Mechanical chest compression devices improve survival of liver grafts from donors after cardiac death.

pre-print107 K

Preparing the COROT space mission: new variable stars in the galactic Anticenter direction

The activities related to the preparation of the asteroseismic, photometric space mission COROT are described. Photoelectric observations, wide--field CCD photometry, uvbyB calibrations and further time--series have been obtained at different observatories and telescopes. They have been planned to complete the COROT programme in the direction of the galactic Anticenter. In addition to suitable asteroseismic targets covering the different evolutionary stages between ZAMS and TAMS, we discovered several other variable stars, both pulsating and geometrical. We compared results on the incidence of variability in the galactic Center and Anticenter directions. Physical parameters have been obtained and evolutionary tracks fitting them have been calculated. The peculiarities of some individual stars alre pointed out. Paper based on observations collected at the San Pedro Martir, Sierra Nevada, Teide, La Silla, Haute-Provence and Roque de Los Muchachos (Telescopio Nazionale Galileo and Mercator telescopes) observatories.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for The Astronomical Journal (2005 May volume

The double-mode nature of the HADS star GSC 00144-03031 and the Petersen diagram of the class

The double--mode pulsation of GSC 00144-03031 has been detected when searching for COROT targets. A very large dataset composed of 4722 photometric measurements was collected at six observatories in Europe and America. There is no hint of the excitation of additional modes (down to 0.6 mmag) and therefore GSC 00144-03031 seems to be a pure double--mode pulsator, with a very short fundamental radial mode (P=84 min). From Stromgren photometry and evolutionary tracks it appears to be a Pop. I star with M=1.75 solar masses, located in the middle of the instability strip, close to the Zero--Age Main Sequence. We also discovered other new double--mode pulsators in the databases of large--scale projects: OGLE BW2_V142, OGLE BW1_V207, ASAS3 094303-1707.3, ASAS3 000116-6037.0, NSVS 3234596 and NSVS 3324715. An observational Petersen diagram is presented and explained by means of new models. A common sequence connecting Pop. I stars from the shortest to the longest periods is proposed and the spreads in the period ratios are ascribed to different metallicities (at the shortest periods) and to different masses (at the longest ones). The paper is based on data collected at S. Pedro Martir and Sierra Nevada Observatories and on the contributions from several amateur astronomers.Comment: 9 pages, 5 pages, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Preparing the COROT space mission: incidence and characterisation of pulsation in the Lower Instability Strip

By pursuing the goal to find new variables in the COROT field-of-view we characterised a sample of stars located in the lower part of the instability strip. Our sample is composed of stars belonging to the disk population in the solar neighbourhood. We found that 23% of the stars display multiperiodic light variability up to few mmag of amplitude. uvbyBeta photometry fixed most of the variables in the middle of the instability strip and high-resolution spectroscopy established that they have vsin i>100 km/s. The comparison with delta Sct stars in the whole Galaxy shows slightly different features, i.e., most delta Sct stars have a 0.05-mag redder (b-y)_0 index and lower vsin i values. Additional investigation in the open cluster NGC 6633 confirms the same incidence of variability, i.e., around 20%. The wide variety of pulsational behaviours of delta Sct stars (including unusual objects such as a variable beyond the blue edge or a rapidly rotating high-amplitude pulsator) makes them very powerful asteroseismic tools to be used by COROT. Being quite common among bright stars, delta Sct stars are suitable targets for optical observations from space.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics, Main Journa

Approaches in biotechnological applications of natural polymers

Natural polymers, such as gums and mucilage, are biocompatible, cheap, easily available and non-toxic materials of native origin. These polymers are increasingly preferred over synthetic materials for industrial applications due to their intrinsic properties, as well as they are considered alternative sources of raw materials since they present characteristics of sustainability, biodegradability and biosafety. As definition, gums and mucilages are polysaccharides or complex carbohydrates consisting of one or more monosaccharides or their derivatives linked in bewildering variety of linkages and structures. Natural gums are considered polysaccharides naturally occurring in varieties of plant seeds and exudates, tree or shrub exudates, seaweed extracts, fungi, bacteria, and animal sources. Water-soluble gums, also known as hydrocolloids, are considered exudates and are pathological products; therefore, they do not form a part of cell wall. On the other hand, mucilages are part of cell and physiological products. It is important to highlight that gums represent the largest amounts of polymer materials derived from plants. Gums have enormously large and broad applications in both food and non-food industries, being commonly used as thickening, binding, emulsifying, suspending, stabilizing agents and matrices for drug release in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. In the food industry, their gelling properties and the ability to mold edible films and coatings are extensively studied. The use of gums depends on the intrinsic properties that they provide, often at costs below those of synthetic polymers. For upgrading the value of gums, they are being processed into various forms, including the most recent nanomaterials, for various biotechnological applications. Thus, the main natural polymers including galactomannans, cellulose, chitin, agar, carrageenan, alginate, cashew gum, pectin and starch, in addition to the current researches about them are reviewed in this article.. }To the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientfíico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for fellowships (LCBBC and MGCC) and the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nvíel Superior (CAPES) (PBSA). This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, the Project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462) and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) (JAT)

La capnometría como indicador de evolución de injerto renal de Donación tipo IIa

30º Congreso Nacional SEMESpre-print1419 K

Preparing the COROT Space Mission: New Variable Stars in the Galactic Anticenter Direction

International audienceThe activities related to the preparation of the asteroseismic, photometric space mission COROT are described. Photoelectric observations, wide-field CCD photometry, uvbybeta calibrations, and further time series have been obtained at different observatories and telescopes. They have been planned to complete the COROT program in the direction of the Galactic anticenter. In addition to suitable asteroseismic targets covering the different evolutionary stages between zero-age main sequence and terminal-age main sequence, we discovered several other variable stars, both pulsating and geometric. We compared results on the incidence of variability in the Galactic center and anticenter directions. Physical parameters have been obtained, and evolutionary tracks fitting them have been calculated. The peculiarities of some individual stars are pointed out

Preparing the COROT Space Mission: New Variable Stars in the Galactic Anticenter Direction

International audienceThe activities related to the preparation of the asteroseismic, photometric space mission COROT are described. Photoelectric observations, wide-field CCD photometry, uvbybeta calibrations, and further time series have been obtained at different observatories and telescopes. They have been planned to complete the COROT program in the direction of the Galactic anticenter. In addition to suitable asteroseismic targets covering the different evolutionary stages between zero-age main sequence and terminal-age main sequence, we discovered several other variable stars, both pulsating and geometric. We compared results on the incidence of variability in the Galactic center and anticenter directions. Physical parameters have been obtained, and evolutionary tracks fitting them have been calculated. The peculiarities of some individual stars are pointed out