From November 2019 to April 2020, the prototypical red supergiant Betelgeuse experienced an unexpected and historic dimming. This event was observed worldwide by astrophysicists, and also by the general public with the naked eye. We present here the results of our observing campaign with ESO’s VLT and VLTI in the visible and infrared domains. The observations with VLT/SPHERE-ZIMPOL, VLT/SPHERE-IRDIS, VLTI/GRAVITY and VLTI/MATISSE provide spatially resolved diagnostics of this event. Using PHOENIX atmosphere models and RADMC3D dust radiative transfer simulations, we built a consistent model reproducing the images and the photometry.

The current study describes the results obtained from clinical examination of over 4700 suckling piglets from 19 individual herds in Germany. In this cohort the prevalence of inflammation and necrosis in the tails, ears, claw coronary bands, heels and teats was determined using a pre-defined scoring system. Results show that already in the 1st days of life, piglets were affected by inflammation and necrosis of the heels (80%), claw coronary bands (50%) and tail base (20%). The praevalences of these alterations in piglets were influenced by genetics (P <0.001) and age, decreasing gradually in the 2nd week of life (P <0.001). Moreover, a correlation between tail length after tail docking and the prevalence of tail necrosis (P⩽0.04) was found. Tail and ear biting as a behavioural trait was not detected during this study. The early onset, appearance and multiple locations of clinical signs of inflammation and the positive correlation with the genetic background of the piglets may suggest an impairment of the innate immune system by infectious and non-infectious agents. This is in contrast to previously described behavioural abnormalities seen in fattening pigs. Considering the obvious reduction of animal welfare due to the described lesions, there is a need to create awareness among pig farmers and to understand the multifactorial causality involved in this inflammation and necrosis syndrome in piglets.

Stencel et al. (1986) analyzed IUE spectra of a modest set of cool stars and found that they continue to produce chromospheres even in the presence of high dust levels in their outer atmospheres. This reversed the previous results of Jennings (1973) and Jennings & Dyck (1972). We describe an on-going extension of these studies to a sample of stars representing a broader range in dust/gas ratios, using archival IUE and archival and new HST data on both RGB and AGB stars. Surface fluxes in emission lines will be analyzed to assess the chromospheric activity and obscuration by dust in each star, as those fluxes will follow a different pattern for reduced activity (temperature/density dependent) vs. dust obscuration (wavelength dependent). Wind characteristics will be measured by modeling of wind-reversed chromospheric emission lines.

We present ALMA observations of the circumstellar envelope around the AGB carbon star TX Psc in molecular CO(2–1) emission, and detect a previously unknown detached shell with filamentary structure and elliptical shape. Up to now, all observed detached shells are found around carbon AGB stars and are of remarkable spherical symmetry. The elliptical shell around TX Psc is the first clear exception to that rule, with TX Psc being classified as rather ’’fresh’’ carbon star, that most likely has only experienced very few thermal pulses yet. We investigate and discuss the 3D structure of the CSE and its most likely formation scenarios, as well as the link of this peculiar detached shell to the AGB evolutionary status of TX Psc.

Objectives: To evaluate prospective and retrospective memory abilities in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and Operation New Dawn (OND) Veterans with and without a self-reported history of blast-related mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Methods: Sixty-one OEF/OIF/OND Veterans, including Veterans with a self-reported history of blast-related mTBI (mTBI group; n=42) and Veterans without a self-reported history of TBI (control group; n=19) completed the Memory for Intentions Test, a measure of prospective memory (PM), and two measures of retrospective memory (RM), the California Verbal Learning Test-II and the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised. Results: Veterans in the mTBI group exhibited significantly lower PM performance than the control group, but the groups did not differ in their performance on RM measures. Further analysis revealed that Veterans in the mTBI group with current PTSD (mTBI/PTSD+) demonstrated significantly lower performance on the PM measure than Veterans in the control group. PM performance by Veterans in the mTBI group without current PTSD (mTBI/PTSD-) was intermediate between the mTBI/PTSD+ and control groups, and results for the mTBI/PTSD- group were not significantly different from either of the other two groups. Conclusions: Results suggest that PM performance may be a sensitive marker of cognitive dysfunction among OEF/OIF/OND Veterans with a history of self-reported blast-related mTBI and comorbid PTSD. Reduced PM may account, in part, for complaints of cognitive difficulties in this Veteran cohort, even years post-injury. (JINS, 2018, 24, 324–334)

