Context. We present the results of a multi-year monitoring campaign of the Galactic center (GC) with the MAGIC telescopes. These observations were primarily motivated by reports that a putative gas ...cloud (G2) would be passing in close proximity to the super-massive black hole (SMBH), associated with Sagittarius A*, located at the center of our galaxy. This event was expected to give astronomers a unique chance to study the effect of in-falling matter on the broad-band emission of a SMBH.Aims. We search for potential flaring emission of very-high-energy (VHE; ≥100 GeV) gamma rays from the direction of the SMBH at the GC due to the passage of the G2 object. Using these data we also study the morphology of this complex region.Methods. We observed the GC region with the MAGIC Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes during the period 2012–2015, collecting 67 h of good-quality data. In addition to a search for variability in the flux and spectral shape of the GC gamma-ray source, we use a point-source subtraction technique to remove the known gamma-ray emitters located around the GC in order to reveal the TeV morphology of the extended emission inside that region.Results. No effect of the G2 object on the VHE gamma-ray emission from the GC was detected during the 4 yr observation campaign. We confirm previous measurements of the VHE spectrum of Sagittarius A*, and do not detect any significant variability of the emission from the source. Furthermore, the known VHE gamma-ray emitter at the location of the supernova remnant G0.9+0.1 was detected, as well as the recently discovered VHE source close to the GG radio arc.Key words: Galaxy: center / gamma rays: general / black hole physics
The microquasar V404 Cygni underwent a series of outbursts in 2015, June 15–31, during which its flux in hard X-rays (20–40 keV) reached about 40 times the Crab nebula flux. Because of the ...exceptional interest of the flaring activity from this source, observations at several wavelengths were conducted. The MAGIC telescopes, triggered by the INTEGRAL alerts, followed-up the flaring source for several nights during the period June 18–27, for more than 10 h. One hour of observation was simultaneously conducted on a giant 22 GHz radio flare and a hint of signal at GeV energies seen by Fermi-LAT. The MAGIC observations did not show significant emission in any of the analysed time intervals. The derived flux upper limit, in the energy range 200–1250 GeV, is 4.8 × 10$^{−12}$ photons cm$^{−2}$ s$^{−1}$. We estimate the gamma-ray opacity during the flaring period, which along with our non-detection points to an inefficient acceleration in the V404 Cyg jets if a very high energy emitter is located further than 1 × 10$^{10}$ cm from the compact object.
The objective of this study was to investigate the usefulness of soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (sTREM-1) in predicting short-term therapeutic response to methotrexate (MTX) ...in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Patients with active RA, with Disease Activity Score-28 joints (DAS-28) >3.2, starting oral MTX, were included. We measured at baseline, 3 and 6 mo: DAS-28, Health Assessment Questionnaire–Disability Index (HAQ-DI), patient’s perception of disease severity, morning stiffness and pain, as well as modifications in sTREM-1 levels. A reduction in DAS-28 > 1.2 at 3 or 6 mo was considered adequate response. A significant decrease in DAS-28 was observed at 3 and 6 mo. HAQ-DI also decreased at 3 and 6 mo. No significant changes were observed in sTREM-1 levels at 3 or 6 mo. Using as cut-off a baseline value of sTREM-1 levels > 390 pg/ml, we obtained low values of sensitivity (61.5%), specificity (59.3%), positive predictive value (59.3%) and negative predictive value (61.5%) for adequate response to MTX at 3 mo. We found no clinical value of sTREM-1 levels in predicting therapeutic response to MTX in RA. Further studies should evaluate if sTREM-1 levels are predictive for other outcomes, including higher structural damage or good response to biologics.
