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This paper presents a 610 MHz radio survey covering 1.94 square degrees around the North Ecliptic Pole (NEP), which includes parts of the AKARI (ADF-N) and Euclid, Deep Fields North. The median 5-sigma sensitivity is 28 microJy beam per beam, reaching as low as 19 microJy per beam, with a synthesised beam of 3.6 x 4.1 arcsec. The catalogue contains 1675 radio components, with 339 grouped into multi-component sources and 284 isolated components likely part of double radio sources. Imaging, cataloguing, and source identification are presented, along with preliminary scientific results. From a non-statistical sub-set of 169 objects with multi-wavelength AKARI and other detections, luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) represent 66 percent of the sample, ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) 4 percent, and sources with L_IR < 1011 L_sun 30 percent. In total, 56 percent of sources show some AGN presence, though only seven are AGN-dominated. ULIRGs require three times higher AGN contribution to produce high-quality SED fits compared to lower luminosity galaxies, and AGN presence increases with AGN fraction. The PAH mass fraction is insignificant, although ULIRGs have about half the PAH strength of lower IR-luminosity galaxies. Higher luminosity galaxies show gas and stellar masses an order of magnitude larger, suggesting higher star formation rates. For LIRGs, AGN presence increases with redshift, indicating that part of the total luminosity could be contributed by AGN activity rather than star formation. Simple cross-matching revealed 13 ROSAT QSOs, 45 X-ray sources, and 61 sub-mm galaxies coincident with GMRT radio sources.

We present the ultraviolet to submillimetre spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of the HERschel Ultra Luminous Infrared Galaxy Survey (HERUS) sample of 42 local ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) and fit them with a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) code using the CYprus models for Galaxies and their NUclear Spectra (CYGNUS) radiative transfer models for starbursts, active galactic nucleus (AGN) tori and host galaxy. The Spitzer IRS spectroscopy data are included in the fitting. Our bayesian SED fitting method takes comparable time to popular energy balance methods but it is more physically motivated and versatile. All HERUS galaxies harbor high rates of star formation but we also find bolometrically significant AGN in all of the galaxies of the sample. We estimate the correction of the luminosities of the AGN in the ULIRGs due to the anisotropic emission of the torus and find that it could be up to a factor of $\sim10$ for nearly edge-on tori. We present a comparison of our results with the smooth torus model of Fritz et al. and the two-phase models of Siebenmorgen et al. and SKIRTOR. We find that the CYGNUS AGN torus models fit significantly better the SEDs of our sample compared to all other models. We find no evidence that strong AGN appear either at the beginning or end of a starburst episode or that starbursts and AGN affect each other. IRAS 01003-2238 and Mrk 1014 show evidence for dual AGN in their SED fits suggesting a minimum dual AGN fraction in the sample of 5%., Comment: Published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The CYGNUS models used in this paper are available at https://arc.euc.ac.cy/cygnus/

We present the multi-wavelength counterparts of 850-$\mu$m selected submillimetre sources over a 2-deg$^2$ field centred on the North Ecliptic Pole. In order to overcome the large beam size (15 arcsec) of the 850-$\mu$m images, deep optical to near-infrared (NIR) photometric data and arcsecond-resolution 20-cm images are used to identify counterparts of submillimetre sources. Among 647 sources, we identify 514 reliable counterparts for 449 sources (69 per cent in number), based either on probabilities of chance associations calculated from positional offsets or offsets combined with the optical-to-NIR colours. In the radio imaging, the fraction of 850-$\mu$m sources having multiple counterparts is 7 per cent. The photometric redshift, infrared luminosity, stellar mass, star-formation rate (SFR), and the AGN contribution to the total infrared luminosity of the identified counterparts are investigated through spectral energy distribution fitting. The SMGs are infrared-luminous galaxies at an average $\langle z\rangle=2.5$ with $\mathrm{log}_{10} (L_\mathrm{IR}/\mathrm{L}_\odot)=11.5-13.5$, with a mean stellar mass of $\mathrm{log}_{10} (M_\mathrm{star}/\mathrm{M}_\odot)=10.90$ and SFR of $\mathrm{log}_{10} (\mathrm{SFR/M_\odot\,yr^{-1}})=2.34$. The SMGs show twice as large SFR as galaxies on the star-forming main sequence, and about 40 per cent of the SMGs are classified as objects with bursty star formation. At $z\ge4$, the contribution of AGN luminosity to total luminosity for most SMGs is larger than 30 per cent. The FIR-to-radio correlation coefficient of SMGs is consistent with that of main-sequence galaxies at $z\simeq2$., Comment: 24 pages, 16 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Motivated primarily by the large uncertainties in the thermonuclear rate of the $^{30}$P$(p,\gamma)^{31}$S reaction that limit our understanding of classical novae, we carried out lifetime measurements of $^{31}$S excited states using the Doppler Shift Lifetimes (DSL) facility at the TRIUMF Isotope Separator and Accelerator (ISAC-II) facility. The $^{31}$S excited states were populated by the $^{3}$He$(^{32}$S$,\alpha)^{31}$S reaction. The deexcitation $\gamma$ rays were detected by a clover-type high-purity germanium detector in coincidence with the $\alpha$ particles detected by a silicon detector telescope. We have applied modern Markov chain Monte Carlo-based Bayesian methods to perform lineshape analyses of Doppler-shift attenuation method $\gamma$-ray data for the first time. We have determined the lifetimes of the two lowest-lying $^{31}$S excited states. First experimental upper limits on the lifetimes of four higher-lying states have been obtained. The experimental results were compared to shell-model calculations using five universal $sd$-shell Hamiltonians. Evidence for $\gamma$ rays originating from the astrophysically important $J^\pi=3/2^+$, 260-keV $^{30}$P$(p,\gamma)^{31}$S resonance has also been observed, although strong constraints on the lifetime will require better statistics.

