Search

Neutron stars that show X-ray and $\gamma$-ray pulsed emission must, somewhere in the magnetosphere, generate electron-positron pairs. Such pairs are also required for radio emission, but then why do a number of these sources appear radio quiet? Here, we carried out a deep radio search towards four such neutron stars that are isolated X-ray/$\gamma$-ray pulsars but for which no radio pulsations have been detected yet. These sources are 1RXS J141256.0+792204 (Calvera), PSR J1958+2846, PSR J1932+1916 and SGR J1907+0919. Searching at lower radio frequencies, where the radio beam is thought to be wider, increases the chances of detecting these sources, compared to the earlier higher-frequency searches. We thus carried a search for periodic and single-pulse radio emission with the LOFAR radio telescope at 150 MHz. We used the known periods, and searched a wide range of dispersion measures, as the distances are not well constrained. We did not detect pulsed emission from any of the four sources. However, we put very constraining upper limits on the radio flux density at 150 MHz, of $\lesssim$1.4 mJy., Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

In this paper, we analyze the results of neutral-beam current drive (NBCD) experiments performed in the TJ-II stellarator with the aim of validating the theoretical predictions. Both parallel and anti-parallel injection with respect to the magnetic field were explored using co (NBI1) and counter (NBI2) beams at different injected beam power and plasma densities. The fast-ion current driven by both beams was simulated with the Monte Carlo code ASCOT and the electron response to the fast-ion current was calculated analytically using a model valid for an arbitrary magnetic configuration and a low collisionality plasma. Despite the uncertainties associated to the determination of experimental inputs, the model reproduces with rather good agreement the toroidal current measured in NBI2 plasmas. However, the current driven by NBI1 is less than half the predicted one. Possible reasons for this discrepancy are discussed. Among the probable causes, yet to be studied, the most likely is the increased presence of lithium in the plasma when NBI1 is injected, this being the result of its irregular deposition during wall conditioning.

Full list of authors: Adams, E. A. K.; Adebahr, B.; de Blok, W. J. G.; Denes, H.; Hess, K. M.; van der Hulst, J. M.; Kutkin, A.; Lucero, D. M.; Morganti, R.; Moss, V. A.; Oosterloo, T. A.; Orru, E.; Schulz, R.; van Amesfoort, A. S.; Berger, A.; Boersma, O. M.; Bouwhuis, M.; van den Brink, R.; van Cappellen, W. A.; Connor, L.; Coolen, A. H. W. M.; Damstra, S.; van Diepen, G. N. J.; Dijkema, T. J.; Ebbendorf, N.; Grange, Y. G.; de Goei, R.; Gunst, A. W.; Holties, H. A.; Hut, B.; Ivashina, M., V; Jozsa, G. I. G.; van Leeuwen, J.; Loose, G. M.; Maan, Y.; Mancini, M.; Mika, A.; Mulder, H.; Norden, M. J.; Offringa, A. R.; Oostrum, L. C.; Pastor-Marazuela, I; Pisano, D. J.; Ponomareva, A. A.; Romein, J. W.; Ruiter, M.; Schoenmakers, A. P.; van der Schuur, D.; Sluman, J. J.; Smits, R.; Stuurwold, K. J. C.; Verstappen, J.; Vilchez, N. P. E.; Vohl, D.; Wierenga, K. J.; Wijnholds, S. J.; Woestenburg, E. E. M.; Zanting, A. W.; Ziemke, J.--Open Access article, published by EDP Sciences, under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited., Context. Apertif is a phased-array feed system for the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope, providing forty instantaneous beams over 300 MHz of bandwidth. A dedicated survey program utilizing this upgrade started on 1 July 2019, with the last observations taken on 28 February 2022. The imaging survey component provides radio continuum, polarization, and spectral line data. Aims. Public release of data is critical for maximizing the legacy of a survey. Toward that end, we describe the release of data products from the first year of survey operations, through 30 June 2020. In particular, we focus on defining quality control metrics for the processed data products. Methods. The Apertif imaging pipeline, Apercal, automatically produces non-primary beam corrected continuum images, polarization images and cubes, and uncleaned spectral line and dirty beam cubes for each beam of an Apertif imaging observation. For this release, processed data products are considered on a beam-by-beam basis within an observation. We validate the continuum images by using metrics that identify deviations from Gaussian noise in the residual images. If the continuum image passes validation, we release all processed data products for a given beam. We apply further validation to the polarization and line data products and provide flags indicating the quality of those data products. Results. We release all raw observational data from the first year of survey observations, for a total of 221 observations of 160 independent target fields, covering approximately one thousand square degrees of sky. Images and cubes are released on a per beam basis, and 3374 beams (of 7640 considered) are released. The median noise in the continuum images is 41.4 uJy beam−1, with a slightly lower median noise of 36.9 uJy beam−1 in the Stokes V polarization image. The median angular resolution is 11.6″/sin δ. The median noise for all line cubes, with a spectral resolution of 36.6 kHz, is 1.6 mJy beam−1, corresponding to a 3-σ H I column density sensitivity of 1.8 × 1020 atoms cm−2 over 20 km s−1 (for a median angular resolution of 24″ × 15″). Line cubes at lower frequency have slightly higher noise values, consistent with the global RFI environment and overall Apertif system performance. We also provide primary beam images for each individual Apertif compound beam. The data are made accessible using a Virtual Observatory interface and can be queried using a variety of standard tools. © E. A. K. Adams et al. 2022., This work makes use of data from the Apertif system installed at the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope owned by ASTRON. ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, is an institute of the Dutch Research Council (“De Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, NWO). Apertif was partly financed by the NWO Groot projects Apertif (175.010.2005.015) and Apropos (175.010.2009.012). This work was partly supported by funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Frame-work Programme (FP/2007-2013), through ERC Grant Agreement No. 291531 (‘HIStoryNU’, PI: JMvdH) and ERC Advanced Grant RADIOLIFE-320745 (PI: RM), in addition to funding from NWO via grant TOP1EW.14.105 (PI: TAO). E.A.K.A. is supported by the WISE research programme, which is financed by NWO. B.A. acknowledges funding from the German Science Foundation DFG, within the Collaborative Research Center SFB1491 “Cosmic Interacting Matters - From Source to Signal”. KMH acknowledges financial support from the State Agency for Research of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the “Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa” awarded to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (SEV-2017-0709), from the coordination of the participation in SKA-SPAIN, funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN). OMB and JvL acknowledge funding from NWO under the Vici research program “ARGO” with project number 639.043.815. Y.M., L.C.O., R.S. and J.vL. acknowledge funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013)/ERC Grant Agreement No. 617199 (“ALERT”). IPM acknowledges funding from the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (grant no. NOVA5-NW3-10.3.5.14). A.A.P. acknowledges support of the STFC consolidated grant ST/S000488/1. DV acknowledges support from the Netherlands eScience Center (NLeSC) under grant ASDI.15.406. This research has made use of NASA’s Astrophysics Data System Bibliographic Services and Astropy, (http://www.astropy.org) a community-developed core Python package for Astronomy (Astropy Collaboration 2013, 2018).

