A Link Between the Semi-Major Axis of Extrasolar Gas Giant Planets and Stellar Metallicity

The fact that most extrasolar planets found to date are orbiting metal-rich stars lends credence to the core accretion mechanism of gas giant planet formation over its competitor, the disc instability mechanism. However, the core accretion mechanism is not refined to the point of explaining orbital parameters such as their unexpected semi-major axes and eccentricities. We propose a model, which correlates the metallicity of the host star with the original semi-major axis of its most massive planet, prior to migration, considering that the core accretion scenario governs giant gas planet formation. The model predicts that the optimum regions for planetary formation shift inward as stellar metallicity decreases, providing an explanation for the observed absence of long period planets in metal-poor stars. We compare our predictions with the available data on extrasolar planets for stars with masses similar to the mass of the Sun. A fitting procedure produces an estimate of what we define as the Zero Age Planetary Orbit (ZAPO) curve as a function of the metallicity of the star. The model also hints that the lack of planets circling metal-poor stars may be partly caused by an enhanced destruction probability during the migration process, since the planets lie initially closer to the central stars.Comment: Nature of the replacement: According to recent simulations, the temperature profile, T, is more adequately reproduced by beta = 1 rather than beta = 2. We have introduced a distance scale factor that solves the very fast drop of T for low metallicity and introduces naturally the inferior distance limit of our ZAPO. Under this modification all the fitting process was altere

Bilinear and quadratic Hamiltonians in two-mode cavity quantum electrodynamics

In this work we show how to engineer bilinear and quadratic Hamiltonians in cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) through the interaction of a single driven two-level atom with cavity modes. The validity of the engineered Hamiltonians is numerically analyzed even considering the effects of both dissipative mechanisms, the cavity field and the atom. The present scheme can be used, in both optical and microwave regimes, for quantum state preparation, the implementation of quantum logical operations, and fundamental tests of quantum theory.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

Managing Uncertain Complex Events in Web of Things Applications

A critical issue in the Web of Things (WoT) is the need to process and analyze the interactions of Web-interconnected real-world objects. Complex Event Processing (CEP) is a powerful technology for analyzing streams of information about real-time distributed events, coming from different sources, and for extracting conclusions from them. However, in many situations these events are not free from uncertainty, due to either unreliable data sources and networks, measurement uncertainty, or to the inability to determine whether an event has actually happened or not. This short research paper discusses how CEP systems can incorporate different kinds of uncertainty, both in the events and in the rules. A case study is used to validate the proposal, and we discuss the benefits and limitations of this CEP extension.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Nonadiabatic coherent evolution of two-level systems under spontaneous decay

In this paper we extend current perspectives in engineering reservoirs by producing a time-dependent master equation leading to a nonstationary superposition equilibrium state that can be nonadiabatically controlled by the system-reservoir parameters. Working with an ion trapped inside a nonindeal cavity we first engineer effective Hamiltonians that couple the electronic states of the ion with the cavity mode. Subsequently, two classes of decoherence-free evolution of the superposition of the ground and decaying excited levels are achieved: those with time-dependent azimuthal or polar angle. As an application, we generalise the purpose of an earlier study [Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 150403 (2006)], showing how to observe the geometric phases acquired by the protected nonstationary states even under a nonadiabatic evolution.Comment: 5 pages, no figure

The Iberian town of Ullastret (Catalonia). An Iron Age urban agglomeration reconstructed virtually

The Iberian town of Ullastret (6th-2nd centuries BC), in the NE of the Iberian Peninsula, is one of the most important Iron Age archaeological sites in the north-western Mediterranean. It consists of two residential areas, Puig de Sant Andreu and Illa d’enReixac. Separated by only 300 m, together they make up the capital of the Iberian tribe known as the Indiketes, mentioned by classical authors such as Avienus, Ptolemy and Strabo. Decades of continuous archaeological investigation, and especially the geophysics surveys undertaken in recent years, have given us an overall view of the urban structure of this dipolis and its immediate territory, which was occupied and exploited intensively starting mainly in the 4th century BC. This high degree of theoretical knowledge led us to propose the creation of a virtual reconstruction of the whole complex, as well as its contextualisation in its geomorphologic and landscape surroundings. This 3D modelling is an excellent research tool that permits the formulation-validation of hypotheses for architectural reconstruction. It is also especially useful for the creation of applications that add to our knowledge of this heritage site and aid in its presentation and dissemination

Taxonomy and software architecture for real-time context-aware collaborative smart environments

The widespread of Internet of Things (IoT) and the price reduction and ubiquity of telecommunications has led to the emergence of smart environments where devices are becoming increasingly smarter and everything is connected and from which society aims to benefit. The data obtained from IoT is rapidly processed in various domains for the achievement of smart cities and societies. However, in many cases, applications are not contextualized by using data from outside the domain but are only contextualized using data from the domain itself, missing the opportunity for further contextualization. The lack of common criteria for the integration of data from different application domains is one of the main reasons that significantly hinders the integration of third-party data into real-time processing and decision-making systems and thus, the context awareness of developed applications. Although the use of several taxonomies and ontologies for context awareness in various application domains have been proposed, in many cases they are highly domain specific and/or difficult to integrate with other systems, which makes it challenging to facilitate data sharing between different systems and their processing to achieve enhanced context awareness. We aim to contribute to the addressing of these limitations through a reusable and extensible multi-domain taxonomy targeted to collaborative IoT and smart environments, which is also automatically integrated into a software architecture with real-time complex event processing technologies. The proposed solution has been illustrated through a case study and performance tests have been carried out in different computing capacity scenarios, showing its feasibility and usefulness

Incidência de aflatoxinas em milho (Zea mays L.) com diferentes níveis de umidade após tratamento com fungicida, armazenado em atmosfera com e sem aeração.

Foi verificada a produção de aflatoxinas em amostras de milho, cultivar BR 201, plantada em 1994, no Centro Nacional de Pesquisa de Milho e Sorgo (EMBRAPA), em Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais. As amostras, coletadas em duplicata, apresentando diferentes níveis de umidade, foram tratadas com solução aquosa e oleosa de Iprodiona (20ppm), seguido de um armazenamento em tambores metálicos, com e sem aeração, proporcionando uma temperatura de 18-20o e 35-40oC, respectivamente. Os resultados encontrados mostraram uma redução dos níveis de aflatoxinas nas amostras tratadas com Iprodiona e armazenadas em amostras aerada. Quando o acondicionamento foi realizado em atmosfera sem aeração (temperatura 35-40o), o decréscimo dos teores de aflatoxinas não foi significativo, principalmente nos níveis de umidade mais elevados, indicando que temperaturas e umidade são fatores importantes no biossíntese de aflatoxinas