We aim to generate a catalogue of merging galaxies within the 5.4 sq. deg. North Ecliptic Pole over the redshift range $0.0 < z < 0.3$. To do this, imaging data from the Hyper Suprime-Cam are used along with morphological parameters derived from these same data. The catalogue was generated using a hybrid approach. Two neural networks were trained to perform binary merger non-merger classifications: one for galaxies with $z < 0.15$ and another for $0.15 \leq z < 0.30$. Each network used the image and morphological parameters of a galaxy as input. The galaxies that were identified as merger candidates by the network were then visually checked by experts. The resulting mergers will be used to calculate the merger fraction as a function of redshift and compared with literature results. We found that 86.3% of galaxy mergers at $z < 0.15$ and 79.0% of mergers at $0.15 \leq z < 0.30$ are expected to be correctly identified by the networks. Of the 34 264 galaxies classified by the neural networks, 10 195 were found to be merger candidates. Of these, 2109 were visually identified to be merging galaxies. We find that the merger fraction increases with redshift, consistent with literature results from observations and simulations, and that there is a mild star-formation rate enhancement in the merger population of a factor of $1.102 \pm 0.084$., Comment: Accepted to A&A, 26 pages, 20 figures, 8 tables, 3 appendixes, full tables 1 and 4 will be available on CDS

The occurrence of octupole shapes in even-mass neutron-rich Ba isotopes has been well established. However, the situation with the odd-mass Ba and odd or odd-odd La nuclei around them is far from settled. In order to shed light on these less-studied isotopes, a fast-timing experiment was performed using GRIFFIN at TRIUMF-ISAC. A wealth of excited-state lifetimes in the 100~ps to few ns range have been measured in $^{144, 145, 146}$Ba and $^{145,146}$La populated in the $\beta^-$ and $\beta^--n$ decay of $^{145,146}$Cs. The results do not allow to draw firm conclusions on the possible octupole deformation of these nuclei but suggest different spin and parity assignments than previous works. This work highlights the need for more detailed study of the odd and odd-odd isotopes in this region to properly understand their structure., Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures

Galaxy clusters provide an excellent probe in various research fields in astrophysics and cosmology. However, the number of galaxy clusters detected so far in the $AKARI$ North Ecliptic Pole (NEP) field is limited. In this work, we provide galaxy cluster candidates in the $AKARI$ NEP field with the minimum requisites based only on coordinates and photometric redshift (photo-$z$) of galaxies. We used galaxies detected in 5 optical bands ($g$, $r$, $i$, $z$, and $Y$) by the Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC), assisted with $u$-band from Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) MegaPrime/MegaCam, and IRAC1 and IRAC2 bands from the $Spitzer$ space telescope for photo-$z$ estimation. We calculated the local density around every galaxy using the 10$^{th}$-nearest neighbourhood. Cluster candidates were determined by applying the friends-of-friends algorithm to over-densities. 88 cluster candidates containing 4390 member galaxies below redshift 1.1 in 5.4 deg$^2$ have been detected. The reliability of our method was examined through false detection tests, redshift uncertainty tests, and applications on the COSMOS data, giving false detection rates of 0.01 to 0.05 and recovery rate of 0.9 at high richness. 3 X-ray clusters previously observed by $ROSAT$ and $Chandra$ were recovered. The cluster galaxies show higher stellar mass and lower star formation rate (SFR) compared to the field galaxies in two-sample Z-tests. These cluster candidates are useful for environmental studies of galaxy evolution and future astronomical surveys in the NEP, where $AKARI$ has performed unique 9-band mid-infrared photometry for tens of thousands of galaxies., Comment: 19 pages, 16 figures, has been accepted for publication in MNRAS

Dusty high-z galaxies are extreme objects with high star formation rates (SFRs) and luminosities. Characterising the properties of this population and analysing their evolution over cosmic time is key to understanding galaxy evolution in the early Universe. We select a sample of high-z dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) and evaluate their position on the main sequence (MS) of star-forming galaxies, the well-known correlation between stellar mass and SFR. We aim to understand the causes of their high star formation and quantify the percentage of DSFGs that lie above the MS. We adopted a multi-wavelength approach with data from optical to submillimetre wavelengths from surveys at the North Ecliptic Pole (NEP) to study a submillimetre sample of high-redshift galaxies. Two submillimetre selection methods were used, including: sources selected at 850$\mathrm{\, \mu m}$ with the Sub-millimetre Common-User Bolometer Array 2) SCUBA-2 instrument and {\it Herschel}-Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) selected sources (colour-colour diagrams and 500$\mathrm{\, \mu m}$ risers), finding that 185 have good multi-wavelength coverage. The resulting sample of 185 high-z candidates was further studied by spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting with the CIGALE fitting code. We derived photometric redshifts, stellar masses, SFRs, and additional physical parameters, such as the infrared luminosity and active galactic nuclei (AGN) contribution. We find that the different results in the literature are, only in part, due to selection effects. The difference in measured SFRs affects the position of DSFGs on the MS of galaxies; most of the DSFGs lie on the MS (60\%). Finally, we find that the star formation efficiency (SFE) depends on the epoch and intensity of the star formation burst in the galaxy; the later the burst, the more intense the star formation.