Background-Aim Appropriately defined reference values are of vital importance for the correct interpretation of laboratory results. However, the implementation of in-house reference intervals by traditional methods is rare due to difficulties in the selection of reference individuals, so indirect methods are often alternatively used. Parathyroid hormone (PTH) is a crucial hormone for the metabolism of calcium and phosphorus whose result can lead to erroneous diagnoses and medical actions if adequate reference intervals are not readily available. Our goal was to obtain reference values ​​for adult population for PTH by using data mining. Based on possible new reference intervals, we also aimed to perform a retrospective evaluation of the individuals mistakenly classified. Methods Retrospective observational study between 2014 and 2019. All requests from individuals aged ≥ 18 years were considered if PTH was requested together with serum creatinine, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, calcium, albumin and phosphate (within their respective reference intervals). PTH was measured on the Cobas e411 platform (Roche). Requests were grouped by age and sex. Differences among partitions were assessed by the Harris-Boyd’s test and reference intervals were determined by the non-parametrical calculation of percentiles 2.5 and 97.5. Results A total of 2279 laboratory requests were included. Reference intervals for PTH were seen to be sex-independent, but age-dependent reference intervals were needed: 18–39, 40–59 and >60 years. Based on the reference intervals obtained, up to 20.1% of individuals were misclassified. Conclusions Appropriateness of PTH reference intervals would lead to a reduction in the number of additional tests and avoid wrong medical actions, thus improving not only patient safety, but also the healthcare system as a whole.

Background-aim Measurement of serum thyrotropin is currently the recommended test for the screening of thyroid dysfunction, while serum free thyroxine is kept as a reflex test. In our laboratory, the strategy followed in adult individuals from Primary Care includes a ‘safety margin’ for requests with a thyrotropin ≤1.0 or ≥4.0 mIU/L (normal: 0.35–4.95 mIU/L). Our aim was to optimize the thyrotropin cut-off values for the addition of free thyroxine and, based on these cut-offs, to retrospectively analyze avoidable free thyroxine measurements and possible adverse clinical consequences. Methods Retrospective observational study performed in a tertiary care hospital between 2013 and 2018. We considered all laboratory requests for screening of thyroid dysfunction (TD) in adult patients from Primary Care. Requests from patients with a previous diagnosis of thyroid disease or pregnant women were excluded. Different receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were performed and the obtained thyrotropin cut-off values were compared. Economic savings were assessed considering the current cost of free thyroxin assays in our laboratory. Results From a total of 554,529 TD protocols included, 119,504 requests had free thyroxine added. From the ROC curve that enables ≥95% of abnormal free thyroxine results to be detected, the thyrotropin values obtained were ≥4.58 mIU/L and ≤0.94 mIU/L. These thyrotropin cut-off values would lead to a saving of 22.7% of annual free thyroxine measurements without adverse clinical consequences. Discussion Setting optimized thyrotropin cutoffs for reflex testing of free thyroxine would reduce the need for this test. Clinical laboratories need to offer not only true results, but also become the cornerstone in the optimization of resources.

