The visible environment of polar ring galaxies

A statistical study of the environment around Polar Ring Galaxies is presented. Two kinds of search are performed: 1) a study of the concentration and diameters of all the objects surrounding the Polar Rings, within a search field 5 times the ring diameter. New magnitudes for polar ring galaxies are presented. 2) a search, in a wider field, for galaxies of similar size that may have encountered the polar ring host galaxy in a time of the order of 1 Gyr. Differently from the results of similar searches in the fields of active galaxies, the environment of the Polar Ring Galaxies seems to be similar to that of normal galaxies.This result may give support to the models suggesting long times for formation and evolution of the rings. If the rings are old (and stable or in equilibrium), no traces of the past interaction are expected in their surroundings. In addition, the formation of massive polar rings, too big to derive from the ingestion of a present-day dwarf galaxy, may be easily placed in epochs with a higher number of gas-rich galaxies.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astron. Astrophys. Main Journal, 9 pages including 3 postscript figure

La Educación a Distancia ¿es una opción para las Universidades?

Nadie pone en duda el hecho de que desde hace aproximadamente tres décadas asistimos a profundas transformaciones en los paradigmas políticos, sociales, culturales y científicos- tecnológicos. Hoy se demanda trabajadores más especializados que dediquen más horas a su labor pero que a su vez se capaciten constantemente. Las propuestas educativas en modalidad a distancia se constituyen como una valiosísima oportunidad para muchas personas ya que la flexibilidad es una de las características más destacada de esta modalidad. Ante esta realidad se demanda a las Universidades que se adaptan a este nuevo contexto social, cultural, económico, político y tecnológico; y que a su vez den respuesta a esta demanda de capacitación que le realiza la sociedad. Por ello es necesario que se piense a la Educación a Distancia en entornos virtuales de la misma manera que la oferta presencial, como algo inherente a la Universidad. Esto va a permitir el desarrollo de dos cuestiones importantes: 1.- Brindar a la sociedad la posibilidad de acceder a capacitación; 2.- Que la oferta con modalidad a distancia sea de calidad. En el marco de este plateo se describe además, el proceso de generación y desarrollo del Programa de Educación a Distancia de la UN

Preliminary analysis of distributed in situ soil moisture measurements

Surface soil moisture content is highly variable in both space and time. Remote sensing can provide an effective methodology for mapping surface moisture content over large areas but ground based measurements are required to test its reliability and to calibrate retrieval algorithms. Recently, we had the opportunity to design and perform an experiment aimed at jointly acquiring measurements of surface soil water content at various locations and remotely sensed hyperspectral data. The area selected for the experiment is located in central Umbria and it extends for 90km². For the area, detailed lithological and multi-temporal landslide inventory maps were available. We identified eight plots where measurements of soil water content were made using a Time Domain Reflectometer (TDR). The plots range in size from 100m² to 600m², and cover a variety of topographic and morphological settings. The TDR measurements were conducted during four days, on 5 April, 15 April, 2 May and 3 May 2004. On 3 May the NERC airborne CASI 2 acquired the hyperspectral data. Preliminary analysis concerning the matching between the landslides and the soil moisture were reported. Statistical and geostatistical analysis investigating the spatial-temporal soil moisture distribution were performed. These results will be compared with the data of surface temperature obtained from the remotely sensed hyperspectral sensor

Is implicit communication quantifiable? A corpus-based analysis of British and Italian political tweets

Twitter is nowadays a powerful means of political propaganda. Its effectiveness can be easily appreciated in the large amounts of messages exchanged by politicians every day. This wealth of data, together with the interactive nature of the social medium, provides an ideal basis for the analysis of a striking feature of political messages, i.e., their implicitness, often achieved using presuppositions, among other strategies. The present work proposes a comparative analysis of British and Italian politicians' use of Twitter by focusing on implicit communication (notably, presuppositions) and the pragmatic functions of tweets. Based on a sample of about 400 tweets, our analysis shows that some of these functions tend to associate either with presuppositional or non-presuppositional communicative devices. Moreover, a critical methodological discussion is offered in order to address the main challenges of quantitative corpus-based pragmatics

NDVI Prediction of Mediterranean Permanent Grasslands Using Soil Moisture Products

Vegetation indices are widely used to assess vegetation dynamics. The Normalized Vegetation Index (NDVI) is the most widely used metric in agriculture, frequently as a proxy for different physiological and agronomical aspects, such as crop yield or biomass, crop density, or drought stress. Much effort has therefore been directed to NDVI forecasting, which is usually correlated with precipitation. However, in Mediterranean and arid climates, the relationship is more complex due to prolonged dry periods and sparse precipitation events. In this study, we forecast the NDVI 7 and 30 days ahead for Mediterranean permanent grasslands using a machine learning Random Forest (RF) model for the period from 2015 to 2022. The model compares two soil moisture products as predictors: simulated soil moisture values based on in situ soil moisture sensor observations and remote sensing-derived observations of Soil Water Index (SWI) values. We further analyzed the anomalies of the predicted NDVI using the z-score. The results show that both products can be used as reliable predictors for permanent grasslands in Mediterranean areas. Predictions at 7 days are more accurate and better forecast the negative effect of drought on vegetation dynamics than those at 30 days. This study shows the potential of using a simple methodology and readily available data to predict the grassland growth dynamics in the Mediterranean area