Presented here is the design of the Mechanical Ventilator Milano (MVM), a novel mechanical ventilator designed for rapid mass production in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to address the urgent shortage of intensive therapy ventilators in many countries, and the growing difficulty in procuring these devices through normal supply chains across borders. This ventilator is an electro-mechanical equivalent of the old and reliable Manley Ventilator, and is able to operate in both pressure-controlled and pressure-supported ventilation modes. MVM is optimized for the COVID-19 emergency, thanks to the collaboration with medical doctors in the front line. MVM is designed for large-scale production in a short amount of time and at a limited cost, as it relays on off-the-shelf components, readily available worldwide. Operation of the MVM requires only a source of compressed oxygen (or compressed medical air) and electrical power. Initial tests of a prototype device with a breathing simulator are also presented. Further tests and developments are underway. At this stage the MVM is not yet a certified medical device but certification is in progress.

The $\beta$ decay of the isomeric and ground state of $^{50}$Sc to the semi-magic nucleus $^{50}_{22}$Ti$_{28}$ has been studied using a $^{50}$Ca beam delivered to the GRIFFIN $\gamma$-ray spectrometer at the TRIUMF-ISAC facility. $\beta$-decay branching ratios are reported to 16 excited states with a total of 38 $\gamma$-ray transitions linking them. These new data significantly expands the information available over previous studies. Relative intensities are measured to less than 0.001$\%$ that of the strongest transition with the majority of $\gamma$-ray transitions observed here in $\beta$ decay for the first time. The data are compared to shell-model calculations utilizing both phenomenologically-derived interactions employed in the ${\it pf}$ shell as well as a state-of-the-art, ${\it ab~initio}$ based interaction built in the valence-space in-medium similarity renormalization group framework., Comment: Regular article, nuclear beta decay, gamma-ray spectroscopy, ab initio nuclear model, 12 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables

With the recent discovery of a dozen dusty star-forming galaxies and around 30 quasars at z>5 that are hyper-luminous in the infrared ($\mu$$L_{\rm IR}>10^{13}$ L$_{\odot}$, where $\mu$ is a lensing magnification factor), the possibility has opened up for SPICA, the proposed ESA M5 mid-/far-infrared mission, to extend its spectroscopic studies toward the epoch of reionization and beyond. In this paper, we examine the feasibility and scientific potential of such observations with SPICA's far-infrared spectrometer SAFARI, which will probe a spectral range (35-230 $\mu$m) that will be unexplored by ALMA and JWST. Our simulations show that SAFARI is capable of delivering good-quality spectra for hyper-luminous infrared galaxies (HyLIRGs) at z=5-10, allowing us to sample spectral features in the rest-frame mid-infrared and to investigate a host of key scientific issues, such as the relative importance of star formation versus AGN, the hardness of the radiation field, the level of chemical enrichment, and the properties of the molecular gas. From a broader perspective, SAFARI offers the potential to open up a new frontier in the study of the early Universe, providing access to uniquely powerful spectral features for probing first-generation objects, such as the key cooling lines of low-metallicity or metal-free forming galaxies (fine-structure and H2 lines) and emission features of solid compounds freshly synthesized by Population III supernovae. Ultimately, SAFARI's ability to explore the high-redshift Universe will be determined by the availability of sufficiently bright targets (whether intrinsically luminous or gravitationally lensed). With its launch expected around 2030, SPICA is ideally positioned to take full advantage of upcoming wide-field surveys such as LSST, SKA, Euclid, and WFIRST, which are likely to provide extraordinary targets for SAFARI., Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in PASA (SPICA special issue)

Gamma-Ray Infrastructure For Fundamental Investigations of Nuclei, GRIFFIN, is a new high-efficiency $\gamma$-ray spectrometer designed for use in decay spectroscopy experiments with low-energy radioactive ion beams provided by TRIUMF's Isotope Separator and Accelerator (ISAC-I) facility. GRIFFIN is composed of sixteen Compton-suppressed large-volume clover-type high-purity germanium (HPGe) $\gamma$-ray detectors combined with a suite of ancillary detection systems and coupled to a custom digital data acquisition system. The infrastructure and detectors of the spectrometer as well as the performance characteristics and the analysis techniques applied to the experimental data are described.

