Essays on the history of Brazilian dipterology. I. The first notices about Brazilian Diptera (16th century)

Essays on the history of Brazilian dipterology. I. The first notices about Brazilian Diptera (16th century). This paper presents a historical resume of the first notices about Brazilian Diluent during the 16th century, given by Francisco Pires in 1552 (the oldest mention known), Jose de Anchieta, Leonardo do Valle, Pero de Magalhaes de Gandavo, Jean de Lery and Gabriel Soares de Souza, ending with Fernao Cardim, who made the last mentions of Brazilian Diptera in that century.

Essays on the history of Brazilian dipterology. II. Notices about Brazilian Diptera (17th century)

Essays on the history of Brazilian dipterology. II. Notices about Brazilian Diptera (17th century). Notices from the Brazilian Diptera from the 17th century come mainly from two foreign invasions occurred in Brazil, the first one by the French in Maranhao and the second by the Dutch in northeastern Brazil. This paper includes reports of Fathers Claude d'Abbeville and Yves d'Evreux and from Piso and Marcgrave, the last two presenting the first illustrations of Brazilian Diptera. The paper also includes reports of Friar Laureano de la Cruz, Father Joao de Sotto Mayor and Mauricio de Heriarte.

Essays on the history of Brazilian dipterology. III. Three remarkable notices from the 18th century, mainly related to myiasis-producing flies (Cochliomyia and Dermatobia)

Essays on the history of Brazilian dipterology. III. Three remarkable notices from the 18th century, mainly related to myiasis-producing flies (Cochliomyia and Dermatobia). This paper registers reports about dipterans made by three Portuguese who lived in Brazil during the 18th century. Luiz Gomes Ferreira, in his book "Erario mineral" ["Mineral revenue"], wrote curious passages related with myiasis-causing flies of the genus Cochliomyia. Jose Rodrigues de Mello registered, in Latin verses, the folklore for curing myiases caused by Cochliomyia hominivorax in cattle. Luiz dos Santos Vilhena, in the last of his twenty letters dealing with several aspects of life in Brazil, made reference to horseflies, human bot flies and mosquitos.

Radiative association of Ti and O atoms

Rate coefficients for the radiative association of titanium and oxygen atoms to form the titanium monoxide (TiO) molecule are estimated. The radiative association of Ti(F-3) and O(P-3) atoms is dominated by an approach along the C-3 Delta potential energy curve, accompanied by spontaneous emission into the X-3 Delta ground state of TiO. For temperatures ranging from 300-14 000 K, the total rate coefficients are found to vary from 4.76 x 10(-17) to 9.96 x 10(-17) cm(3) s(-1), respectively.

Compact groups of galaxies selected by stellar mass: the 2MASS compact group catalogue