Here, we present a brief overview of the main studies conducted on the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in Europe and other countries outside its centres of origin. We focus on the proportions of the Andean and Mesoamerican gene pools, and on the inter-gene pool hybridization events. In Europe, for chloroplast microsatellites, 67% of European germplasm is of Andean origin. Within Europe, interesting trends have been seen; indeed, the majority of the Andean type is found in the three macro-areas of the Iberian Peninsula, Italy and central-northern Europe, while, in eastern and south-eastern Europe, the proportion of the Mesoamerican type increased. On a local scale, the contribution of the Mesoamerican type is always low. On other continents, various situations are seen using different markers: in China and Brazil, the Mesoamerican gene pool prevails, while in an African sample, overall, both gene pools are equally represented, with differences in individual countries. The frequency of European bean genotypes deriving from at least one hybridization event was 44% with an uneven distribution. Interestingly, hybrids tend to have intermediate seed size in comparison with ‘pure’ Andean or Mesoamerican types. On other continents, very few hybrids are found, probably because of the different marker systems used.

The CRESST-II direct Dark Matter search is located in the Gran Sasso underground laboratories, Italy. CaWO4 crystals are used as scintillating targets for WIMP (weakly interacting massive particle) interactions. They are operated as cryogenic calorimeters in combination with a second cryogenic detector used to measure the scintillation light produced in the target crystal. For each particle interaction, the combination of phonon and light signals provides an event by event discrimination which allows to distinguish known particles (alphas, betas, gammas, neutrons) from the expected signal of WIMPs. A major upgrade of the setup comprises modifications of the shielding, installation of a muon-veto, and new read out electronics, as well as a new detector-support structure to accommodate up to 33 detector modules, i.e. 10 kg of target mass. The experiment was thereafter successfully commissioned in 2007. Data obtained during this commissioning phase from 2 detector modules are presented here. Combining the data collected with these two detector modules with data from one single module obtained during the CRESST-I phase, the experiment could already place a limit of ~6 × 10-7 pb for the spin independent WIMP-nucleon scattering cross section at a WIMP mass of ~60 GeV/c2.

Background. Patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) frequently report unresolved life events but it is still poorly understood, how these experiences are represented in the brain. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the present study aimed at investigating the neural correlates of the recall of unresolved life events in patients with BPD and healthy controls.

Method. Twenty female BPD patients and 21 healthy control subjects underwent fMRI. During measurement subjects recalled unresolved and resolved negative life events. Individual cue words were used to stimulate autobiographical memory. After scanning, subjects rated their emotional states during the recall of both types of memories.

Results. When contrasting unresolved and resolved life events, patients showed significant bilateral activation of frontotemporal areas including the insula, amygdala, and the anterior cingulate cortex, the left posterior cingulate cortex, right occipital cortex, the bilateral cerebellum and the midbrain. In healthy subjects, no differential brain activation was related to these conditions. The 2×2 factorial analysis (ΔBPD−Δcontrols) revealed similar results with bilateral activation of the frontal cortex including parts of the insula and of the orbitofrontal cortex, temporal activation including the amygdala, activation of the right occipital cortex, and parts of the cerebellum. Patients but not controls reported higher levels of anxiety and helplessness during the unresolved versus resolved memory condition.

Conclusions. The activation of both, the amygdala and prefrontal areas, might reflect an increased effortful but insufficient attempt to control intensive emotions during the recall of unresolved life events in patients with BPD.

Extensive optical photometry of the canditate magnetic CV RX J0524+42 has uncovered three persistent periods at 157, 146 and 136 minutes, which are the manifestation of the orbital motion of the system, the white dwarf spin and a possible side-band period of the latter. Depending on the interpretation of the 146 or the 136 minute period as the spin period, the system is an asynchronous by 7% or 14% (1 – PSpin/Porb), and therefore intermediate between the near-synchronous polars (< 2%) and the two DQ Her stars with long spin periods (EX Hya and V1025 Cen). Sampling the data over the beat period of 1.4 or 0.7 days reveals a prominent double-humped modulation on the spin period for certain fractions of the beat cycle. The phasing of this modulation strongly suggests that either pole switching onto two diametrically opposed accretion sites, or pole migration is operating in this system. With a period right within the period gap, RX J0524+42 is a key object for MCV evolution: it might be the first transition object between the DQ and AM Her subclasses where the white dwarf is currently in the process of synchronisation.