Deep MIR surveys have revealed numerous strongly star-forming galaxies at redshift z~<2. Their MIR fluxes are produced by a combination of continuum and PAH emission features. The PAH features can dominate the total MIR flux, but are difficult to measure without spectroscopy. We aim to study star-forming galaxies by using a blind spectroscopic survey at MIR wavelengths to understand evolution of their star formation rate (SFR) and specific SFR up to z~=0.5, by paying particular attention to their PAH properties. We conducted a low-resolution (R~=50) slitless spectroscopic survey at 5-13um of 9um flux-selected sources (>0.3 mJy) around the North Ecliptic Pole with the Infrared Camera (IRC) onboard AKARI. After removing 11 AGN candidates by using the IRC photometry, we identified 48 PAH galaxies with PAH 6.2, 7.7, and 8.6um features at z<0.5. The rest-frame optical-MIR spectral energy distributions (SEDs) based on CFHT and AKARI/IRC imaging covering 0.37-18um were produced, and analysed in conjunction with the PAH spectroscopy. We defined the PAH enhancement by using the luminosity ratio of the 7.7um PAH feature over the 3.5um stellar component of the SEDs. The rest-frame SEDs of all PAH galaxies have a universal shape with stellar and 7.7um bumps, except that the PAH enhancement significantly varies as a function of the PAH luminosities. We identified a PAH-enhanced population at z~>0.35, whose SEDs and luminosities are typical of luminous infrared galaxies. They show particularly larger PAH enhancement at high luminosity, implying that they are vigorous star-forming galaxies with elevated specific SFR. Our composite starburst model that combines a very young and optically very thick starburst with a very old population can successfully reproduce most of their SED characteristics, although we could not confirm this optically thick component from our spectral analysis., Comment: 61 pages, 24 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

For a sample of star forming galaxies in the redshift interval 0.15$<$z$<$0.3, we study how both the relative strength of the AGN infra-red emission, compared to that due to the star formation (SF), and the numerical fraction of AGNs, change as a function of the total stellar mass of the hosting galaxy group (M$^{*}_{\mathrm{group}}$), between $10^{10.25}$ and $10^{11.9}$M$_{\odot}$. Using a multi-component SED fitting analysis, we separate the contribution of stars, AGN torus and star formation to the total emission at different wavelengths. This technique is applied to a new multi-wavelength data-set in the SIMES field (23 not redundant photometric bands), spanning the wavelength range from the UV (GALEX) to the far-IR (Herschel) and including crucial AKARI and WISE mid-IR observations (4.5 \mu m$<\lambda<$24 \mu m), where the BH thermal emission is stronger. This new photometric catalog, that includes our best photo-z estimates, is released through the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA). Groups are identified through a friends of friends algorithm ($\sim$62% purity, $\sim$51% completeness). We identified a total of 45 galaxies requiring an AGN emission component, 35 of which in groups and 10 in the field. We find BHAR$\propto ($M$^{*}_{\mathrm{group}})^{1.21\pm0.27}$ and (BHAR/SFR)$\propto ($M$^{*}_{\mathrm{group}})^{1.04\pm0.24}$ while, in the same range of M$^{*}_{\mathrm{group}}$, we do not observe any sensible change in the numerical fraction of AGNs. Our results indicate that the nuclear activity (i.e. the BHAR and the BHAR/SFR ratio) is enhanced when galaxies are located in more massive and richer groups., Comment: 31 pages, 23 figures

We present the Herschel-SPIRE photometric atlas for a complete flux limited sample of 43 local Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIRGs), selected at 60${\mu}$m by IRAS, as part of the HERschel ULIRG Survey (HERUS). Photometry observations were obtained using the SPIRE instrument at 250, 350 and 500${\mu}$m. We describe these observations, present the results, and combine the new observations with data from IRAS to examine the far-IR spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of these sources. We fit the observed SEDs of HERUS objects with a simple parameterised modified black body model where temperature and emissivity $\beta$ are free parameters. We compare the fitted values to those of non-ULIRG local galaxies, and find, in agreement with earlier results, that HERUS ULIRGs have warmer dust (median temperature T = 37.9+/-4.7 K compared to 21.3+/-3.4 K) but a similar $\beta$ distribution (median $\beta$ = 1.7 compared to 1.8) to the Herschel reference sample (HRS, Cortese et al., 2014) galaxies. Dust masses are found to be in the range of 10^7.5 to 10^9 Msun significantly higher than that of Herschel Reference Sample (HRS) sources. We compare our results for local ULIRGs with higher redshift samples selected at 250 and 850${\mu}$m. These latter sources generally have cooler dust and/or redder 100-to-250 ${\mu}$m colours than our 60${\mu}$m-selected ULIRGs. We show that this difference may in part be the result of the sources being selected at different wavelengths rather than being a simple indication of rapid evolution in the properties of the population., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present a photometric catalog for Spitzer Space Telescope warm mission observations of the North Ecliptic Pole (NEP; centered at $\rm R.A.=18^h00^m00^s$, $\rm Decl.=66^d33^m38^s.552$). The observations are conducted with IRAC in 3.6 $\mu$m and 4.5 $\mu$m bands over an area of 7.04 deg$^2$ reaching 1$\sigma$ depths of 1.29 $\mu$Jy and 0.79 $\mu$Jy in the 3.6 $\mu$m and 4.5 $\mu$m bands respectively. The photometric catalog contains 380,858 sources with 3.6 $\mu$m and 4.5 $\mu$m band photometry over the full-depth NEP mosaic. Point source completeness simulations show that the catalog is 80% complete down to 19.7 AB. The accompanying catalog can be utilized in constraining the physical properties of extra-galactic objects, studying the AGN population, measuring the infrared colors of stellar objects, and studying the extra-galactic infrared background light., Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures and 3 tables. Accepted to the ApJS