We present a photometric catalogue of compact groups of galaxies (p2MCGs) automatically extracted from the Two-Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) extended source catalogue. A total of 262 p2MCGs are identified, following the criteria defined by Hickson, of which 230 survive visual inspection (given occasional galaxy fragmentation and blends in the 2MASS parent catalogue). Only one quarter of these 230 groups were previously known compact groups (CGs). Among the 144 p2MCGs that have all their galaxies with known redshifts, 85 (59?per cent) have four or more accordant galaxies. This v2MCG sample of velocity-filtered p2MCGs constitutes the largest sample of CGs (with N = 4) catalogued to date, with both well-defined selection criteria and velocity filtering, and is the first CG sample selected by stellar mass. It is fairly complete up to Kgroup similar to 9 and radial velocity of similar to 6000?km?s-1. We compared the properties of the 78 v2MCGs with median velocities greater than 3000?km?s-1 with the properties of other CG samples, as well as those (mvCGs) extracted from the semi-analytical model (SAM) of Guo et al. run on the high-resolution Millennium-II simulation. This mvCG sample is similar (i.e. with 2/3 of physically dense CGs) to those we had previously extracted on three other SAMs run on the Millennium simulation with 125 times worse spatial and mass resolutions. The space density of v2MCGs within 6000?km?s-1 is 8.0 X 10-5?h3?Mpc-3, i.e. four times that of the Hickson sample [Hickson Compact Group (HCG)] up to the same distance and with the same criteria used in this work, but still 40?per cent less than that of mvCGs. The v2MCG constitutes the first group catalogue to show a statistically large firstsecond ranked galaxy magnitude gap according to TremaineRichstone statistics, as expected if the first ranked group members tend to be the products of galaxy mergers, and as confirmed in the mvCGs. The v2MCG is also the first observed sample to show that first-ranked galaxies tend to be centrally located, again consistent with the predictions obtained from mvCGs. We found no significant correlation of group apparent elongation and velocity dispersion in the quartets among the v2MCGs, and the velocity dispersions of apparently round quartets are not significantly larger than those of chain-like ones, in contrast to what has been previously reported in HCGs. By virtue of its automatic selection with the popular Hickson criteria, its size, its selection on stellar mass, and its statistical signs of mergers and centrally located brightest galaxies, the v2MCG catalogue appears to be the laboratory of choice to study physically dense groups of four or more galaxies of comparable luminosity.

A cyclic bipolar wind in the interacting binary V 393 Scorpii

V393 Scorpii is a double periodic variable characterized by a relatively stable non-orbital photometric cycle of 253 d. Mennickent et al. argue for the presence of a massive optically thick disc around the more massive B-type component and describe the evolutionary stage of the system. In this paper, we analyse the behaviour of the main spectroscopic optical lines during the long non-orbital photometric cycle. We study the radial velocity of the donor determining its orbital elements and find a small but significant orbital eccentricity (e = 0.04). The donor spectral features are modelled and removed from the spectrum at every observing epoch using the light-curve model given by Mennickent et al. We find that the line emission is larger during eclipses and mostly comes from a bipolar wind. We also find that the long cycle is explained in terms of a modulation of the wind strength; the wind has a larger line and continuum emissivity at the high state. We report the discovery of highly variable chromospheric emission in the donor, as revealed by the Doppler maps of the emission lines Mg II 4481 and C I 6588. We discuss notable and some novel spectroscopic features like discrete absorption components, especially visible at blue depressed O I 7773 absorption wings during the second half-cycle, Balmer double emission with V/R curves showing 'Z-type' and 'S-type' excursions around secondary and main eclipses, respectively, and H beta emission wings extending up to +/- 2000 km s(-1). We also discuss possible causes for these phenomena and for their modulations with the long cycle.

MHD numerical simulations of colliding winds in massive binary systems - I. Thermal versus non-thermal radio emission

In the past few decades detailed observations of radio and X-ray emission from massive binary systems revealed a whole new physics present in such systems. Both thermal and non-thermal components of this emission indicate that most of the radiation at these bands originates in shocks. O and B-type stars and WolfRayet (WR) stars present supersonic and massive winds that, when colliding, emit largely due to the freefree radiation. The non-thermal radio and X-ray emissions are due to synchrotron and inverse Compton processes, respectively. In this case, magnetic fields are expected to play an important role in the emission distribution. In the past few years the modelling of the freefree and synchrotron emissions from massive binary systems have been based on purely hydrodynamical simulations, and ad hoc assumptions regarding the distribution of magnetic energy and the field geometry. In this work we provide the first full magnetohydrodynamic numerical simulations of windwind collision in massive binary systems. We study the freefree emission characterizing its dependence on the stellar and orbital parameters. We also study self-consistently the evolution of the magnetic field at the shock region, obtaining also the synchrotron energy distribution integrated along different lines of sight. We show that the magnetic field in the shocks is larger than that obtained when the proportionality between B and the plasma density is assumed. Also, we show that the role of the synchrotron emission relative to the total radio emission has been underestimated.

