We present new XMM-Newton results on the field around the NGC346 star cluster in the SMC. This continues and extends previously published work on Chandra observations of the same field. The two XMM-Newton observations were obtained, respectively, six months before and six months after the previously published Chandra data. Of the 51 X-ray sources detected with XMM-Newton, 29 were already detected with Chandra. Comparing the properties of these X-ray sources in each of our three datasets has enabled us to investigate their variability on times scales of a year. Changes in the flux levels and/or spectral properties were observed for 21 of these sources. In addition, we discovered long-term variations in the X-ray properties of the peculiar system HD5980, a luminous blue variable star, that is likely to be a colliding wind binary system, which displayed the largest luminosity during the first XMM-Newton observation.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures (in gif), accepted by ApJ, also available from http://vela.astro.ulg.ac.be/Preprints/P89/index.htm

We model the emission-line profile variations that are expected to be produced by physical and wind eclipses in the Wolf-Rayet (W-R + O) binary system V444 Cyg. A comparison of the theoretical profiles with the He II 4686 Å line observed in V444 Cyg allows us to isolate the effects that are likely to be due to the wind-wind collision region in this particular line. We estimate that the wind-wind collision region contributes no more than ~12% of the equivalent width of the emission line, with smaller values during elongations, when part of the shock cone is being eclipsed by the O star. The upper limit implies a maximum contribution from the wind-wind collision region of ~1 × 10³⁵ ergs s^-1 to the total luminosity of He II 4686 Å line. Using the analytical solution of Cantó et al., we find that the bulk of this emission arises along the shock cone walls where the flow velocity is ~800 km s^-1, at a distance of ~8 R_☉ from the O star's surface, and at θ = 65°-75° from the line joining the centers of the two stars, with origin in the O star. The derived surface density of this region is σ = 0.22 g cm^-2, which, together with the He II 4686 Å luminosity, indicates that the thickness of the shock lies in the range 2-10 × 10¹⁰ cm and the total density is 1-6 × 10¹² cm^-3.

In this work, 10 chemometric models based on Raman spectroscopy were constructed to predict the physicochemical properties of honey produced in the state of Campeche, Mexico. The properties of honey studied were pH, moisture, total soluble solids (TSS), free acidity, lactonic acidity, total acidity, electrical conductivity, Redox potential, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), and ash content. These proprieties were obtained according to the methods described by the Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Codex Alimentarius, and the International Honey Commission. For the construction of the chemometric models, 189 honey samples were collected and analyzed in triplicate using Raman spectroscopy to generate the matrix data [X], which were correlated with each of the physicochemical properties [Y]. The predictive capacity of each model was determined by cross validation and external validation, using the statistical parameters: standard error of calibration (SEC), standard error of prediction (SEP), coefficient of determination of cross-validation (R²_cal), coefficient of determination for external validation (R²_val), and Student’s t-test. The statistical results indicated that the chemometric models satisfactorily predict the humidity, TSS, free acidity, lactonic acidity, total acidity, and Redox potential. However, the models for electric conductivity and pH presented an acceptable prediction capacity but not adequate to supply the conventional processes, while the models for predicting ash content and HMF were not satisfactory. The developed models represent a low-cost tool to analyze the quality of honey, and contribute significantly to increasing the honey distribution and subsequently the economy of the region.