We present the first detailed analysis of three extragalactic fields (IRAC Dark Field, ELAIS-N1, ADF-S) observed by the infrared satellite, AKARI, using an optimised data analysis toolkit specifically for the processing of extragalactic point sources. The InfraRed Camera (IRC) on AKARI complements the Spitzer space telescope via its comprehensive coverage between 8-24 microns filling the gap between the Spitzer IRAC and MIPS instruments. Source counts in the AKARI bands at 3.2, 4.1, 7, 11, 15 and 18 microns are presented. At near-infrared wavelengths, our source counts are consistent with counts made in other AKARI fields and in general with Spitzer/IRAC (except at 3.2 microns where our counts lie above). In the mid-infrared (11 - 18 microns) we find our counts are consistent with both previous surveys by AKARI and the Spitzer peak-up imaging survey with the InfraRed Spectrograph (IRS). Using our counts to constrain contemporary evolutionary models we find that although the models and counts are in agreement at mid-infrared wavelengths there are inconsistencies at wavelengths shortward of 7 microns, suggesting either a problem with stellar subtraction or indicating the need for refinement of the stellar population models. We have also investigated the AKARI/IRC filters, and find an AGN selection criteria out to $z<2$ on the basis of AKARI 4.1, 11, 15 and 18 microns colours., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Gamma-Ray Infrastructure For Fundamental Investigations of Nuclei, GRIFFIN, is a new experimental facility for radioactive decay studies at the TRIUMF-ISAC laboratory. This article describes the details of the custom designed GRIFFIN digital data acquisition system. The features of the system that will enable high-precision half-life and branching ratio measurements with levels of uncertainty better than 0.05% are described. The system has demonstrated the ability to effectively collect signals from High-purity germanium crystals at counting rates up to 50kHz while maintaining good energy resolution, detection efficiency and spectral quality.

The recent updates of the North Ecliptic Pole deep (0.5~deg$^2$, NEP-Deep) multi-wavelength survey covering from X-ray to radio-wave is presented. The NEP-Deep provides us with several thousands of 15~$\mu$m or 18~$\mu$m selected sample of galaxies, which is the largest sample ever made at this wavelengths. A continuous filter coverage in the mid-infrared wavelength (7, 9, 11, 15, 18, and 24~$\mu$m) is unique and vital to diagnose the contributions from starbursts and AGNs in the galaxies out to $z$=2.The new goal of the project is to resolve the nature of the cosmic star formation history at the violent epoch (e.g. $z$=1--2), and to find a clue to understand its decline from $z$=1 to present universe by utilizing the unique power of the multi-wavelength survey. The progress in this context is briefly mentioned., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, AKARI conference proceedings; accepted to PKAS

The GRIFFIN spectrometer at TRIUMF-ISAC has been used to study excited states and transitions in $^{50}$Sc following the $\beta$-decay of $^{50}$Ca. Branching ratios were determined from the measured $\gamma$-ray intensities, and angular correlations of $\gamma$ rays have been used to firmly assign the spins of excited states. The presence of an isomeric state that decays by an $M3$ transition with a $B(M3)$ strength of 13.6(7)\,W.u. has been confirmed. We compare with the first {\it ab initio} calculations of $B(M3$) strengths in light and medium-mass nuclei from the valence-space in-medium similarity renormalization group approach, using consistently derived effective Hamiltonians and $M3$ operator. The experimental data are well reproduced for isoscalar $M3$ transitions when using bare $g$-factors, but the strength of isovector $M3$ transitions are found to be underestimated by an order of magnitude.

Our current knowledge of star formation and accretion luminosity at high-redshift (z>3-4), as well as the possible connections between them, relies mostly on observations in the rest-frame ultraviolet (UV), which are strongly affected by dust obscuration. Due to the lack of sensitivity of past and current infrared (IR) instrumentation, so far it has not been possible to get a glimpse into the early phases of the dust-obscured Universe. Among the next generation of IR observatories, SPICA, observing in the 12-350 micron range, will be the only facility that can enable us to make the required leap forward in understanding the obscured star-formation rate and black-hole accretion rate densities (SFRD and BHARD, respectively) with respect to what Spitzer and Herschel achieved in the mid- and far-IR at z<3. In particular, SPICA will have the unique ability to trace the evolution of the obscured SFRD and BHARD over cosmic time, from the peak of their activity back to the reionisation epoch (i.e., 3

We built a 8um selected sample of galaxies in the NEP-AKARI field by defining 4 redshift bins with the four AKARI bands at 11, 15, 18 and 24 microns (0.15

A Coulomb-excitation reorientation-effect measurement using the TIGRESS $\gamma-$ray spectrometer at the TRIUMF/ISAC II facility has permitted the first determination of the $\langle 2^+_1\mid\mid \hat{E2} \mid\mid 2^+_1\rangle$ diagonal matrix element in $^{12}$C from particle$-\gamma$ coincidence data. Required state-of-the-art no-core shell model calculations of the nuclear polarizability for the ground and first-excited (2$^+_1$) states in $^{12}$C using chiral NN N$^4$LO500 and NN+3NF350 interactions have been performed. Consistent predictions show a larger polarizability than previously anticipated. The polarizability of the 2$^+_1$ state is introduced into the current and previous Coulomb-excitation reorientation-effect analysis of $^{12}$C. Spectroscopic quadrupole moments of $Q_{_S}(2_1^+)= +0.053(44)$ eb and $Q_{_S}(2_1^+)= +0.08(3)$ eb are determined, respectively, yielding a weighted average of $Q_{_S}(2_1^+)= +0.071(25)$ eb, in agreement with recent ab initio calculations. The present measurement confirms that the 2$^+_1$ state of $^{12}$C is oblate and emphasizes the important role played by the nuclear polarizability in Coulomb-excitation studies of light nuclei.

