Investigations of the Mars Upper Atmosphere with ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter

The Martian mesosphere and thermosphere, the region above about 60 km, is not the primary target of the ExoMars 2016 mission but its Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) can explore it and address many interesting issues, either in-situ during the aerobraking period or remotely during the regular mission. In the aerobraking phase TGO peeks into thermospheric densities and temperatures, in a broad range of latitudes and during a long continuous period. TGO carries two instruments designed for the detection of trace species, NOMAD and ACS, which will use the solar occultation technique. Their regular sounding at the terminator up to very high altitudes in many different molecular bands will represent the first time that an extensive and precise dataset of densities and hopefully temperatures are obtained at those altitudes and local times on Mars. But there are additional capabilities in TGO for studying the upper atmosphere of Mars, and we review them briefly. Our simulations suggest that airglow emissions from the UV to the IR might be observed outside the terminator. If eventually confirmed from orbit, they would supply new information about atmospheric dynamics and variability. However, their optimal exploitation requires a special spacecraft pointing, currently not considered in the regular operations but feasible in our opinion. We discuss the synergy between the TGO instruments, specially the wide spectral range achieved by combining them. We also encourage coordinated operations with other Mars-observing missions capable of supplying simultaneous measurements of its upper atmosphere

In situ preparation of rhodium/N-heterocyclic carbene complexes and use for addition of arylboronic acids to aldehydes

(Chemical Equation Presented) The in situ prepared three component system [RhCl(COD)]2/imidazolidinium salts (2, 4) and KOBut catalyses the addition of phenylboronic acid to sterically hindered aldehydes affording the corresponding arylated secondary alcohols in good yields. Four novel 1,3-dialkylimidazolidinium (2-4) salts as NHC precursors were synthesized from N,N′-dialkylethylenediamine

Selection of Mediterranean plants biomass for the composting of pig slurry solids based on the heat production during aerobic degradation

Heat recovery from composting processes and its use as a source of bioenergy have come into prominence in recent years. In this study, the selection of an adequate bulking agent for the composting of the solid fraction of pig slurry has been based on the heat produced by the microbial activity during aerobic degradation of the organic matter. Residues of five plant species typical of the Mediterranean area were mixed with the solid fraction of pig slurry, as bulking agents. The residues were: the prunings of three common cultivated tree species (orange, palm, and olive) and the biomass of two herbaceous species (milk thistle and sunflower). Self-heating tests were run for 18 days in thermally insulated laboratory-scale reactors; the energy released as heat was calculated from the temperature increase inside the reactors. The mixtures were sampled at the beginning and end of the experiment, and the microbial stability was evaluated by aerobic respiration tests. The heat energy produced was highest in the mixture with milk thistle (18.3 ± 1.78 MJ kg−1 of total solids -TS), followed by that with orange tree prunings (16.0 ± 1.094 MJ kg−1 TS), and was lowest with olive tree prunings (6.3 ± 0.23 MJ kg−1 TS). The microbial biodegradability of the mixtures and the physico-chemical characteristics (mainly the C/N ratio, cellulose concentration, and density) of the different bulking agents controlled the heat energy produced. The orange tree prunings were considered the most suitable bulking agent for composting of pig slurry solids as they showed high degradability and energy recovery potentialThe Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) is acknowledged for supporting S. Yigit Hunce’s postdoctoral study under the TUBITAK-BIDEB 2219-International Postdoctoral Research Scholarship Programme. This work was partly financed by the Intramural-CSIC Project 201740I022 and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and EU FEDER Funds through the projects CTM2013-48697-C2-1-R and RTI2018-100819-B100Peer reviewe

Surgical aspects and the outcomes of kidney transplants with multiple renal arteries

Introduction: The effect of multiple arterial anastomosis and different reconstruction techniques on the outcome of renal transplant recipients is not clearly defined. In this retrospective study, we report our experience of living donor kidney transplantation using allografts with multiple renal arteries, regarding the patient and graft survival, as well as surgical complications. Materials and Methods: Patients were divided into two groups according to the arterial anatomy of the renal allograft. While group I consisted of patients with single renal artery grafts, group II included patients with multiple renal artery grafts. Results were compared between single and multiple artery groups and further analyzed between the groups, which were constituted according to vascular reconstruction technique. Results: Forty-five patients (15.7%) had grafts with multiple renal arteries. The mean total ischemia time was longer in multiple renal artery group (90.8±17.3 vs. 71.9±16.6 minutes, p<0.001). The mean serum creatinine level at posttransplant one year was significantly higher in multiple artery group than in single renal artery group (1.74±0.45 vs. 1.46±0.44 mg/dl), but it was similar at fifth year. There was no significant difference between the groups with regard to mean systolic blood pressure, the incidence of acute tubular necrosis and acute rejection, vascular and urological complications, graft and patient survival rates. Similar findings were obtained in patients with multiple arteries whose anastomosis were performed with different reconstruction techniques. Conclusion: Our data shows that transplantation of the kidney with multiple arteries is safe. Any reconstruction technique can be chosen according to the vascular anatomy of the graft and the recipient

Mathematics education graduate students’ understanding of trigonometric ratios

This study describes mathematics education graduate students' understanding of relationships between sine and cosine of two base angles in a right triangle. To explore students' understanding of these relationships, an elaboration of Skemp's views of instrumental and relational understanding using Tall and Vinner's concept image and concept definition was developed. Nine students volunteered to complete three paper and pencil tasks designed to elicit evidence of understanding and three students among these nine students volunteered for semi-structured interviews. As a result of fine-grained analysis of the students' responses to the tasks, the evidence of concept image and concept definition as well as instrumental and relational understanding of trigonometric ratios was found. The unit circle and a right triangle were identified as students' concept images, and the mnemonic was determined as their concept definition for trigonometry, specifically for trigonometric ratios. It is also suggested that students had instrumental understanding of trigonometric ratios while they were less flexible to act on trigonometric ratio tasks and had limited relational understanding. Additionally, the results indicate that graduate students' understanding of the concept of angle mediated their understanding of trigonometry, specifically trigonometric ratios

The 3rd Schizophrenia International Research Society Conference, 14-18 April 2012, Florence, Italy: Summaries of oral sessions

The 3rd Schizophrenia International Research Society Conference was held in Florence, Italy, April 14-18, 2012 and this year had as its emphasis, The Globalization of Research . Student travel awardees served as rapporteurs for each oral session and focused their summaries on the most significant findings that emerged and the discussions that followed. The following report is a composite of these summaries. We hope that it will provide an overview for those who were present, but could not participate in all sessions, and those who did not have the opportunity to attend, but who would be interested in an update on current investigations ongoing in the field of schizophrenia research. © 2012 Elsevier B.V