TJ-II stellarator results on modelling and validation of plasma flow asymmetries due to on-surface potential variations, plasma fuelling physics, Alfvén eigenmodes (AEs) control and stability, the interplay between turbulence and neoclassical (NC) mechanisms and liquid metals are reported. Regarding the validation of the neoclassically predicted potential asymmetries, its impact on the radial electric field along the flux surface has been successfully validated against Doppler reflectometry measurements. Research on the physics and modelling of plasma core fuelling with pellets and tracer encapsulated solid pellet injection has shown that, although post-injection particle radial redistributions can be understood qualitatively from NC mechanisms, turbulence and fluctuations are strongly affected during the ablation process. Advanced analysis tools based on transfer entropy have shown that radial electric fields do not only affect the radial turbulence correlation length but are also capable of reducing the propagation of turbulence from the edge into the scrape-off layer. Direct experimental observation of long range correlated structures show that zonal flow structures are ubiquitous in the whole plasma cross-section in the TJ-II stellarator. Alfvénic activity control strategies using ECRH and ECCD as well as the relation between zonal structures and AEs are reported. Finally, the behaviour of liquid metals exposed to hot and cold plasmas in a capillary porous system container was investigated.

Con el proyecto FOCO se propone la reconversión de un gran complejo industrial infrautilizado para crear un centro logístico de biomasa. Este nuevo centro logístico ha de permitir recuperar el sentido productivo tanto de las naves industriales como también del bosque. Dentro del complejo industrial generamos un sistema de climatización urbana mediante unas calderas de astilla y una fábrica de pellets. Que combaten directamente una de las problemáticas más comunes de los habitantes de S.L.S. y la urbanizaciones de los alrededores, la pobreza energética. Además de otros usos sub programáticos de carácter comunitario para visibilizar estas infraestructuras comunitarias y su valor ambiental y social.

We investigated the classical nonlinear Thomson scattering (TS), from a single relativistic electron, generated by either: (a) an incoming plane wave monochromatic laser radiation and general elliptical polarization or (b) incoming radiations with intrinsic orbital angular momentum (OAM). Both (a) and (b) propagate along the z direction, with wave vector k0, frequency ω0, and initial phase φ0≠0 and have any intensity. Item (a) enables obtaining general electron TS Doppler frequencies and other quantities, for fusion plasmas. We explored the possibility of approximating nonlinear TS with OAM beams (Item (b)) by means of nonlinear TS with plane wave beams (Item (a)). For Item (a), a general explicit solution of the Lorentz relativistic equation and the subsequent TS are given in terms of ζ=ω0t−k0z (t denoting time). In particular, it includes the cases for linear and circular polarizations and φ0≠0 for fusion plasmas, thereby extending previous studies for φ0=0. The explicit solutions give rise to very efficient computations of electron TS Doppler frequencies, periods of trajectories, and drift velocities, and the comparisons with ab initio numerical solutions (for Item (a)) yield an excellent match. The approximate approach, using explicit solutions for Item (a), towards TS OAM (employing ab initio numerical computations for Item (b)), extending previously reported ones) yields a quite satisfactory agreement over time spans including several optical cycles, for a wide range of laser intensities, polarizations, and electron energies. The role of φ0≠0 was analyzed. A simple quantitative criterion to predict whether the agreement between the two approaches (a) and (b) would be observed over a given time span is discussed.