We describe an update to the Herschel-SPIRE Fourier-Transform Spectrometer (FTS) calibration for extended sources, which incorporates a correction for the frequency-dependent far-field feedhorn efficiency, $\eta_\mathrm{FF}$. This significant correction affects all FTS extended-source calibrated spectra in sparse or mapping mode, regardless of the spectral resolution. Line fluxes and continuum levels are underestimated by factors of 1.3-2 in the Spectrometer Long-Wavelength band (SLW, 447-1018 GHz; 671-294 $\mu$m) and 1.4-1.5 in the Spectrometer Short-Wavelength band (SSW, 944-1568 GHz; 318-191 $\mu$m). The correction was implemented in the FTS pipeline version 14.1 and has also been described in the SPIRE Handbook since Feb 2017. Studies based on extended-source calibrated spectra produced prior to this pipeline version should be critically reconsidered using the current products available in the Herschel Science Archive. Once the extended-source calibrated spectra are corrected for $\eta_\mathrm{FF}$, the synthetic photometry and the broadband intensities from SPIRE photometer maps agree within 2-4% -- similar levels to the comparison of point-source calibrated spectra and photometry from point-source calibrated maps. The two calibration schemes for the FTS are now self-consistent: the conversion between the corrected extended-source and point-source calibrated spectra can be achieved with the beam solid angle and a gain correction that accounts for the diffraction loss., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, MNRAS in press

The SPIRE Fourier Transform Spectrometer on board the Herschel Space Observatory had two standard spectral resolution modes for science observations: high resolution (HR) and low resolution (LR), which could also be performed in sequence (H+LR). A comparison of the HR and LR resolution spectra taken in this sequential mode, revealed a systematic discrepancy in the continuum level. Analysing the data at different stages during standard pipeline processing, demonstrates the telescope and instrument emission affect HR and H+LR observations in a systematically different way. The origin of this difference is found to lie in the variation of both the telescope and instrument response functions, while it is triggered by fast variation of the instrument temperatures. As it is not possible to trace the evolution of the response functions through auxiliary housekeeping parameters, the calibration cannot be corrected analytically. Therefore an empirical correction for LR spectra has been developed, which removes the systematic noise introduced by the variation of the response functions., Comment: 13 pages, 17 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present the first results of a new data analysis pipeline for processing extragalactic AKARI/IRC images. The main improvements of the pipeline over the standard analysis are the removal of Earth shine and image distortion correction. We present the differential number counts of the AKARI/IRC S11 filter IRAC validation field. The differential number counts are consistent with S11 AKARI NEP deep and 12 microns WISE NEP number counts, and with a phenomenological backward evolution galaxy model, at brighter fluxes densities. There is a detection of deeper galaxies in the IRAC validation field., Comment: Accepted for publication in the Publications of the Korean Astronomical Society. Based on review at The Universe in the Light of AKARI and Synergy with future Large Space Telescopes, Oxford, 2014

We present an intrinsic AGN SED extending from the optical to the submm, derived with a sample of unobscured, optically luminous (vLv(5100)>10^43.5 erg/s) QSOs at z<0.18 from the Palomar Green survey. The intrinsic AGN SED was computed by removing the contribution from stars using the 11.3um polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) feature in the QSOs' mid-IR spectra; the 1sigma uncertainty on the SED ranges between 12 and 45 per cent as a function of wavelength and is a combination of PAH flux measurement errors and the uncertainties related to the conversion between PAH luminosity and star-forming luminosity. Longwards of 20um the shape of the intrinsic AGN SED is independent of the AGN power indicating that our template should be applicable to all systems hosting luminous AGN (vLv(5100) or L_X(2-10keV) > 10^43.5 erg/s). We note that for our sample of luminous QSOs, the average AGN emission is at least as high as, and mostly higher than, the total stellar powered emission at all wavelengths from the optical to the submm. This implies that in many galaxies hosting powerful AGN, there is no `safe' broadband photometric observation (at lambda<1000um) which can be used in calculating star-formation rates without subtracting the AGN contribution. Roughly, the AGN contribution may be ignored only if the intrinsic AGN luminosity at 5100 Ang is at least a factor of 4 smaller than the total infrared luminosity (L_IR; 8-1000um) of the galaxy. Finally, we examine the implication of our work in statistical studies of star-formation in AGN host galaxies., Comment: 22 pages, 21 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present the data processing pipeline to generate calibrated data products from the Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer on the Herschel Space Observatory. The pipeline processes telemetry from SPIRE observations and produces calibrated spectra for all resolution modes. The spectrometer pipeline shares some elements with the SPIRE photometer pipeline, including the conversion of telemetry packets into data timelines and calculation of bolometer voltages. We present the following fundamental processing steps unique to the spectrometer: temporal and spatial interpolation of the scan mechanism and detector data to create interferograms; Fourier transformation; apodization; and creation of a data cube. We also describe the corrections for various instrumental effects including first- and second-level glitch identification and removal, correction of the effects due to emission from the Herschel telescope and from within the spectrometer instrument, interferogram baseline correction, temporal and spatial phase correction, non-linear response of the bolometers, and variation of instrument performance across the focal plane arrays. Astronomical calibration is based on combinations of observations of standard astronomical sources and regions of space known to contain minimal emission., Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, MNRAS in press