This article investigates chemical modifications of Cu(In, Ga)Se2 thin film by treatment in cadmium solutions with varying [NH3] concentration. Secondary ions mass spectroscopy and Xray photoelectron-spectroscopy analysis show that Cd-diffusion into the Cu(In, Ga)Se2 film is intimately tied to the reduction-oxidation of the Cu(In, Ga)Se2 surface, which is controlled by the [NH3] concentration. Reaction products, like Se and metal hydroxides of the redox process as wellas thediffusedCdinCu(In, Ga)Se2 film, result in degradation of solar cell performance.

The paper discusses the electronic properties of Cu(In,Ga)Se2–based heterojunction solar cells with a special focus on questions which at present are not satisfactorily understood. First, we discuss an apparent quantitative contradiction between measured concentrations of recombination centers in the Cu(In,Ga)Se2 absorber material and the actual recombination rate in the solar cells. We propose, as a possible explanation for that observation, that the defect concentration in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 is spatially inhomogeneous with a systematic increase towards the heterojunction interface. Second, we address the issue of electronic metastabilities in ZnO/CdS/Cu(In,Ga)Se2 heterojunctions and, especially, in devices that use alternative buffer materials instead of CdS. Starting from a brief review of the experimentally observed types of metastabilities, we demonstrate by thermally stimulated capacitance measurements that a specific type of metastability that severely limits the performance of solar cells with non-CdS buffers is present also in high-efficiency standard devices though it has virtually no influence on the output parameters in the latter case. A possible explanation of this type of metastability points to a metastable defect reaction localized in the close to surface region of Cu(In,Ga)Se2. At the moment we cannot propose conclusive models for both open questions. However, we can localize the answers to both problems in the close-to-surface region of the Cu(In,Ga)Se2 absorber.

In this paper, the problem of electromagnetic scattering from a 3D system of spheres is considered and an iterative solution that accounts for multiple scattering is proposed. The Mie formalism used for a single sphere is extended to account for multiple scattered fields between several particles. The translational addition theorems for spherical wave functions are used to express the electromagnetic field scattered by a sphere Si in terms of an incident field for a sphere Sk in a spherical coordinates system attached to the sphere Sk. In this work, the numerical convergence of the method is discussed and associated computational times are given. Numerical computations including Radar Cross Section (RCS) and radiation patterns for various 3D configurations are presented. Some of them are compared with free-space measurements made in the 8 to 100 GHz frequency band using vectorial network analyzers.

Spin-Polarized Metastable Atom Deexcitation (SPMDS) and Electron Capture (ECS) Spectroscopies probe the exponential tails of electronic wavefunctions extending from the surface into the vacuum, and are consequently extremely sensitive to the surface-vacuum interface. The use of SPMDS to probe the near-surface vacuum magnetization of Ni (l 10) and Fe (l 10) and the dramatic changes that result upon exposure to ambient gases is discussed, as is the use of ECS and Spin-Polarized Electron EMission Spectroscopy (SPEES) to determine the ferromagnetic and critical behavior of surfaces and ultra-thin epitaxial systems.

Carbon films deposited by a modified dc cathodic arc technique were characterized by several analytical methods. The coatings consist of two constituents originating from process characteristics of the technique applied. Small fragments of graphite are embedded in a matrix material of an amorphous structure with diamond-like short-range order. The coatings exhibit friction and wear reducing properties.

A variety of reactions employing organometallic precursors have been explored for the synthesis of ZnS. One of the most successful routes involves the reaction of [EtZn(SButS)]5 with H2S at ambient or sub-ambient temperature to yield a precipitate which is subsequently heated under flowing H2S at 500°C to yield a mixture of sub-micron particles and single-crystal ZnS whiskers. Transmission electron micrographs of the [EtZn(SBut)]5 products indicate that the ZnS morphology is critically dependent upon the rate of H2S reaction. Corresponding x-ray/ electron diffraction, electron microscopy, elemental analysis, NMR and infrared spectroscopies have been conducted. A summary of the chemical methods, product characterization results, and proposed synthesis mechanisms will be presented.

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Office of Naval Research for the support of this research under Contract N0014–86-K-0191.