La tesi està estructurada en cinc capítols. En el primer explico els processos de Repartiment que inevitablement es produïren a totes les conquestes feudals d’al-Andalus i descric les tres fases del procés: l’ocupació del territori, la gestió de la victòria i el procés de colonització. El segon capítol està destinat a l’anàlisi dels diferents exemplars del Llibre de Repartiment de Mallorca, tant de la part reial com de les porcions nobiliàries. Valoro la problemàtica que genera la interpretació del seu contingut, així com les possibilitats que ofereixen per a l’estudi de la societat andalusina anterior a la conquesta. El tercer descriu el procés de conquesta de la Ciutat en poder dels almohades i d’ocupació del territori illenc per part de la host feudal de Jaume I, tot obviant les accions bèl·liques. Faig esment a alguns dels problemes que planteja l’operació, especialment aquells referits a les forces efectives d’ambdós bàndols en conflicte i a la procedència dels conqueridors. Finalment, presto un interès especial a la cronologia amb la intenció de fixar la seqüència correcta dels succeïts i de les accions posteriors. El quart capítol està aplicat a analitzar la gestió de la victòria. Hi faig l’estudi del repartiment del botí moble i semovent, amb un apartat dedicat al destí dels vençuts. Tot seguit explico la forma com es va realitzar el repartiment immoble de l’illa, intentant copsar les diferents fases, la seqüència temporal i els agents que hi intervingueren. A partir d’un primer repartiment a l’engròs entre el rei i els magnats més importants, individualitzo el repartiment de cadascuna de les porcions, el procés particular que seguiren per remunerar els beneficiaris respectius i els conflictes que es generaren al voltant de la qüestió. Com un apartat especial, analitzo el programa de colonització i promoció agrària que engegà el monarca a les rodalies de la Ciutat sota la denominació de Llibre de les Quarterades, així com els resultats que se’n seguiren. Seguidament examino la naturalesa territorial i jurídica de les senyories originades com a conseqüència del repartiment de l’illa, i l’empremta que la infeudació del regne a mans de l’infant Pere de Portugal i la creació de la diòcesi mallorquina deixà sobre aqueixes senyories, com a passa prèvia a avaluar el grau de reeiximent de la colonització. El darrer capítol estudia el sistema de defensa articulat per la host feudal amb l’objectiu d’impedir una teòrica re-ocupació de l’illa pels almohades, en el qual tenen una transcendència cabdal els cavalls armats. Partint de l’anàlisi del Memorial de cavalleries i cavalls armats que proporciona el Llibre del Repartiment, estudio la constitució de la cavalleria armada per part dels magnats, les diferents modalitats de prestació del servei, el ritme de creació de les cavalleries armades, l’evolució al llarg de la cronologia acotada, i la seva subsistència fins al segle XIX. Seguidament intento desxifrar les modificacions i innovacions que es van introduint en el sistema de defensa de l’illa al llarg del temps. En darrer terme, m’interessa capir la relació entre els titulars de les cavalleries i les elits dirigents mallorquines de la Baixa Edat Mitjana. La tesis está estructurada en cinco capítulos. El primero explica los procesos de Repartimiento que inevitablemente se produjeron en todas las conquistas feudales de al-Ándalus y describe las tres fases del proceso: la ocupación del territorio, la gestión de la victoria y el proceso de colonización. El segundo capítulo está destinado al análisis de los diferentes ejemplares del “Llibre del Repartiment” de Mallorca, tanto de la parte de realengo como de las porciones nobiliarias. Se valora la problemática que genera la interpretación de su contenido, así como las posibilidades que ofrecen para el estudio de la sociedad andalusí anterior a la conquista. El tercero describe el proceso de conquista de la Ciudad de Mallorca en poder de los almohades y la ocupación del territorio por parte de la hueste feudal de Jaume I, aunque obviando el relato de las acciones bélicas. Cita algunos de los problemas que plantea la operación, especialmente los referidos a las fuerzas efectivas de ambos bandos en conflicto y a la procedencia de los conquistadores. Finalmente, presta una atención especial a la cronología, con la intención de fijar la secuencia correcta de los acontecimientos y las acciones posteriores. El cuarto capítulo está aplicado a analizar la gestión de la victoria. Realiza el estudio del reparto del botín mueble y semoviente, con un apartado especial dedicado al destino de los vencidos. A continuación, explica cómo se realizó el repartimiento inmueble de la isla, intentando descubrir sus diferentes fases, su secuencia temporal y los agentes que intervinieron en él. A partir de un primer reparto entre el rey y los magnates, se individualiza el repartimiento de cada una de las porciones, el proceso particular que siguieron para remunerar a los respectivos