We present the Spitzer-IRAC/MIPS Extragalactic survey (SIMES) in the South Ecliptic Pole (SEP) field. The large area covered (7.7 deg$^2$), together with one of the lowest Galactic cirrus emissions in the entire sky and a very extensive coverage by Spitzer, Herschel, Akari, and GALEX, make the SIMES field ideal for extragalactic studies. The elongated geometry of the SIMES area ($\approx$4:1), allowing for a significant cosmic variance reduction, further improves the quality of statistical studies in this field. Here we present the reduction and photometric measurements of the Spitzer/IRAC data. The survey reaches a depth of 1.93 and 1.75 $\mu$Jy (1$\sigma$) at 3.6 and 4.5 $\mu$m, respectively. We discuss the multiwavelength IRAC--based catalog, completed with optical, mid-- and far--IR observations. We detect 341,000 sources with F$_{3.6\mu m} \geq 3\sigma$. Of these, 10% have an associated 24 $\mu$m counterpart, while 2.7% have an associated SPIRE source. We release the catalog through the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA). Two scientific applications of these IRAC data are presented in this paper: first we compute integral number counts at 3.6 $\mu$m. Second, we use the [3.6]--[4.5] color index to identify galaxy clusters at z$>$1.3. We select 27 clusters in the full area, a result consistent with previous studies at similar depth.

We combine Herschel/SPIRE sub-millimeter (submm) observations with existing multi-wavelength data to investigate the characteristics of low redshift, optically red galaxies detected in submm bands. We select a sample of galaxies in the redshift range 0.01$\leq$z$\leq$0.2, having >5$\sigma$ detections in the SPIRE 250 micron submm waveband. Sources are then divided into two sub-samples of $red$ and $blue$ galaxies, based on their UV-optical colours. Galaxies in the $red$ sample account for $\approx$4.2 per cent of the total number of sources with stellar masses M$_{*}\gtrsim$10$^{10}$ Solar-mass. Following visual classification of the $red$ galaxies, we find that $\gtrsim$30 per cent of them are early-type galaxies and $\gtrsim$40 per cent are spirals. The colour of the $red$-spiral galaxies could be the result of their highly inclined orientation and/or a strong contribution of the old stellar population. It is found that irrespective of their morphological types, $red$ and $blue$ sources occupy environments with more or less similar densities (i.e., the $\Sigma_5$ parameter). From the analysis of the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies in our samples based on MAGPHYS, we find that galaxies in the $red$ sample (of any morphological type) have dust masses similar to those in the $blue$ sample (i.e. normal spiral/star-forming systems). However, in comparison to the $red$-spirals and in particular $blue$ systems, $red$-ellipticals have lower mean dust-to-stellar mass ratios. Besides galaxies in the $red$-elliptical sample have much lower mean star-formation/specific-star-formation rates in contrast to their counterparts in the $blue$ sample. Our results support a scenario where dust in early-type systems is likely to be of an external origin., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS - Paper without gallery of galaxy post-stamp images (in appendix). Full paper with appendix is available here: http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~adariush/hatlas_alidariush_20151125.pdf

We used wide area surveys over 39 deg$^2$ by the HerMES collaboration, performed with the Herschel Observatory SPIRE multi-wavelength camera, to estimate the low-redshift, $0.02

We present a method of selection of 24~$\mu$m galaxies from the AKARI North Ecliptic Pole (NEP) Deep Field down to $150 \mbox{ }\mu$Jy and measurements of their two-point correlation function. We aim to associate various 24 $\mu$m selected galaxy populations with present day galaxies and to investigate the impact of their environment on the direction of their subsequent evolution. We discuss using of Support Vector Machines (SVM) algorithm applied to infrared photometric data to perform star-galaxy separation, in which we achieve an accuracy higher than 80\%. The photometric redshift information, obtained through the CIGALE code, is used to explore the redshift dependence of the correlation function parameter ($r_{0}$) as well as the linear bias evolution. This parameter relates galaxy distribution to the one of the underlying dark matter. We connect the investigated sources to their potential local descendants through a simplified model of the clustering evolution without interactions. We observe two different populations of star-forming galaxies, at $z_{med}\sim 0.25$, $z_{med}\sim 0.9$. Measurements of total infrared luminosities ($L_{TIR}$) show that the sample at $z_{med}\sim 0.25$ is composed mostly of local star-forming galaxies, while the sample at $z_{med}\sim0.9$ is composed of luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) with $L_{TIR}\sim 10^{11.62}L_{\odot}$. We find that dark halo mass is not necessarily correlated with the $L_{TIR}$: for subsamples with $L_{TIR}= 10^{11.15} L_{\odot}$ at $z_{med}\sim 0.7$ we observe a higher clustering length ($r_{0}=6.21\pm0.78$ $[h^{-1} \mbox{Mpc}]$) than for a subsample with mean $L_{TIR}=10^{11.84} L_{\odot}$ at $z_{med}\sim1.1$ ($r_{0}=5.86\pm0.69$ $h^{-1} \mbox{Mpc}$). We find that galaxies at $z_{med}\sim 0.9$ can be ancestors of present day $L_{*}$ early type galaxies, which exhibit a very high $r_{0}\sim 8$~$h^{-1} \mbox{Mpc}$., Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures

Several lifetimes in 23Mg have been determined for the first time using the Doppler-shift attenuation method. A Monte Carlo simulation code has been written to model the gamma-ray line shape. An upper limit of 12 fs at the 95% C.L. has been obtained for the astrophysically important 7787 keV state.

