Detecting industrial pollution in the atmospheres of earth-like exoplanets

Detecting biosignatures, such as molecular oxygen in combination with a reducing gas, in the atmospheres of transiting exoplanets has been a major focus in the search for alien life. We point out that in addition to these generic indicators, anthropogenic pollution could be used as a novel biosignature for intelligent life. To this end, we identify pollutants in the Earth's atmosphere that have significant absorption features in the spectral range covered by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). We focus on tetrafluoromethane CF4 and trichlorofluoromethane (CCl3F), which are the easiest to detect chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) produced by anthropogenic activity. We estimate that ~1.2 days (~1.7 days) of total integration time will be sufficient to detect or constrain the concentration of CCl3F (CF4) to ~10 times current terrestrial level.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters (with minor changes

Fast and Accurate Simulation Technique for Large Irregular Arrays

A fast full-wave simulation technique is presented for the analysis of large irregular planar arrays of identical 3-D metallic antennas. The solution method relies on the Macro Basis Functions (MBF) approach and an interpolatory technique to compute the interactions between MBFs. The Harmonic-polynomial (HARP) model is established for the near-field interactions in a modified system of coordinates. For extremely large arrays made of complex antennas, two approaches assuming a limited radius of influence for mutual coupling are considered: one is based on a sparse-matrix LU decomposition and the other one on a tessellation of the array in the form of overlapping sub-arrays. The computation of all embedded element patterns is sped up with the help of the non-uniform FFT algorithm. Extensive validations are shown for arrays of log-periodic antennas envisaged for the low-frequency SKA (Square Kilometer Array) radio-telescope. The analysis of SKA stations with such a large number of elements has not been treated yet in the literature. Validations include comparison with results obtained with commercial software and with experiments. The proposed method is particularly well suited to array synthesis, in which several orders of magnitude can be saved in terms of computation time.Comment: The paper was submitted to IEEE Transaction on Antennas and Propagation on 01 - Feb.- 2017. The paper is 12 pages with 18 figure

Preparation of quantum dots hydrogel nanocomposites with improved cytotoxicity

Nanocomposites are materials with unique properties and a wide range of applications. The combination of different nanostructures with traditional materials gives a variety of possibilities that should be analyzed. Especially, functional fluorescent semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) embedded in polymeric matrices have shown promising fluorescence and biocompatibility properties. These hybrid materials can be used in medical applications such as biodiagnostic and bioimaging. In this study, two hydrogels, one of polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) and other of polyacrylamide (PAAm), were prepared with quantum dots of CdTe (4 nm of diameter) and characterized. The aim of this research was to analyze the optical properties of the nanocomposites and their cell viability. QDs nanocomposites were fabricated by a free radical polymerization process. The optical studies showed that the nanocomposites have well defined properties of fluorescence. To study the biocompatibility of the nanocomposites, metastatic B16f10 cell line were used and MTT assay was performed. The nanocomposites had a significant improved cell viability compared with QDs solutions

Effect of hydrogen bonding and complexation with metal ions on the fluorescence of luotonin A

Fluorescence characteristics of a biologically active natural alkaloid, luotonin A (LuA), were studied by steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopic methods. The rate constant of the radiationless deactivation from the singlet-excited state diminished by more than one order of magnitude when the solvent polarity was changed from toluene to water. Dual emission was found in polyfluorinated alcohols of large hydrogen bond donating ability due to photoinitiated proton displacement along the hydrogen bond. In CH 2Cl2, LuA produced both 1:1 and 1:2 hydrogen-bonded complexes with hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP) in the ground state. Photoexcitation of the 1:2 complex led to protonated LuA, whose fluorescence appeared at a long wavelength. LuA served as a bidentate ligand forming 1:1 complexes with metal ions in acetonitrile. The stability of the complexes diminished in the series of Cd2+ > Zn2+ > Ag+, and upon competitive binding of water to the metal cations. The effect of chelate formation on the fluorescent properties was revealed. © 2013 The Royal Society of Chemistry and Owner Societies