beneficiarios y los conflictos que se generaron alrededor de esa cuestión. Como un apartado especial, se analiza el programa de colonización y promoción agraria que impulsó el monarca en los alfoces de la Ciudad bajo la denominación de “Llibre de les Quarterades”, así como los resultados obtenidos. Seguidamente se examina la naturaleza territorial y jurídica de las señorías originadas como consecuencia del reparto de la isla, y la impronta que la infeudación del reino a manos del infante Pedro de Portugal y la creación de la diócesis mallorquina dejaron sobre dichas señorías, como paso previo a evaluar el grado de éxito o fracaso de la colonización. El último capítulo estudia el sistema de defensa articulado por la hueste feudal con el objetivo de impedir una teórica reocupación de la isla por los almohades, en el cual adquieren gran trascendencia los caballos armados. Partiendo del análisis del Memorial de caballerías y caballos armados que proporciona el “Llibre del Repartiment”, se estudia la constitución de la caballería armada insular por parte de los magnates, las diferentes modalidades de prestación del servicio militar, el ritmo de creación de las caballerías armadas, la evolución a lo largo de la cronología acotada y su subsistencia hasta principios del siglo XIX. Seguidamente se intentan descifrar las modificaciones e innovaciones que se van introduciendo en el sistema de defensa de la isla a lo largo del tiempo. En último término, interesa captar la relación entre los titulares de las caballerías y las élites dirigentes mallorquinas de la Baja Edad Media. The thesis is structured in five chapters. The first explains the Repartimiento processes that inevitably occurred in all the feudal conquests of al-Andalus and describes the three phases of the process: the occupation of the territory, the management of victory and the colonization process. The second chapter is dedicated to the analysis of the different copies of the “Llibre del Repartiment” of Mallorca, both the royal part and the noble portions. The problems generated by the interpretation of its content are valued, as well as the possibilities they offer for the study of the al-Andalus society prior to the conquest. The third describes the process of conquering the City of Mallorca in the hands of the Almohads and the occupation of the territory by the feudal host of Jaume I, although ignoring the account of the warlike actions. He cites some of the problems posed by the operation, especially those referring to the effective forces of both sides in conflict and the origin of the conquerors. Finally, pays special attention to the chronology, with the intention of fixing the correct sequence of events and subsequent actions. The fourth chapter is applied to analyze the management of victory. Carries out the study of the distribution of movable and semi-mobile loot, with a special section dedicated to the fate of the vanquished. He then explains how the island’s real estate distribution was carried out, trying to discover its different phases, its temporal sequence and the agents who intervened in it. Starting with a first distribution between the king and the magnates, the distribution of each of the portions is individualized, the particular process that they followed to remunerate the respective beneficiaries and the conflicts that were generated around that issue. As a special section, the program of colonization and agrarian promotion impulsed by the monarch in the city’s alfoces under the name of “Llibre de les Quarterades” is analyzed, as well as the results obtained. Next, the territorial and legal nature of the lordships originated as a result of the distribution of the island is examined, and the trace that left on these lordships the infeudation of the kingdom at the hands of the Infante Pedro of Portugal and the creation of the Majorcan diocese, as a preliminary step to evaluate the degree of success or failure of colonization. The last chapter studies the defense system articulated by the feudal host with the aim of preventing a theoretical reoccupation of the island by the Almohads, in which armed horses acquire great importance. Starting from the analysis of the Memorial of Cavalry and Armed Horses provided by the “Llibre del Repartiment”, the constitution of the insular armed cavalry by the magnates, the different modalities of rendering the military service, the rhythm of creation of the armed cavalries is studied, the evolution along the limited chronology and their subsistence until the beginning of the XIX century. Next, an attempt is made to decipher the modifications and innovations that are being introduced into the island’s defense system over time. Ultimately, it is interesting to capture the relationship between the holders of the cavalries and the Majorcan ruling elites of the late Middle Ages. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Programa de Doctorat en Cultures en Contacte a la Mediterrània