The Daya Bay experiment was the first to report simultaneous measurements of reactor antineutrinos at multiple baselines leading to the discovery of $\bar{\nu}_e$ oscillations over km-baselines. Subsequent data has provided the world's most precise measurement of $\rm{sin}^22\theta_{13}$ and the effective mass splitting $\Delta m_{ee}^2$. The experiment is located in Daya Bay, China where the cluster of six nuclear reactors is among the world's most prolific sources of electron antineutrinos. Multiple antineutrino detectors are deployed in three underground water pools at different distances from the reactor cores to search for deviations in the antineutrino rate and energy spectrum due to neutrino mixing. Instrumented with photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), the water pools serve as shielding against natural radioactivity from the surrounding rock and provide efficient muon tagging. Arrays of resistive plate chambers over the top of each pool provide additional muon detection. The antineutrino detectors were specifically designed for measurements of the antineutrino flux with minimal systematic uncertainty. Relative detector efficiencies between the near and far detectors are known to better than 0.2%. With the unblinding of the final two detectors' baselines and target masses, a complete description and comparison of the eight antineutrino detectors can now be presented. This paper describes the Daya Bay detector systems, consisting of eight antineutrino detectors in three instrumented water pools in three underground halls, and their operation through the first year of eight detector data-taking., Comment: 52 pages, 51 figures

The levels in 26Na with single particle character have been observed for the first time using the d(25Na,p gamma) reaction at 5 MeV/nucleon. The measured excitation energies and the deduced spectroscopic factors are in good overall agreement with (0+1) hbar-omega shell model calculations performed in a complete spsdfp basis and incorporating a reduction in the N=20 gap. Notably, the 1p3/2 neutron configuration was found to play an enhanced role in the structure of the low-lying negative parity states in 26Na, compared to the isotone 28Al. Thus, the lowering of the 1p3/2 orbital relative to the 0f7/2 occurring in the neighbouring Z=10 and 12 nuclei -- 25,27Ne and 27,29Mg -- is seen also to occur at Z=11 and further strengthens the constraints on the modelling of the transition into the island of inversion., Comment: 6 figures

(Abridged) We aim to study the evolution of dust attenuation in galaxies selected in the IR in the redshift range in which they are known to dominate the star formation activity in the universe. The comparison with other measurements of dust attenuation in samples selected using different criteria will give us a global picture of the attenuation at work in star-forming galaxies and its evolution with redshift. Using multiple filters of IRC instrument, we selected more than 4000 galaxies from their rest-frame emission at 8 microns, from z~0.2 to 2$. We built SEDs from the rest-frame UV to the far-IR by adding data in the optical-NIR and from GALEX and Herschel surveys. We fit SEDs with the physically-motivated code CIGALE. We test different templates for AGNs and recipes for dust attenuation and estimate stellar masses, SFRs, amount of dust attenuation, and AGN contribution to the total IR luminosity. The AGN contribution to the total IR luminosity is found to be on average approximately 10% with a slight increase with redshift. Dust attenuation in galaxies dominating the IR luminosity function is found to increase from z=0 to z=1 and to remain almost constant from z=1 to z=1.5. Conversely, when galaxies are selected at a fixed IR luminosity, their dust attenuation slightly decreases as redshift increases but with a large dispersion. The attenuation in our mid-IR selected sample is found ~ 2 mag higher than that found globally in the universe or in UV and Halpha line selections in the same redshift range. This difference is well explained by an increase of dust attenuation with the stellar mass, in global agreement with other recent studies. Starbursting galaxies do not systematically exhibit a high attenuation, Comment: 15 pages, 1' figures, accepted in Astronomy & Astrophysics

A systematic programme of calibration observations was carried out to monitor the performance of the SPIRE FTS instrument on board the Herschel Space Observatory. Observations of planets (including the prime point-source calibrator, Uranus), asteroids, line sources, dark sky, and cross-calibration sources were made in order to monitor repeatability and sensitivity, and to improve FTS calibration. We present a complete analysis of the full set of calibration observations and use them to assess the performance of the FTS. Particular care is taken to understand and separate out the effect of pointing uncertainties, including the position of the internal beam steering mirror for sparse observations in the early part of the mission. The repeatability of spectral line centre positions is <5km/s, for lines with signal-to-noise ratios >40, corresponding to <0.5-2.0% of a resolution element. For spectral line flux, the repeatability is better than 6%, which improves to 1-2% for spectra corrected for pointing offsets. The continuum repeatability is 4.4% for the SLW band and 13.6% for the SSW band, which reduces to ~1% once the data have been corrected for pointing offsets. Observations of dark sky were used to assess the sensitivity and the systematic offset in the continuum, both of which were found to be consistent across the FTS detector arrays. The average point-source calibrated sensitivity for the centre detectors is 0.20 and 0.21 Jy [1 sigma; 1 hour], for SLW and SSW. The average continuum offset is 0.40 Jy for the SLW band and 0.28 Jy for the SSW band., Comment: 41 pages, 37 figures, 32 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS