First images on the sky from a hyper telescope

We show star images obtained with a miniature ``densified pupil imaging interferometer'' also called a hyper-telescope. The formation of such images violates a ``golden rule of imaging interferometers'' which appeared to forbid the use of interferometric arrangements differing from a Fizeau interferometer. These produce useless images when the sub-apertures spacing is much wider than their size, owing to diffraction through the sub-apertures. The hyper-telescope arrangement solves these problems opening the way towards multi-kilometer imaging arrays in space. We experimentally obtain an intensity gain of 24 +- 3X when a densified-pupil interferometer is compared to an equivalent Fizeau-type interferometer and show images of the double star alpha Gem. The initial results presented confirm the possibility of directly obtaining high resolution and high dynamic range images in the recombined focal plane of a large interferometer if enough elements are used.Comment: 6 pages, LaTeX, standard A&A macros + BibTeX macros. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Review of Multi-Target Drugs

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a multi-factorial chronic health condition that affects a large part of population and according to the World Health Organization (WHO) the number of adults living with diabetes is expected to increase. Since type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is suffered by the majority of diabetic patients (around 90-95%) and often the mono-target therapy fails in managing blood glucose levels and the other comorbidities, this review focuses on the potential drugs acting on multi-targets involved in the treatment of this type of diabetes. In particular, the review considers the main systems directly involved in T2DM or involved in diabetes comorbidities. Agonists acting on incretin, glucagon systems, as well as on peroxisome proliferation activated receptors are considered. Inhibitors which target either aldose reductase and tyrosine phosphatase 1B or sodium glucose transporters 1 and 2 are taken into account. Moreover, with a view at the multi-target approaches for T2DM some phytocomplexes are also discussed

Imaging the asymmetric dust shell around CI Cam with long baseline optical interferometry

We present the first high angular resolution observation of the B[e] star/X-ray transient object CI Cam, performed with the two-telescope Infrared Optical Telescope Array (IOTA), its upgraded three-telescope version (IOTA3T) and the Palomar Testbed Interferometer (PTI). Visibilities and closure phases were obtained using the IONIC-3 integrated optics beam combiner. CI Cam was observed in the near-infrared H and K spectral bands, wavelengths well suited to measure the size and study the geometry of the hot dust surrounding CI Cam. The analysis of the visibility data over an 8 year period from soon after the 1998 outburst to 2006 shows that the dust visibility has not changed over the years. The visibility data shows that CI Cam is elongated which confirms the disc-shape of the circumstellar environment and totally rules out the hypothesis of a spherical dust shell. Closure phase measurements show direct evidence of asymmetries in the circumstellar environment of CI Cam and we conclude that the dust surrounding CI Cam lies in an inhomogeneous disc seen at an angle. The near-infrared dust emission appears as an elliptical skewed Gaussian ring with a major axis a = 7.58 +/- 0.24 mas, an axis ratio r = 0.39 +/- 0.03 and a position angle theta = 35 +/- 2 deg.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, accepted MNRA

Interaction of basin-scale topography- and salinity-driven groundwater flow in synthetic and real hydrogeological systems

Salinization of groundwater has endangered e.g. drinking water supply, agricultural cultivation, groundwater-dependent ecosystems, geothermal energy supply, thermal and hydrocarbon well production to a rising degree. In order to investigate the problem of coupled topography- and salinity-driven groundwater flow on a basin-scale, a systematic simulation set has been carried out in a synthetic numerical model. Detailed sensitivity analysis was completed to reveal the effect of the salinity, permeability, permeability heterogeneity and anisotropy, mechanical dispersivity and water table head on the salt concentration field and the flow pattern. It was established that a saline dome with slow inner convection formed beneath the discharge zone in the base model due to the topography-driven regional fresh groundwater flow. An increase in the salinity or the anisotropy or decrease in the water table variation weakens the role of the forced convection driven by the topography, thus facilitating the formation of a saline, dense, sluggish layer in the deepest zone of the basin. In the studied parameter range, the variation in permeability and dispersivity affects the shape of the saltwater dome to less degree. However, the decrease in permeability and/or the increase in dispersivity advantage the homogenization of the salt concentration within the saline zone and strengthen the coupling between the saltwater and freshwater zone by growing the relative role of diffusion and transverse dispersion, respectively. The interaction of the topography-driven forced and salinity driven free convection was investigated along a real hydrological section in Hungary. Simulation elucidated the fresh, brackish and saline character of the water sampled the different hydrostratigraphic units by revealing the connection between the topography-driven upper siliciclastic aquifer and the lower confined karstic aquifer through faults in high-salinity clayey aquitard. The current study improves the understanding of the interaction between the topography-driven forced and the salinity-driven free convection, i.e. topohaline convection, especially in basin-scale groundwater flow systems

Combining molecular dynamics and docking simulations to develop targeted protocols for performing optimized virtual screening campaigns on the HTRPM8 channel

Background: There is an increasing interest in TRPM8 ligands of medicinal interest, the rational design of which can be nowadays supported by structure-based in silico studies based on the recently resolved TRPM8 structures. Methods: The study involves the generation of a reliable hTRPM8 homology model, the reliability of which was assessed by a 1.0 \u3bcs MD simulation which was also used to generate multiple receptor conformations for the following structure-based virtual screening (VS) campaigns; docking simulations utilized different programs and involved all monomers of the selected frames; the so computed docking scores were combined by consensus approaches based on the EFO algorithm. Results: The obtained models revealed very satisfactory performances; LiGen\u2122 provided the best results among the tested docking programs; the combination of docking results from the four monomers elicited a markedly beneficial effect on the computed consensus models. Conclusions: The generated hTRPM8 model appears to be amenable for successful structure-based VS studies; cross-talk modulating effects between interacting monomers on the binding sites can be accounted for by combining docking simulations as performed on all the monomers; this strategy can have general applicability for docking simulations involving quaternary protein structures with multiple identical binding pockets

Performance Analysis of a Novel Air-based Cavity Receiver

AbstractIn this paper a new design of a novel CSP cavity receiver for parabolic trough collector is analyzed by means of an analytical Matlab model. The receiver, designed by the Swiss company Airlight Energy Manufacturing SA, is 212 m long consisting essentially of a feed pipe, a run-back pipe and 4608 helically coiled heat exchangers designed to capture the incident solar energy concentrated by a parabolic trough. The heat transfer fluid is air heated to temperatures above 600°C.The analytical Matlab model based on a pneumatic - electric circuit analogy was developed to assess the receiver performance in terms of mass flow rate distribution, pressure drop, air outlet temperature and thermal efficiency. A solution was proposed to approximately ensure the same mass flow rate for each cavity.Different skew angles for the incoming solar radiation were considered and the receiver geometry was optimized minimizing the pressure drop and the thermal losses through the runback pipe. The main requirement was to achieve, at the outlet section of the receiver, an air temperature of 650°C; therefore, the total inlet mass flow rate was tuned accordingly.The helically coiled heat exchanger and the receiver insulation sub-models were validated against accurate computational fluid dynamics simulations

Low-resolution spectrograph for the IOTA interferometer

The design and scientific objectives of a near infrared channeled spectrometer planned at the IOTA interferometer are discussed. The spectrometer has the flexibility to reconfigure easily for conventional broadband operations in addition to multi-channel mode. This instrument makes use of the existing PICNIC camera at the IOTA in order to be cost efficient. The spectrometer has been designed specifically for studying Mira stars. However, it will find its application in other areas of astrophysical interests such as studies of circumstellar disks around young stars and binary stars