Probing the properties of Be star discs with spectroastrometry and NLTE radiative transfer modelling: beta CMi

While the presence of discs around classical Be stars is well established, their origin is still uncertain. To understand what processes result in the creation of these discs and how angular momentum is transported within them, their physical properties must be constrained. This requires comparing high spatial and spectral resolution data with detailed radiative transfer modelling. We present a high spectral resolution, R similar to 80 000, sub-milliarcsecond precision, spectroastrometric study of the circumstellar disc around the Be star beta CMi. The data are confronted with 3D, non-local thermodynamic equilibrium radiative transfer calculations to directly constrain the properties of the disc. Furthermore, we compare the data to disc models featuring two velocity laws: Keplerian, the prediction of the viscous disc model, and angular momentum conserving rotation. It is shown that the observations of beta CMi can only be reproduced using Keplerian rotation. The agreement between the model and the observed spectral energy distribution, polarization and spectroastrometric signature of beta CMi confirms that the discs around Be stars are well modelled as viscous decretion discs.

Galaxy triplets in Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7-I. Catalogue

We present a new catalogue of galaxy triplets derived from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7. The identification of systems was performed considering galaxies brighter than Mr=-20.5 and imposing constraints over the projected distances, radial velocity differences of neighbouring galaxies and isolation. To improve the identification of triplets, we employed a data pixelization scheme, which allows us to handle large amounts of data as in the SDSS photometric survey. Using spectroscopic and photometric data in the redshift range 0.01 =z= 0.40, we obtain 5901 triplet candidates. We have used a mock catalogue to analyse the completeness and contamination of our methods. The results show a high level of completeness ( 80 per cent) and low contamination ( 5 per cent). By using photometric and spectroscopic data, we have also addressed the effects of fibre collisions in the spectroscopic sample. We have defined an isolation criterion considering the distance of the triplet brightest galaxy to the closest neighbour cluster, to describe a global environment, as well as the galaxies within a fixed aperture, around the triplet brightest galaxy, to measure the local environment. The final catalogue comprises 1092 isolated triplets of galaxies in the redshift range 0.01 =z= 0.40. Our results show that photometric redshifts provide very useful information, allowing us to complete the sample of nearby systems whose detection is affected by fibre collisions, as well as extending the detection of triplets to large distances, where spectroscopic redshifts are not available.

Bayesian analysis of weak gravitational lensing and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich data for six galaxy clusters

We present an analysis of observations made with the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager (AMI) and the CanadaFranceHawaii Telescope (CFHT) of six galaxy clusters in a redshift range of 0.160.41. The cluster gas is modelled using the SunyaevZeldovich (SZ) data provided by AMI, while the total mass is modelled using the lensing data from the CFHT. In this paper, we (i) find very good agreement between SZ measurements (assuming large-scale virialization and a gas-fraction prior) and lensing measurements of the total cluster masses out to r200; (ii) perform the first multiple-component weak-lensing analysis of A115; (iii) confirm the unusual separation between the gas and mass components in A1914 and (iv) jointly analyse the SZ and lensing data for the relaxed cluster A611, confirming our use of a simulation-derived masstemperature relation for parametrizing measurements of the SZ effect.

