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On December 14, 2020, southern South America experienced a total solar eclipse close to the solar noon. The path of totality, about 90 km wide, extended over the continental region from the Chilean west coast to the Argentine east coast, passing through the provinces of Neuquén, Rio Negro and the extreme south of Buenos Aires. In order to study the effects on the atmosphere produced by the total eclipse, the Servicio Meteoroléogico Nacional Argentino (SMN) and Instituto de Investigaciones Cientéficas y Técnicas para la Defensa (CITEDEF) carried out a surface radiometric monitoring campaign in Valcheta (40.69°S; 66.15°W), Réo Negro, Argentina. In this work, we explore the global surface solar irradiance on a horizontal plane (GHI) with the main objective of quantifying the changes in this parameter for cloudy and clear sky atmospheric conditions, combining ground-based measurements and modeling. A solar limb-darkening function was successfully implemented in the calculation of the irradiance at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) during the eclipse. We estimated a significant GHI attenuation of 41 % between the first (C1) and last (C4) contacts of eclipse compared to similar atmospheric conditions without the total eclipse, which represent a daily reduction of 12 %. In terms of irradiation, a reduction of 3360.1 KJ/m2 3 was calculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic photodetectors (OPDs) with a performance comparable to that of conventional inorganic ones have recently been demonstrated for the visible regime. However, near-infrared photodetection has proven to be challenging and, to date, the true potential of organic semiconductors in this spectral range (800-2500 nm) remains largely unexplored. In this work, it is shown that the main factor limiting the specific detectivity (D*) is non-radiative recombination, which is also known to be the main contributor to open-circuit voltage losses. The relation between open-circuit voltage, dark current, and noise current is demonstrated using four bulk-heterojunction devices based on narrow-gap donor polymers. Their maximum achievable D* is calculated alongside a large set of devices to demonstrate an intrinsic upper limit of D* as a function of the optical gap. It is concluded that OPDs have the potential to be a useful technology up to 2000 nm, given that high external quantum efficiencies can be maintained at these low photon energies., (© 2020 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Tungsten removal from industrial wastewater by precipitation, coagulation and flocculation processes using ferric chloride is reported. Suitable process conditions (pH, ferric chloride concentration) were established in jar tests performed with wastewater samples. Alkaline wastewater was treated with ferric chloride and pH was adjusted to various points using sulphuric acid. Tungsten removal was found to be most efficient (98-99%) in acidic conditions (pH<6). The process conditions were also found to be suitable for operation of an industrial scale wastewater treatment facility. More than 97% of tungsten were removed and the residual concentration was smaller than 10 ppm.

The records of 44 patients who underwent internal fixation for metastatic fractures between 1970 and 1989 were studied. Excluded were pathologic fractures involving the spine, pelvis, ribs and clavicles. None of the patients was still alive at the time of the study.

Congenital dysphasia is a developmental speech disorder not explained by deafness, phonation disorder, mental retardation, neurologic lesion, or psychiatric disease. The existence of brain lesions has often been postulated but conventional investigations fail to demonstrate any cerebral abnormality. By means of [99mTc]hexamethyl-propyleneamine oxime (HM-PAO) brain single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) we have studied 14 children suffering from congenital dysphasia. The brain computed tomographic scan was normal in all cases. In two patients with expression impairment the SPECT study demonstrated a hypoperfusion in the inferior frontal convolution of the left hemisphere, involving the Broca's area. In nine of 12 patients with global dysphasia (deficits in both comprehension and expression), SPECT study showed two hypoperfused areas: an abnormality in the left temporoparietal region and a hypoactivity in the upper and middle areas of the right frontal lobe. These results suggest that congenital dysphasia could be due, like acquired aphasia, to specific impairment of the language cerebral areas and that brain SPECT studies with [99mTc]HM-PAO could be useful for a better comprehension of the physiopathology of these disorders.