Proteomic analysis of plasma after branched chain enriched mixture supplementation in mice

Background: Branched chain amino acid (BCAA) supplementation is a recently identified strategy to promote longevity in mice. A proteomic approach was used to identify proteins which are differentially expressed in the sera of mice following supplementation with selected branched chain amino acid enriched mixture (BCAAem). Findings: 12 male mice (C57Bl6, 9 months-old) were randomly assigned to unsupplemented (Control, n = 6) and supplemented (BCAA, n = 6, 0.1 mg/gr/day in drink water for 4 weeks). At the end of treatment total plasma samples from Control and BCAAem mice were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE). After staining, the gels were imaged and differential protein expression patterns were interrogated using image analysis software. Spots showing a different expression level were identified through a comparison with 2D maps found in databases officially recognized (ExPASy). Master gels of Control and BCAA mice exhibited slightly different 2-DE patterns as only 10 spots out of 500 appeared differentially expressed: 8 were upregulated (corresponding to Apolipoprotein A-I (APOA1), Complement factor B, Complement C3, Immunoglobulin light chain) and 2 appeared downregulated (Alpha-1-antitrypsin and unknown). Conclusions: Supplementation with BCAAem in mice results in a slight perturbation of the host serum proteome. Of particular interest is the increased Apolipoprotein A-I (APOAI) following treatmen

A Broad Search for Counterrotating Gas and Stars: Evidence for Mergers and Accretion

We measure the frequency of bulk gas-stellar counterrotation in a sample of 67 galaxies drawn from the Nearby Field Galaxy Survey, a broadly representative survey of the local galaxy population down to M_B-15. We detect 4 counterrotators among 17 E/S0's with extended gas emission (24% +8 -6). In contrast, we find no clear examples of bulk counterrotation among 38 Sa-Sbc spirals, although one Sa does show peculiar gas kinematics. This result implies that, at 95% confidence, no more than 8% of Sa-Sbc spirals are bulk counterrotators. Among types Sc and later, we identify only one possible counterrotator, a Magellanic irregular. We use these results together with the physical properties of the counterrotators to constrain possible origins for this phenomenon.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, AJ, accepte

Proyecto de Tutorías de Pares : una propuesta innovadora para el ingreso y permanencia universitaria.

La Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales de la UNC esta desarrollando el Proyecto Tutorias de Pares, orientado a los alumnos de los primeros años de todas las carreras de ingeniería. Apunta a favorecer la integración del alumnado en el proceso de inclusión al ámbito universitario y a acompañarlo en el desarrollo de una metodología de aprendizaje acorde a las exigencias de los estudios superiores. Este proyecto es de carácter innovador ya que consiste en un sistema de tutoría de pares en la que estudiantes avanzados en la carrera acompañan y orientan a alumnos de los primeros años, guiados a su vez por Docentes Tutores, siendo el Gabinete Psicopedagógico el encargado de capacitar a los tutores y coordinar la implementación del proyecto. Este trabajo intenta relatar los conflictos en la implementación, los ajustes y las acciones realizadas en conjunto, revelando de qué modo algunas problemáticas pretendieron resolverse según fueron emergiendo. Se muestra como se propicia a través del proyecto el desarrollo, en futuros egresados, de competencias y habilidades sociales (comunicación, organización, resolución de problemas, etc.) necesarias para su labor profesional, logrando así que los beneficiarios sean tanto los alumnos ingresantes, como los tutores alunos

Esquemes emocionals en un grup de pacients depressius d'un hospital de la ciutat de Lima

En el present treball, el coneixement dels esquemes emocionals en pacients deprimits permet identificar les creences que tenen sobre les emocions, pensaments erronis sobre aquestes, i estarien presents en reaccions emocionals i comportaments que afecten al benestar psicològic de les persones. En aquesta línia, es va aplicar l’escala d’esquemes emocionals de Leahy, la qual consta de 50 preguntes, en una mostra de 80 pacients adults diagnosticats amb depressió, en un hospital de salut mental. Es van realitzar la validesa lingüística, la de contingut i la convergent de la prova, i es van calcular la mitjana dels factors de les variables d’estudi. A continuació, es va procedir a realitzar la correlació de Pearson entre els qüestionaris LESS i el BDI-II per comprovar la validesa convergent del primer. Es conclou que el qüestionari LESS compta amb els paràmetres de validesa necessaris, i es replica allò esclarit per Leahy (2002). Els resultats indiquen que no existeixen diferències significatives segons edat. Segons gènere, existeixen diferències significatives als esquemes de validació, comprensió i expressió, i son les dones qui en manifesten una mitjana més alta en comparació amb els homes