Kidney of Minke Whale (Baleanoptera acutorostrata): Architecture and structure

Sarmento C. A. P., Ferreira A. O., Rodrigues E. A. F., Lesnau G. G., Rici R. E. G., Abreu D. K., Biasi C. & Miglino M. A. 2012. [Kidney of Minke Whale (Baleanoptera acutorostrata): Architecture and structure.] Rins de Baleia Minke (Baleanoptera acutorostrata): arquitetura e estrutura. Pesquisa Veterinaria Brasileira 32(8): 807-811. Departamento de Cirurgia, Setor de Anatomia dos Animais Domesticos e Silvestres, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Av. Prof. Dr. Orlando Marques de Paiva 87, Sao Paulo, SP 05508-270, Brazil. E-mail: sarmento@usp.br Among marine mammals, whale is one of the most attention-arousing animals, especially concerning its urinary tract. This system follows the pattern of mammals with regard to its constitution, however, it differs in renal morphology and number of lobes, which, in turn, form complete reniculi, agglutinated in hundreds. This structure is supported by fibrous connective tissue, but highly capable of maintaining electrolyte balance. Six pairs of kidneys of Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), collected in 1982, in Cabedelo, Paraiba, Brazil, in the last fishing allowed, were dissected. These kidneys were preserved in 10% formaldehyde and they presented a very large histologic layer of collagen surrounding the medullary wall. The urinary collecting duct form papillary glasses, that reach a single collecting center which discharges in the ureter. It was found that the kidney of Minke whale has a lobe characteristic, with, on average, 700 reniculi; each reniculus has anatomical and functional characteristics of a unipyramidal kidney, with an inner layer (medulla), and an outer layer (cortex), and independent irrigation, with formation of individually arcuate arteries, as observed in unipyramidal terrestrial mammals. However, the set gathering all these reniculi constitutes, in the end, a multilobular and polipyramidal kidney, contrary to the morphology of most terrestrial mammals. It was not possible to distinguish the renicular cortex structures of the Minke whale in the level of light microscopy. Through scanning electron microscopy, it was possible to visualize a cortical layer located between two fibrous capsules. This joint, in turn, consists of connective tissue, which, along with a layer of collagen and elastic fibers, separates the cortex from the medulla; the kidney glomeruli were visualized, completely taken by the glomerular vessels and arranged into several layers. One notices that the glomerular cavity is almost a virtual space into which the glomerular filtrate is drained, and it does not present a globular shape. Vascularization is increased in the medullary region. The difference between the kidneys of terrestrial and marine mammals consists in the arrangement of morphological components, favoring the organ's physiology.

XMM-Newton EPIC and OM observation of Nova Centauri 1986 (V842 Cen)

We report the results from the temporal and spectral analysis of an XMMNewton observation of Nova Centauri 1986 (V842 Cen). We detect a period at 3.51 +/- 0.4 h in the EPIC data and at 4.0 +/- 0.8 h in the Optical Monitor (OM) data. The X-ray spectrum is consistent with the emission from an absorbed thin thermal plasma with a temperature distribution given by an isobaric cooling flow. The maximum temperature of the cooling flow model is keV. Such a high temperature can be reached in a shocked region and, given the periodicity detected, most likely arises in a magnetically channelled accretion flow characteristic of intermediate polars. The pulsed fraction of the 3.51-h modulation decreases with energy as observed in the X-ray light curves of magnetic cataclysmic variables, possibly due either to occultation of the accretion column by the white dwarf body or phase-dependent to absorption. We do not find the 57-s white dwarf spin period, with a pulse amplitude of 4 mmag, reported by Woudt et al. in either the OM data, which are sensitive to pulse amplitudes ?0.03 mag, or the EPIC data, sensitive to pulse fractions p? 14 +/- 2 per cent.

Alessi 95 and the short-period Cepheid SU Cassiopeiae

The parameters for the newly discovered open cluster Alessi 95 are established on the basis of available photometric and spectroscopic data, in conjunction with new observations. Colour excesses for spectroscopically observed B- and A-type stars near SU Cas follow a reddening relation described by E(U-B)/E(B-V) = 0.83 + 0.02E(B-V), implying a value of R=AV/E(B-V) ? 2.8 for the associated dust. Alessi 95 has a mean reddening of E(B-V)(B0) = 0.35 +/- 0.02 s.e., an intrinsic distance modulus of V0-MV= 8.16 +/- 0.04 s.e. (+/- 0.21 s.d.), d= 429 +/- 8 pc, and an estimated age of 108.2 yr from zero-age main sequence (ZAMS) fitting of available UBV, CCD BV, NOMAD, and Two Micron All Sky Survey JHKs observations of cluster stars. SU Cas is a likely cluster member, with an inferred space reddening of E(B-V) = 0.33 +/- 0.02 and a luminosity of < MV >=-3.15 +/- 0.07 s.e., consistent with overtone pulsation (PFM= 2.75 d), as also implied by the Cepheids light-curve parameters, rate of period increase and Hipparcos parallaxes for cluster stars. There is excellent agreement of the distance estimates for SU Cas inferred from cluster ZAMS fitting, its pulsation parallax derived from the infrared surface brightness technique and Hipparcos parallaxes, which all agree to within a few per cent.