International audience; Identification of defective DNA structures is a difficult task, since small differences in base-pair bonding are hidden in the local structural variability of a generally random base-pair sequence. Defects, such as base mismatches, missing bases, crosslinks, and so on, occur in DNA with high frequency and must be efficiently identified and repaired to avoid dire consequences such as genetic mutations. Here, we focus on the detection of base mismatches, which is local deviations from the ideal Watson-Crick pairing rule, which may typically originate from DNA replication process, foreign chemical attack, or ionizing radiation. Experimental detection of a mismatch defect demands the ability to measure slight deviations in the free energy and molecular structure. We introduce different mismatches in short DNA hairpins (10 or 20 base pairs plus a 4-base loop) sandwiched between dsDNA handles to be used in single-molecule force spectroscopy with optical tweezers. We perform both hopping and force-pulling experiments to measure the excess free energies and deduce the characteristic kinetic signatures of the mismatch from the force-distance curves. All-atom molecular dynamics simulations lend support to the detailed interpretation of the experimental data. Such measurements, at the lowest sensitivity limits of this experimental technique, demonstrate the capability of identifying the presence of mismatches in a random complementary dsDNA sequence and provide lower bounds for the ability to distinguish different structural defects.

2D plasma potential ϕ distribution was measured in the electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) and neutral beam injection (NBI) plasmas of the TJ-II stellarator with the heavy ion beam probe for the whole radial range and wide area of the poloidal angle, and supported by Langmuir probe data at the edge. The whole operation domain for the on-axis ECRH was explored ( n ˉ e = 0.45–0.8 ×1019 m−3, P EC = 220–470 kW), in addition, NBI plasmas with n ˉ e = 0.9–1.3 × 1019 m−3 and P NBI = 510 kW were studied. In ECRH plasmas the density ramp-up is accompanied by the evolution of the potential from the bell-like to the Mexican hat profile, while the density profiles were flat or slightly hollow. The potential has the positive peak at the centre, and LFS-HFS (low field—high field sides) and up-down symmetry. Equipotential lines are consistent with vacuum magnetic flux surfaces. In the high-density NBI scenario, the ϕ profile was fully negative with a minimum up to −300 V at the centre, while at low-density ECRH plasma, ϕ has a maximum up to +0.9 kV at the centre. Fluctuations of potential and density are stronger in low-density scenarios and not poloidally symmetric. At the mid-radius (area of the maximum density), root mean square (RMS) of fluctuations were up to ϕ ∼ 15 V at LFS vs ∼20 V at HFS; RMS n e ∼ 2% at LFS vs ∼3% at HFS. In the NBI plasmas with the density rise, the asymmetry decreases and finally vanishing at n ˉ e = 1.2 × 1019 m−3. 2D distribution of the NBI-induced Alfvén eigenmodes (AEs) shows asymmetric ballooning structure: contrary to broadband turbulence, AE-associated potential perturbation dominates in the LFS with a factor up to 1.7 respect to the HFS. The electrostatic mode, excited in ECRH plasmas by suprathermal electrons also shows asymmetric structures: density perturbation dominates in the top-bottom direction compared to LFS-HFS direction.

A full campaign of comparative Li/LiSn/Sn testing has been initiated in TJ-II stellarator plasmas. Solid and liquid samples of the three candidates, in a Capillary Porous System (CPS) arrangement, have been exposed to the edge plasma and the associated perturbation on the plasma has been recorded.In this work, only studies on Li and LiSn alloys are reported. The surface temperature of the liquid metal/CPS samples (a tungsten mesh impregnated with SnLi or Li) has been measured during plasma pulses with milliseconds resolution by pyrometry and radial profiles of Li, Li+, and Balmer Hα were recorded together with the electron edge parameters. A simple 1D model, based on the density decay, was applied to the data, allowing for the evaluation of the kinetic energy (Ek) of ejected atomic species while their residence time at the edge was determined by monitoring the ratio of first ion/neutral emission light intensities. Some evolution of Ek with sample temperature was seen for Li atoms, this being likely associated to the different relative contributions of sputtered/evaporated atoms, although values below 0.25 eV were found for sample temperatures above 500 K. The recorded Li+/Li ratios were analyzed through a simple model accounting for several mechanisms for the dispersal of the injected impurity away from the injection location. The same model was applied to injected He atoms (high recycling impurity) in order to check for prompt redeposition of Li.A transition from sputtering driven to evaporation of Li is observed with increasing temperature. Furthermore, no evidence of prompt redeposition is observed in our conditions. Keywords: Plasma facing materials, Liquid metals, LiSn alloys, Capillary porous system, Impurity screening, Reactor materials

One of the recurring problems encountered in the development of automatic classification problems is the so-called “curse of dimensionality”. Procedures that are computationally manageable in low dimensional spaces can become unfeasible in spaces of hundreds of dimensions due to the need of long computational times. This paper shows the parallelization of a probabilistic classifier based on Venn Predictors (VP). VP determine a probability interval to qualify how accurate and reliable each individual classification is. The parallelized code has been applied to the classification of the images from the CCD camera of the TJ-II Thomson Scattering. The aver- age probability and probability interval are a very efficient prediction from the prediction perspective.

Deep learning has become one of the most promising approaches in recent years. One of the main applications of deep learning is the automatic feature extraction with auto-encoders (AEs). Feature extraction, one of the most important stages in machine learning, that can reduce drastically the dimensionality of the problem, making easier any subsequent process such as classification. The main contribution of this research is to evaluate the use of AEs for automatic feature extraction in massive thermonuclear fusion databases. In order to show the performance of AEs in a practical way, the problem of image classification of the TJ-II Thomson Scattering diagnostic has been selected. The classification has been performed by the algorithm of support vector machines and conformal predictors. The results show that the use of AEs produces the predictions faster, with more reliable models, and with higher success rates in comparison to the performance without using the deep learning approach.