It is widely believed that the bulk of the Galactic cosmic rays is accelerated in supernova remnants (SNRs). However, no observational evidence of the presence of particles of PeV energies in SNRs ...has yet been found. The young historical SNR Cassiopeia A (Cas A) appears as one of the best candidates to study acceleration processes. Between 2014 December and 2016 October, we observed Cas A with the MAGIC telescopes, accumulating 158 h of good quality data. We derived the spectrum of the source from 100 GeV to 10 TeV. We also analysed ∼8 yr of Fermi-LAT to obtain the spectral shape between 60 MeV and 500 GeV. The spectra measured by the LAT and MAGIC telescopes are compatible within the errors and show a clear turn-off (4.6σ) at the highest energies, which can be described with an exponential cut-off at $E_c = 3.5(^{+1.6}_{-1.0})_{{\rm stat}} (^{+0.8}_{-0.9})_{{\rm sys}}$ TeV. The gamma-ray emission from 60 MeV to 10 TeV can be attributed to a population of high-energy protons with a spectral index of ∼2.2 and an energy cut-off at ∼10 TeV. This result indicates that Cas A is not contributing to the high energy (∼PeV) cosmic ray sea in a significant manner at the present moment. A one-zone leptonic model fails to reproduce by itself the multiwavelength spectral energy distribution. Besides, if a non-negligible fraction of the flux seen by MAGIC is produced by leptons, the radiation should be emitted in a region with a low magnetic field (B⪅180 μG) like in the reverse shock.
Spontaneous breaking of Lorentz symmetry at energies on the order of the Planck energy or lower is predicted by many quantum gravity theories, implying non-trivial dispersion relations for the photon ...in vacuum. Consequently, gamma-rays of different energies, emitted simultaneously from astrophysical sources, could accumulate measurable differences in their time of flight until they reach the Earth. Such tests have been carried out in the past using fast variations of gamma-ray flux from pulsars, and more recently from active galactic nuclei and gamma-ray bursts. We present new constraints studying the gamma-ray emission of the galactic Crab Pulsar, recently observed up to TeV energies by the Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov (MAGIC) collaboration. A profile likelihood analysis of pulsar events reconstructed for energies above 400 GeV finds no significant variation in arrival time as their energy increases. Ninety-five percent CL limits are obtained on the effective Lorentz invariance violating energy scale at the level of ${E}_{{\mathrm{QG}}_{1}}\gt 5.5\times {10}^{17}\,\mathrm{GeV}$ ($4.5\times {10}^{17}\,\mathrm{GeV}$) for a linear, and ${E}_{{\mathrm{QG}}_{2}}\gt 5.9\times {10}^{10}\,\mathrm{GeV}$ ($5.3\times {10}^{10}\,\mathrm{GeV}$) for a quadratic scenario, for the subluminal and the superluminal cases, respectively. A substantial part of this study is dedicated to calibration of the test statistic, with respect to bias and coverage properties. Moreover, the limits take into account systematic uncertainties, which are found to worsen the statistical limits by about 36%–42%. Our constraints would have been much more stringent if the intrinsic pulse shape of the pulsar between 200 GeV and 400 GeV was understood in sufficient detail and allowed inclusion of events well below 400 GeV.
MAGIC, a system of two imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, achieves its best performance under dark conditions, i.e. in absence of moonlight or twilight. Since operating the telescopes only ...during dark time would severely limit the duty cycle, observations are also performed when the Moon is present in the sky. Here we develop a dedicated Moon-adapted analysis to characterize the performance of MAGIC under moonlight. We evaluate energy threshold, angular resolution and sensitivity of MAGIC under different background light levels, based on Crab Nebula observations and tuned Monte Carlo simulations. This study includes observations taken under non-standard hardware configurations, such as reducing the camera photomultiplier tubes gain by a factor ∼ 1.7 (reduced HV settings) with respect to standard settings (nominal HV) or using UV-pass filters to strongly reduce the amount of moonlight reaching the cameras of the telescopes. The Crab Nebula spectrum is correctly reconstructed in all the studied illumination levels, that reach up to 30 times brighter than under dark conditions. The main effect of moonlight is an increase in the analysis energy threshold and in the systematic uncertainties on the flux normalization. The sensitivity degradation is constrained to be below 10%, within 15–30% and between 60 and 80% for nominal HV, reduced HV and UV-pass filter observations, respectively. No worsening of the angular resolution was found. Thanks to observations during moonlight, the maximal duty cycle of MAGIC can be increased from ∼ 18%, under dark nights only, to up to ∼ 40% in total with only moderate performance degradation.
