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Con este proyecto de innovación docente nos propusimos formar a los estudiantes en las herramientas de tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones que son relevantes para su incorporación a la vida profesional y que no se estudian en el Grado.

Context: The Mercury electron analyzer (MEA) obtained new electron observations during the first three Mercury flybys by BepiColombo on October 1, 2021 (MFB1), June 23 , 2022 (MFB2), and June 19, 2023 (MFB3). BepiColombo entered the dusk side magnetotail from the flank magnetosheath in the northern hemisphere, crossed the Mercury solar orbital equator around midnight in the magnetotail, traveled from midnight to dawn in the southern hemisphere near the closest approach, and exited from the post-dawn magnetosphere into the dayside magnetosheath. Aims: We aim to identify the magnetospheric boundaries and describe the structure and dynamics of the electron populations observed in the various regions explored along the flyby trajectories. Methods: We derive 4s time resolution electron densities and temperatures from MEA observations. We compare and contrast our new BepiColombo electron observations with those obtained from the Mariner 10 scanning electron spectrometer (SES) 49 yr ago. Results: A comparison to the averaged magnetospheric boundary crossings of MESSENGER indicates that the magnetosphere of Mercury was compressed during MFB1, close to its average state during MFB2, and highly compressed during MFB3. Our new MEA observations reveal the presence of a wake effect very close behind Mercury when BepiColombo entered the shadow region, a significant dusk-dawn asymmetry in electron fluxes in the nightside magnetosphere, and strongly fluctuating electrons with energies above 100s eV in the dawnside magnetosphere. Magnetospheric electron densities and temperatures are in the range of 10-30 cm-3 and above a few 100s eV in the pre-midnight-sector, and in the range of 1-100 cm-3 and well below 100 eV in the post-midnight sector, respectively. Conclusions: The MEA electron observations of different solar wind properties encountered during the first three Mercury flybys reveal the highly dynamic response and variability of the solar wind-magnetosphere interactions at Merc

Aims. We derive electron density and temperature from observations obtained by the Mercury Electron Analyzer on board Mio during the cruise phase of BepiColombo while the spacecraft is in a stacked configuration. Methods. In order to remove the secondary electron emission contribution, we first fit the core electron population of the solar wind with a Maxwellian distribution. We then subtract the resulting distribution from the complete electron spectrum, and suppress the residual count rates observed at low energies. Hence, our corrected count rates consist of the sum of the fitted Maxwellian core electron population with a contribution at higher energies. We finally estimate the electron density and temperature from the corrected count rates using a classical integration method. We illustrate the results of our derivation for two case studies, including the second Venus flyby of BepiColombo when the Solar Orbiter spacecraft was located nearby, and for a statistical study using observations obtained to date for distances to the Sun ranging from 0.3 to 0.9 AU. Results. When compared either to measurements of Solar Orbiter or to measurements obtained by HELIOS and Parker Solar Probe, our method leads to a good estimation of the electron density and temperature. Hence, despite the strong limitations arising from the stacked configuration of BepiColombo during its cruise phase, we illustrate how we can retrieve reasonable estimates for the electron density and temperature for timescales from days down to several seconds.

The evolution of Frenkel pairs has been studied experimentally and theoretically in tungsten, a Body-Centered Cubic metal. We used positron annihilation spectroscopy to characterize vacancy defects induced by electron irradiation in two sets of polycrystalline tungsten samples at room temperature. Doppler Broadening spectrometry showed that some positrons were trapped at pure single vacancies with a lower concentration than expected. At the same time, positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy revealed that positrons are annihilated in unexpected states with a lifetime 1.44–1.64 times shorter than that of single vacancy (200 ps), namely unidentified (X) defects. Secondary ions mass spectrometry detected a significant concentration of oxygen in these samples, of the same order of magnitude as electron-induced single vacancy. In addition, Cluster dynamics simulated defect behaviors under experimental conditions, and Two-component density functional theory was used to calculate defect annihilation characteristics that are difficult to obtain in experiments. Finally, by combining the theoretical data, we simulated the positron signals and compared them with the experimental data. This enabled us to elucidate the interactions between oxygen and Frenkel Pairs. The X defects were identified as oxygen-vacancy complexes formed during irradiation, as oxygen is mobile in tungsten at room temperature, and can be trapped in a vacancy, while its binding to self-ion atoms leads to their immobilization thus reducing defect recombination. Therefore, we anticipate oxygen to play an important role in the evolution of tungsten microstructure under irradiation., QC 20240924

