of Salmonella Typhimurium in Dictyostelium discoideum

The twin-arginine translocation (Tat) system is a specialized secretion pathway required for bacteria to export fully folded proteins through the cytoplasmic membrane. This system is crucial during Salmonella infection of animal hosts. In this study, we show that Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) requires the Tat system to survive and proliferate intracellularly in the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. To achieve this, we developed a new infection assay to assess intracellular bacterial loads in amoeba by direct enumeration of colony forming units (CFU) at different times of infection. Using this assay we observed that a ΔtatABC mutant was internalized in higher numbers than the wild type, and was defective for intracellular survival in the amoeba at all times post infection evaluated. In addition, we assessed the effect of the ΔtatABC mutant in the social development of D. discoideum. In contrast to the wild-type strain, we observed that the mutant was unable to delay the social development of the amoeba at 2 days of co-incubation. This phenotype correlated with defects in intracellular proliferation presented by the ΔtatABC mutant in D. discoideum after 24 h of infection. All phenotypes described for the mutant were reverted by the presence of a plasmid carrying tatABC genes, indicating that abrogation of Tat system attenuates S. Typhimurium in this model organism. Overall, our results indicate that the Tat system is crucial for S. Typhimurium to survive and proliferate intracellularly in D. discoideum and for virulence in this host. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the relevance of the Tat system in the interaction of any bacterial pathogen with the social amoeba D. discoideum