The inverse problem for Thomson scattering (TS), that is, finding the electron distribution function (EDF), not restricted to be Maxwellian or isotropic, from the observation of the scattered spectrum, is addressed. Based on previous results by the authors, a new parallel FORTRAN code, INVERT, has been developed that allows to estimate the free parameters of a wide class of distribution functions by fitting experimental or numerical (synthetic) spectra using a variant of the simplex method. The application of these techniques to the extraction of non-Maxwellian or anisotropic features in the electron distribution function is analyzed in detail. The performance of the new code on noisy synthetic spectra and its capabilities to quantitatively discriminate among several competing EDFs modeling data are discussed. The issues of uniqueness (or nonuniqueness) of the inverse problem in case of multiparameter distribution functions are discussed. In such cases, the prospects of multiple diagnostics synthe...

The distribution of property after the taking of the Ciutat de Mallorca in December 1229 was a complex process that lasted for over two and a half years. The difficulties given by researchers when explaining this include the complexity of measuring and distributing the land, the priority of finishing the conquest of all the island, and the tensions that arose between the king and the barons. This study analyses two other factors: the call by the king for the barons to return to the island in 1232, to face the threat of the Tunisian fleet reconquering it; and the unease that arose between the monarch and his porcioners (“shareholders”) when he decided to review the original letters of donation and reduce the area of land he had granted them. El repartiment dels béns immobles com a conseqüència de la presa de la Ciutat de Mallorca, el desembre del 1229, fou un procés complex que es perllongà més de dos anys i mig. Les dificultats adduïdes pels investigadors a l’hora d’explicar-ho són la complexitat d’amidar i distribuir la terra, la prioritat de sotmetre totalment l’illa, i les tensions generades entre el rei i els magnats. En aquest treball s’analitzen altres dos factors: la convocatòria que fa el rei per a que els magnats tornin desplaçar-se a l’illa l’any 1232, front a l’amenaça de la flota tunisenca de reconquistar-la; i el malestar que sorgí entre el monarca i els seus porcioners quan decidí revisar les cartes de donació originals i reajustar a la baixa la quantitat de terra que els havia adjudicat.

The distribution of property after the taking of the Ciutat de Mallorca in December 1229 was a complex process that lasted for over two and a half years. The difficulties given by researchers when explaining this include the complexity of measuring and distributing the land, the priority of finishing the conquest of all the island, and the tensions that arose between the king and the barons. This study analyses two other factors: the call by the king for the barons to return to the island in 1232, to face the threat of the Tunisian fleet reconquering it; and the unease that arose between the monarch and his porcioners (“shareholders”) when he decided to review the original letters of donation and reduce the area of land he had granted them.

[ES] Las redes bayesianas constituyen una herramienta formal que permite modelar procesos caracterizados por la incertidumbre, lo cual es propio de muchos problemas reales. Con una red bayesiana se puede establecer un modelo completo sobre un conjunto de variables aleatorias y sus relaciones. Dicho modelo se puede utilizar para estimar probabilidades de ciertas variables de la red, que se denominan variables de estado, cuando son fijadas otras variables, llamadas variables de evidencia. El proceso de obtener la distribución de probabilidad de las variables de estado dadas las evidencias se denomina inferencia probabilística bayesiana. En este trabajo, tras introducir las redes bayesianas, se expone cómo utilizarlas en el aula analizando problemas de diagnóstico médico. Con esto se persigue un aprendizaje más significativo de los conceptos de independencia y de probabilidad condicional, que son esenciales para una correcta aplicación de numerosos métodos probabilísticos y estadísticos., [EN] Bayesian networks are a formal tool that allows to model processes characterized by uncertainty, which is typical of many real problems. A Bayesian network can establish a comprehensive model on a set of random variables and their relationships. This model can be used to estimate probabilities of certain variables of the network, which are called state variables, when other variables, named evidence variables, are fixed. The process of obtaining the probability distribution of the state variables, when the evidences are fixed, is named Bayesian probabilistic inference. In this work, after introducing the Bayesian networks, it is exposed how to use them in the classroom analysing medical diagnosis problems. This leads to a more meaningful learning of the concepts of independence and conditional probability, which are essential for the correct application of numerous probabilistic and statistical methods.

We study Alfven eigenmodes (AEs) in the TJ-II heliac in hydrogen plasmas heated by hydrogen co-field neutral beam injector. Taking advantage of the unique TJ-II flexibility in a varying plasma current, we have observed strong variation of the AE frequency from fAE ∼ 30 to ∼220 kHz for selected modes. An advanced heavy-ion beam probe diagnostic determines the spatial location and internal amplitudes of the modes. The modes satisfy a local AE dispersion relation including the geodesic acoustic frequency that represents the lowest frequency of the mode. Linear MHD modeling with STELLGAP and FAR3D codes shows that the calculated temporal evolution of the mode frequency reproduces the observed maxima and minima at the same time intervals with a similar frequency range, and the radial profile peaks near the outer edge of the observed one.