Classification of Extremely Red Objects in the COSMOS Field

We present a study of the classification of z ~1 extremely red objects (EROs), using a combination of HST/ACS, Spitzer/IRAC, and ground-based images of the COSMOS field. Our sample includes about 5300 EROs with i-Ks>2.45 (AB, equivalently I-Ks=4 in Vega) and Ks<=21.1 (AB). For EROs in our sample, we compute, using the ACS F814W images, their concentration, asymmetry, as well as their Gini coefficient and the second moment of the brightest 20% of their light. Using those morphology parameters and the Spitzer/IRAC [3.6]-[8.0] color, the spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting method, we classify EROs into two classes: old galaxies (OGs) and young, dusty starburst galaxies (DGs). We found that the fraction of OGs and DGs in our sample is similar, about 48 percentages of EROs in our sample are OGs, and 52 percentages of them are DGs. To reduce the redundancy of these three different classification methods, we performed a principal component analysis on the measurements of EROs, and find that morphology parameters and SEDs are efficient in segregating OGs and DGs. The [3.6]-[8.0] color, which depends on reddening, redshift, and photometric accuracy, is difficult to separate EROs around the discriminating line between starburst and elliptical. We investigate the dependence of the fraction of EROs on their observational properties, and the results suggest that DGs become increasingly important at fainter magnitudes, redder colors, and higher redshifts.Comment: to be published in ApJ. 14 pages, 12 figure

Geometric Integration of Hamiltonian Systems Perturbed by Rayleigh Damping

Explicit and semi-explicit geometric integration schemes for dissipative perturbations of Hamiltonian systems are analyzed. The dissipation is characterized by a small parameter $\epsilon$, and the schemes under study preserve the symplectic structure in the case $\epsilon=0$. In the case $0<\epsilon\ll 1$ the energy dissipation rate is shown to be asymptotically correct by backward error analysis. Theoretical results on monotone decrease of the modified Hamiltonian function for small enough step sizes are given. Further, an analysis proving near conservation of relative equilibria for small enough step sizes is conducted. Numerical examples, verifying the analyses, are given for a planar pendulum and an elastic 3--D pendulum. The results are superior in comparison with a conventional explicit Runge-Kutta method of the same order

Autoeficacia y percepción de control en la prevención de la enfermedad cardiovascular

From the Theory of Planed Behaviour (TPB), the aim of this study is to analyse the effect of self-efficacy and perceived control on intention and preventive behaviors of cardiovascular disease. To this end, 359 participants were evaluated in an empirical study. Data were analysed using the statistical package EQS 6.1. The results indicate that self-efficacy has a positive and significant influence on behaviour intentions and on behaviour, while perception of control has a negative and significant influence on intention but not on behaviour. This work has shown the utility to distinguish between self-efficacy and perceived control in the TPB to prevent cardiovascular diseases

Hyper-Kahler Sigma Models on (Co)tangent Bundles with SO(n) isometry

We construct N=2 supersymmetric nonlinear sigma models whose target spaces are tangent as well as cotangent bundles over the quadric surface Q^{n-2} = SO(n)/[SO(n-2)\times U(1)]. We use the projective superspace framework, which is an off-shell formalism of N=2 supersymmetry.Comment: 33 pages, 1 figure, typos corrected, to appear in Nucl. Phys.

WFPC2 Observations of the Hubble Deep Field-South

The Hubble Deep Field-South observations targeted a high-galactic-latitude field near QSO J2233-606. We present WFPC2 observations of the field in four wide bandpasses centered at roughly 300, 450, 606, and 814 nm. Observations, data reduction procedures, and noise properties of the final images are discussed in detail. A catalog of sources is presented, and the number counts and color distributions of the galaxies are compared to a new catalog of the HDF-N that has been constructed in an identical manner. The two fields are qualitatively similar, with the galaxy number counts for the two fields agreeing to within 20%. The HDF-S has more candidate Lyman-break galaxies at z > 2 than the HDF-N. The star-formation rate per unit volume computed from the HDF-S, based on the UV luminosity of high-redshift candidates, is a factor of 1.9 higher than from the HDF-N at z ~ 2.7, and a factor of 1.3 higher at z ~ 4.Comment: 93 pages, 25 figures; contains very long table