Three-dimensional decomposition of galaxies with bulge and long bar

Some observations indicate that the Milky Way has two inner components, a bulge and a long bar, which present a misalignment of about 20 degrees that is against the predictions of some theoretical models that are based on numerical simulations. In this paper, we wish to determine whether this misalignment between the bar and the bulge can be observed in barred galaxies other than the Milky Way. For that, each galaxy of our sample was decomposed based on its Ks-band 2MASS image by fitting and modelling in a three-dimensional (3D) space the following components: a disc, a bar, and a bulge. The chi-square goodness-of-fit estimation allowed retrieving the best-fit angle values for the bar and the bulge to detect any misalignment. From the 3D decomposition of six barred galaxies, we have detected at least three galaxies (NGC 2217, NGC 3992, and NGC 4593) that present a significant misalignment between the bar and the bulge of more than 20 degrees.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure. Accepted for publication in A&A. Corrected typo

Rethinking Ephemeral Architecture. Advanced Geometry for Citizen-Managed Spaces

In recent years there have been a high amount of citizen initiatives that address the complex problems of the contemporary city. There are empty or disused spaces that have been reused for urban gardens, for social use, to encourage integration and civic activities activation, etc. Traditional architectural processes do not provide realistic solutions to these initiatives that, along with limited financial resources, have led to the emergence of architectures and self-constructed facilities, almost as an emergency mode, without necessary planning, media and constructive knowledge. The democratization of technology, thanks to laboratories of digital production, combined with knowledge of the properties of different surfaces through the CAD-CAM tools, offers new opportunities for the development of a lightweight, flexible and low impact architecture, very according to the needs of citizens' initiatives that naturally arise in our cities. The new existing scenario contemplates the figure of the architect, or engineer, not only as an agent of the market, but as a professional able to propose efficient solutions to problems from within, bringing their specific knowledge and serving as bridges between the new technological solutions and the challenges of society

The ‘Trumping Effect’ of Anti-Terrorism Legislations: The Case of Cameroon

The September 11 terrorist attacks in America ‘changed the world’ and many years after, acts of terrorism in various forms have endangered and killed innocent people in Cameroon, Nigeria, Kenya, Somalia, Belgium, France, Spain, Britain etc., jeopardized fundamental freedoms and seriously undermined the dignity of the human population. States have therefore been under an obligation to take appropriate measures to protect the fundamental rights and freedom of everyone within their jurisdictions against terrorist acts. In this vein, governments across the globe have adopted new laws, and ameliorated and expanded the use of old laws to monitor communications and counter terrorism. Thus, in 2014 the government of Cameroon passed Law No. 2014/028 of 23 December on the suppression of acts of terrorism. The main thrust of the law is the redefinition of national security to incorporate the risk of terrorist actions undertaken by any individual or group. Although the government has argued that the new law is necessary to contain the Boko-Haram terrorist group which has carried out kidnappings and attacks in Cameroon, this paper argues that there is a dangerous tendency to legitimize human rights violations under the guise of combating terrorism. In practice, this leads to a ‘trumping effect’, where the suppression of acts of terrorism legislations effectively override or take precedence over fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, press freedom, the right to peaceful protest and assembly, as well as accountability and transparency. Drawing from literature review, documentary research, interviews and case law, this paper contends that while the threat of terrorism and the rise of antiterrorism legislations to counter terrorism are justified, the existence of arbitrary legislations and the vague, broad and sweeping nature of such legislations remain potentially problematic for the protection of journalistic sources and other fundamental rights. This complexity is evident in Cameroon where the law on the suppression of acts of terrorism has been invoked to arrest, trial and detain journalists, peaceful protesters and Cameroon anglophone activists. The above concerns point to the need for reforms of the existing laws on the suppression of acts of terrorism and the need for states to reconcile a suitable balance in this new context between protecting the human rights of its citizens as potential victims of terrorism and protecting the human rights of alleged terrorists

The Diffuse Nature of Stromgren Spheres

In this Letter, we argue that the standard analytical derivations of properties of HII regions, such as the speed, shape and asymptotic position of ionisation fronts require a more precise treatment. These derivations use the on the spot approximation, which in effect ignores the diffuse component of the radiation field. We show that, in fact, HII regions are diffusion dominated. This has as a result that the morphology of inhomogeneous HII regions will be drastically different, because shadowing effects have a less profound impact on the apparent shape. Moreover, it will have influence on the propagation speed of ionisation fronts. We quantify our claims by analytically deriving the internal radiation structure of HII regions, taking diffusion fully into account for several different cosmologically relevant density distributions.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in A&A Letter

Locating Two Transfer Points on a Network with a Trip Covering Criterion and Mixed Distances

In this paper we consider a set of origin-destination pairs in a mixed model in which a network embedded in the plane represents an alternative high-speed transportation system, and study a trip covering problem which consists on locating two points in the network which maximize the number of covered pairs, that is, the number of pairs which use the network by acceding and exiting through such points. To deal with the absence of convexity of this mixed distance function we propose a decomposition method based on formulating a collection of subproblems and solving each of them via discretization of the solution set.Ministerio de Educación, Ciencia e Innovación MTM2009-14243Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad MTM2012-37048Junta de Andalucía P09-TEP-5022Junta de Andalucía P10-FQM-584