NGC 2782: a merger remnant with young stars in its gaseous tidal tail

We have searched for young star-forming regions around the merger remnant NGC 2782. By using Galaxy Evolution Explorer far-ultraviolet and near-ultraviolet imaging and H i data we found seven ultraviolet sources, located at distances greater than 26 kpc from the centre of NGC 2782, and coinciding with its western H i tidal tail. These regions were resolved in several smaller systems when Gemini/Gemini multi-object spectrograph (GMOS) r-band images were used. We compared the observed colours to stellar population synthesis models and found that these objects have ages of similar to 1 to 11 Myr and masses ranging from 103.9 to 104.6 M circle dot. By using Gemini/GMOS spectroscopic data we confirm memberships and derive high metallicities for three of the young regions in the tail (12+log(O/H) = 8.74 +/- 0.20, 8.81 +/- 0.20 and 8.78 +/- 0.20). These metallicities are similar to the value presented by the nuclear region of NGC 2782 and also similar to the value presented for an object located close to the main body of NGC 2782. The high metallicities measured for the star-forming regions in the gaseous tidal tail of NGC 2782 could be explained if they were formed out of highly enriched gas which was once expelled from the centre of the merging galaxies when the system collided. An additional possibility is that the tail has been a nursery of a few generations of young stellar systems which ultimately polluted this medium with metals, further enriching the already pre-enriched gas ejected to the tail when the galaxies collided.

The globular cluster kinematics and galaxy dark matter content of NGC 3923

This paper presents further results from our spectroscopic study of the globular cluster (GC) system of the group elliptical NGC 3923. From observations made with the GMOS instrument on the Gemini South Telescope, an additional 50 GC and ultra-compact dwarf (UCD) candidates have been spectroscopically confirmed as members of the NGC 3923 system. When the recessional velocities of these GCs are combined with the 29 GC velocities reported previously, a total sample of 79 GC/UCD velocities is produced. This sample extends to over 6 arcmin (>6 R-e similar to 30 kpc) from the centre of NGC 3923 and is used to study the dynamics of the GC system and the dark matter content of NGC 3923. It is found that the GC system of NGC 3923 displays no appreciable rotation, and that the projected velocity dispersion is constant with radius within the uncertainties. The velocity dispersion profiles of the integrated light and GC system of NGC 3923 are indistinguishable over the region in which they overlap. We find some evidence that the diffuse light and GCs of NGC 3923 have radially biased orbits within similar to 130 arcsec. The application of axisymmetric orbit-based models to the GC and integrated light velocity dispersion profiles demonstrates that a significant increase in the mass-to-light ratio (from M/L-V = 8 to 26) at large galactocentric radii is required to explain this observation. We therefore confirm the presence of a dark matter halo in NGC 3923. We find that dark matter comprises 17.5(-4.5)(+7.3) per cent of the mass within 1 R-e, 41.2(-10.6)(+18.2) per cent within 2 R-e and 75.6(-16.8)(+15.4) per cent within the radius of our last kinematic tracer at 6.9 R-e. The total dynamical mass within this radius is found to be 1.5(-0.25)(+0.4) x 10(12) M-circle dot. In common with other studies of large ellipticals, we find that our derived dynamical mass profile is consistently higher than that derived by X-ray observations, by a factor of around 2.