Although solar wind-driven convection is expected to dominate magnetospheric circulation at Mercury, its exact pattern remains poorly characterized by observations. Here we present BepiColombo Mio observations during the third Mercury flyby indicative of convection-driven transport of low-energy dense ions into the deep magnetosphere. During the flyby, Mio observed an energy-dispersed ion population from the duskside magnetopause to the deep region of the midnight magnetosphere. A comparison of the observations with backward test particle simulations suggests that the observed energy dispersion structure can be explained in terms of energy-selective transport by convection from the duskside tail magnetopause. We also discuss the properties and origins of more energetic ions observed in the more dipole-like field regions of the magnetosphere in comparison to previously reported populations of the plasma sheet horn and ring current ions. Additionally, forward test particle simulations predict that most of the observed ions on the nightside will precipitate onto relatively low-latitude regions of the nightside surface of Mercury for a typical convection case. The presented observations and simulation results reveal the critical role of magnetospheric convection in determining the structure of Mercury's magnetospheric plasma. The upstream driver dependence of magnetospheric convection and its effects on other magnetospheric processes and plasma-surface interactions should be further investigated by in-orbit BepiColombo observations.

Although solar wind-driven convection is expected to dominate magnetospheric circulation at Mercury, its exact pattern remains poorly characterized by observations. Here we present BepiColombo Mio observations during the third Mercury flyby indicative of convection-driven transport of low-energy dense ions into the deep magnetosphere. During the flyby, Mio observed an energy-dispersed ion population from the duskside magnetopause to the deep region of the midnight magnetosphere. A comparison of the observations with backward test particle simulations suggests that the observed energy dispersion structure can be explained in terms of energy-selective transport by convection from the duskside tail magnetopause. We also discuss the properties and origins of more energetic ions observed in the more dipole-like field regions of the magnetosphere in comparison to previously reported populations of the plasma sheet horn and ring current ions. Additionally, forward test particle simulations predict that most of the observed ions on the nightside will precipitate onto relatively low-latitude regions of the nightside surface of Mercury for a typical convection case. The presented observations and simulation results reveal the critical role of magnetospheric convection in determining the structure of Mercury's magnetospheric plasma. The upstream driver dependence of magnetospheric convection and its effects on other magnetospheric processes and plasma-surface interactions should be further investigated by in-orbit BepiColombo observations. BepiColombo Mio observed low-energy dense ions deep within Mercury's magnetosphere during the third Mercury flyby Backward test particle simulations suggest that low-energy ions are transported by convection from the duskside tail magnetopause Forward test particle simulations imply convection-driven ion precipitation onto the nightside low-latitude surface of Mercury

This study was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (SAF2015-65722-R), Comunidad Autonoma de Madrid (2010-BMD2321, FIBROTEAM Consortium), European Union's FP7 (CardioNeT-ITN-289600, CardioNext-ITN-608027) and the Spanish Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CPII14/00027 to E.L-P, RD12/0042/0054 to B.I. and RD12/0042/066 to P.G.-P. and E.L-P). This work was also supported by the Plan Estatal de I+D+I 2013-2016 - European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) "A way of making Europe", Spain. The CNIC is supported by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINECO) and the Pro CNIC Foundation, and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (MINECO award SEV-2015-0505)., Aims Heart failure (HF) has become an epidemic and constitutes a major medical, social, and economic problem worldwide. Despite advances in medical treatment, HF prognosis remains poor. The development of efficient therapies is hampered by the lack of appropriate animal models in which HF can be reliably determined, particularly in mice. The development of HF in mice is often assumed based on the presence of cardiac dysfunction, but HF itself is seldom proved. Lung ultrasound (LUS) has become a helpful tool for lung congestion assessment in patients at all stages of HF. We aimed to apply this non-invasive imaging tool to evaluate HF in mouse models of both systolic and diastolic dysfunction. Methods and results We used LUS to study HF in a mouse model of systolic dysfunction, dilated cardiomyopathy, and in a mouse model of diastolic dysfunction, diabetic cardiomyopathy. LUS proved to be a reliable and reproducible tool to detect pulmonary congestion in mice. The combination of LUS and echocardiography allowed discriminating those mice that develop HF from those that do not, even in the presence of evident cardiac dysfunction. The study showed that LUS can be used to identify the onset of HF decompensation and to evaluate the efficacy of therapies for this syndrome. Conclusions This novel approach in mouse models of cardiac disease enables for the first time to adequately diagnose HF non-invasively in mice with preserved or reduced ejection fraction, and will pave the way to a better understanding of HF and to the development of new therapeutic approaches., Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España), Comunidad de Madrid (España), Unión Europea. Comisión Europea, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Unión Europea. Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER/ERDF), Fundación ProCNIC, Depto. de Medicina y Cirugía Animal, Fac. de Veterinaria, TRUE, pub