B1957+20 is a millisecond pulsar located in a black-widow-type compact binary system with a low-mass stellar companion. The interaction of the pulsar wind with the companion star wind and/or the ...interstellar plasma is expected to create plausible conditions for acceleration of electrons to TeV energies and subsequent production of very high-energy γ-rays in the inverse Compton process. We performed extensive observations with the Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov Telescopes (MAGIC) telescopes of B1957+20. We interpret results in the framework of a few different models, namely emission from the vicinity of the millisecond pulsar, the interaction of the pulsar and stellar companion wind region or bow shock nebula. No significant steady very high-energy γ-ray emission was found. We derived a 95 per cent confidence level upper limit of 3.0 × 10$^{−12}$ cm$^{−2}$ s$^{−1}$ on the average γ-ray emission from the binary system above 200 GeV. The upper limits obtained with the MAGIC constrain, for the first time, different models of the high-energy emission in B1957+20. In particular, in the inner mixed wind nebula model with mono-energetic injection of electrons, the acceleration efficiency of electrons is constrained to be below ∼2–10 per cent of the pulsar spin-down power. For the pulsar emission, the obtained upper limits for each emission peak are well above the exponential cut-off fits to the Fermi-LAT data, extrapolated to energies above 50 GeV. The MAGIC upper limits can rule out a simple power-law tail extension through the sub-TeV energy range for the main peak seen at radio frequencies.
Aims: To investigate the extension of the very-high-energy spectral tail of the Crab pulsar at energies above 400 GeV. Methods: We analyzed \(\sim\)320 hours of good quality data of Crab with the ...MAGIC telescope, obtained from February 2007 until April 2014. Results: We report the most energetic pulsed emission ever detected from the Crab pulsar reaching up to 1.5 TeV. The pulse profile shows two narrow peaks synchronized with the ones measured in the GeV energy range. The spectra of the two peaks follow two different power-law functions from 70 GeV up to 1.5 TeV and connect smoothly with the spectra measured above 10 GeV by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board of the Fermi satellite. When making a joint fit of the LAT and MAGIC data, above 10 GeV, the photon indices of the spectra differ by 0.5\(\pm\)0.1. Conclusions: We measured with the MAGIC telescopes the most energetic pulsed photons from a pulsar to date. Such TeV pulsed photons require a parent population of electrons with a Lorentz factor of at least \(5\times 10^6\). These results strongly suggest IC scattering off low energy photons as the emission mechanism and a gamma-ray production region in the vicinity of the light cylinder.
El propósito de esta investigación consistió en determinar la influencia e impacto que tiene la satisfacción laboral de los empleados en relación con la productividad por medio de un estudio ...exploratorio secuencial. La muestra por selección intencionada está compuesta por 50 empleados del área de planificación y control de producción de una empresa privada dedicada a la industria del vidrio en la Ciudad de Puebla de Zaragoza, Méjico. Se aplicó un instrumento semiestructurado basado en los cuestionarios S10/12 y el S21/26 de Meliá y Peiró. Los resultados fueron analizados estadísticamente con la ayuda del software SPSS. Logrando identificar la existencia de una relación significativa entre satisfacción laboral y la productividad. Donde los aspectos críticos que influyen negativamente en la productividad, están relacionados principalmente con los factores del salario.
La raza Rubia Gallega en los últimos 20 años ha evolucionado a un morfotipo medio y equilibrado, de más armonía y ampulosidad, con la misma alzada y longitud corporal, pero con mayor anchura de pecho ...y capacidad torácica, lo que viene a coincidir con el tipo europeo más idóneo de bovino de producción de carne. La raza tiene, en el momento presente, un formato de tipo medio y proporcionado, tórax profundo, largo y arqueado; dorso y lomos anchos, planos y musculados; y los muslos, nalgas y piernas, convexos, largos y descendidos. El esqueleto es robusto, fuerte y bien desarrollado. Y todas estas condiciones coinciden perfectamente con la conformación general, larga, profunda y con ampulosidad y anchura, de los animales especializados en la producción cárnica. El censo actual de 204.573 hembras en edad reproductora es el más elevado de todas las razas bovinas autóctonas españolas, representando el 6,2% del total del Estado Español. El sistema de explotación es familiar y está basado en el pastoreo, dada su facilidad de manejo y rusticidad. El tipo de producción es un ternero joven que se cría mediante lactancia natural, con destete a los 7-8 meses de edad. La raza Rubia Gallega destaca por su longevidad, cualidades maternales y aceptable producción lechera, a lo que habría que añadir la rusticidad y facilidad de adaptación a medios adversos. Los objetivos y criterios de selección del Programa de Mejora Genética se han establecido considerando la incidencia económica (venta del ternero al destete) y el determinismo genético de las aptitudes cárnicas (el engorde y valor de las canales) y de las cualidades maternales (productividad de las vacas).
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