In this article, we report the latest results for the impacts of the isotope mass and the plasma heating scenario on the spatiotemporal characteristics of the low-frequency zonal flow (ZF)-like electrostatic oscillation found in the plasma edge of the TJ-II stellarator. The radial profile of the toroidal cross-coherence in low-frequency floating potential fluctuations (1 < f < 25 kHz), known as long-range correlations (LRCs), was explored along the plasma boundary region by a dual Langmuir probe system. The study was performed using electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH)- and neutral beam injection (NBI)-heated plasmas with two different isotope concentrations: pure hydrogen plasmas and plasmas dominated by deuterium ( ≈ 70 % D ). The highest toroidal coherence levels are detected for floating potential oscillations at less than 10 kHz in hydrogen and deuterium plasmas, in both the ECRH and NBI heating schemes. The radial extent of the LRC profile is clearly larger in the ECRH than in the NBI-heated plasma scenarios. While the maximum amplitude of the LRC does not show a significant dependence on isotope mass, the relation between the LRCs’ radial sizes in plasmas and different isotope masses increases with the isotope mass in NBI-heated scenarios. These results provide the first experimental observation of ZFs with a larger radial size in deuterium than in hydrogen plasmas.

The classical nonlinear incoherent Thomson Scattering (TS) power spectrum from free relativistic electrons moving in a laser beam with orbital angular momentum (OAM) is investigated. The main focus in this paper is on the TS process as a diagnostic technique for this type of beams. Linearly polarized incoming radiation and electrons of very low initial kinetic energy are considered. Averaged spectra from electrons randomly covering the transverse laser pattern have different shape in the case of a beam with OAM as compared with the TEM00 case (with vanishing net OAM). Hence, spectrally resolved measurements are needed to discriminate between both cases. If electrons are distributed over the laser spot as thin stripes at a given angle with respect to the polarization direction, computations show non-trivial angular dependencies of integrated power of a laser with OAM as compared with the TEM00 mode. An experimental test of the OAM state of a laser beam is proposed based on these results. The numerical code developed is general enough to deal with more complex polarization states of the laser beam and/or electrons having arbitrary initial kinetic energies.

2D poloidal contour plots of plasma potential, plasma density, and their fluctuations have been measured in low density plasmas sustained by Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating using a heavy ion beam probe (HIBP) system in the TJ-II stellarator. A HIBP has been used in the new energy scanning mode to obtain the measurements for a 2D poloidal cross section of the stellarator. The 2D map for the absolute plasma potential shows a local maximum in the plasma core as expected in low density plasma scenarios. Fluctuations in the HIBP secondary ion current, as a proxy of plasma density fluctuations, appear both in positive and negative density gradient regions, with a normalized level of density fluctuations higher in the negative density gradient region. The TJ-II innovative experimental setup developed using a dual HIBP diagnostic paves the way for model validation on core plasma potential asymmetries and particle transport and fluctuations under positive and negative density gradient scenarios.

Introduction: Communication of laboratory critical risk results is essential for patient safety, as it allows early decision making. Our aims were: 1) to retrospectively evaluate the current protocol for telephone notification of critical risk results in terms of rates, efficiency and recipient satisfaction, 2) to assess their use in clinical decision making and 3) to suggest alternative tools for a better assessment of notification protocols. Materials and methods: The biochemical critical risk result notifications reported during 12 months by routine and STAT laboratories in a tertiary care hospital were reviewed. Total number of reports, time for the notification and main magnitudes with critical risk results were calculated. The use of notifications in clinical decision making was assessed by reviewing medical records. Satisfaction with the notification protocol was assessed through an online questionnaire to requesting physicians and nurses. Results: Critical result was yielded by 0.1% of total laboratory tests. Median time for notification was 3.2 min (STAT) and 16.9 min (routine). The magnitudes with a greater number of critical results were glucose and potassium for routine analyses, and troponin, sodium for STAT. Most notifications were not reflected in the medical records. Overall mean satisfaction with the protocol was 4.2/5. Conclusion: The results obtained indicate that the current protocol is appropriate. Nevertheless, there are some limitations that hamper the evaluation of the impact on clinical decision making. Alternatives were proposed for a proper and precise evaluation.

The effects of 3D geometry are explored in TJ-II from two relevant points of view: neoclassical transport and modification of stability and dispersion relation of waves. Particle fuelling and impurity transport are studied considering the 3D transport properties, paying attention to both neoclassical transport and other possible mechanisms. The effects of the 3D magnetic topology on stability, confinement and Alfvén Eigenmodes properties are also explored, showing the possibility of controlling Alfvén modes by modifying the configuration; the onset of modes similar to geodesic acoustic modes are driven by fast electrons or fast ions; and the weak effect of magnetic well on confinement. Finally, we show innovative power exhaust scenarios using liquid metals.