Imaging review of the lung parenchymal complications in patients with IPF

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, pulmonary-limited, interstitial lung disease with a poor prognosis. This condition is characterized by different clinical scenarios, ranging from the most typical slow and progressive deterioration of symptoms to a rapid and abrupt decline of lung function. Rapid worsening of clinical course is due to superimposed complications and comorbidities that can develop in IPF patients, with a higher incidence rate compared to the general population. These conditions may require a different management of the patient and a therapy adjustment, and thus it is fundamental to recognize them. High Resolution Computed Tomography (HRCT) is sensitive, but not specific, in detecting these complications, and can evaluate the presence of radiological variations when previous examinations are available; it recognizes ground glass opacities or consolidation that can be related to a large spectrum of comorbidities, such as infection, lung cancer, or acute exacerbation. To reach the final diagnosis, a multidisciplinary discussion is required, particularly when the clinical context is related to imaging findings

Flare stars in nearby Galactic open clusters based on TESS data

The study is devoted to search for flare stars among confirmed members of Galactic open clusters using high-cadence photometry from TESS mission. We analyzed 957 high-cadence light curves of members from 136 open clusters. As a result, 56 flare stars were found, among them 8 hot B-A type objects. Of all flares, 63 % were detected in sample of cool stars (Teff<5000 K), and 29 % -- in stars of spectral type G, while 23 % in K-type stars and approximately 34% of all detected flares are in M-type stars. Using the FLATW'RM (FLAre deTection With Ransac Method) flare finding algorithm, we estimated parameters of flares and rotation period of detected flare stars. The flare with the largest amplitude appears on the M3 type EQ Cha star. Statistical analysis did not reveal any direct correlation between ages, rotation periods and flaring activity

Compact Modeling of Nonideal Trapping/Detrapping Processes in GaN Power Devices

Compact modeling of charge trapping processes in GaN transistors is of fundamental importance for advanced circuit design. The goal of this article is to propose a methodology for modeling the dynamic characteristics of GaN power HEMTs in the realistic case where trapping/detrapping kinetics are described by stretched exponentials, contrary to ideal pure exponentials, thus significantly improving the state of the art. The analysis is based on: 1) an accurate methodology for describing stretched-exponential transients and extracting the related parameters and 2) a novel compact modeling approach, where the stretched exponential behavior is reproduced via multiple RC networks, whose parameters are specifically tuned based on the results of 1). The developed compact model is then used to simulate the transient performance of the HEMT devices as a function of duty cycle and frequency, thus providing insight on the impact of traps during the realistic switching operatio

One Star to Tag Them All (OSTTA): I. Radial velocities and chemical abundances for 20 poorly studied open clusters

Context: Open clusters are ideal laboratories to investigate a variety of astrophysical topics, from the properties of the Galactic disc to stellar evolution models. For this purpose, we need to know their chemical composition in detail. Unfortunately, the number of systems with chemical abundances determined from high resolution spectroscopy remains small. Aims: Our aim is to increase the number of open clusters with radial velocities and chemical abundances determined from high resolution spectroscopy by sampling a few stars in clusters not studied previously. Methods: We obtained high resolution spectra with the FIES spectrograph at NOT for 41 stars belonging to 20 open clusters. These stars have high astrometric membership probabilities, determined from the Gaia second data release. Results: We derived radial velocities for all the observed stars, which were used to confirm their membership to the corresponding clusters. For Gulliver\,37 we cannot be sure the observed star is a real member. We derived atmospheric parameters for the 32 stars considered real cluster members. We discarded five stars because they have very low gravity or atmospheric parameters were not properly constrained due to low signal-to-noise ratio spectra. Therefore, detailed chemical abundances were determined for 28 stars belonging to 17 clusters. For most of them, this is the first chemical analysis available in the literature. Finally, we compared the clusters in our sample to a large population of well studied clusters. The studied systems follow the trends, both chemical and kinematical, described by the majority of open clusters. Worth noticing that the three most metal-poor studied clusters (NGC\,1027, NGC\,1750 and Trumpler 2) are enhanced in Si but not in the other alpha-elements studied (Mg, Ca and Ti).Comment: 19 pages Accepted for publication on A&

Non-iterative computation of Gauss-Jacobi quadrature

Asymptotic approximations to the zeros of Jacobi polynomials are given, with methods to obtain the coefficients in the expansions. These approximations can be used as standalone methods for the noniterative computation of the nodes of Gauss--Jacobi quadratures of high degree ($n\ge 100$). We also provide asymptotic approximations for functions related to the first-order derivative of Jacobi polynomials which are used for computing the weights of the Gauss--Jacobi quadrature. The performance of the asymptotic approximations is illustrated with numerical examples, and it is shown that nearly double precision relative accuracy is obtained for both the nodes and the weights when $n\ge 100$ and $-1< \alpha, \beta\le 5$. For smaller degrees the approximations are also useful as they provide $10^{-12}$ relative accuracy for the nodes when $n\ge 20$, and just one Newton step would be sufficient to guarantee double precision accuracy in that cases

溜池地帯における共同田植と水利 : 兵庫県多紀郡沢田部落における事例的研究

textabstractClimbing fibers (CFs) originating in the inferior olive (IO) constitute one of the main inputs to the cerebellum. In the mammalian cerebellar cortex each of them climbs into the dendritic tree of up to ten Purkinje cells where they make hundreds of synaptic contacts and elicit the socalled all-or-none complex spikes controlling the output. While it has been proven that CFs contact molecular layer interneurons (MLIs) via spillover mechanisms, it remains to be elucidated to what extent CFs contact the main type of interneuron in the granular layer, i.e. the Golgi cells (GoCs). This issue is particularly relevant, because direct contacts would imply that CFs can also control computations at the input stage of the cerebellar cortical network. Here, we performed a systematic morphological investigation of labeled CFs and GoCs at the light microscopic level following their path and localization through the neuropil in both the granular and molecular layer. Whereas the appositions of CFs to Purkinje cells, stellate cells and basket cells in the molecular layer were prominent and numerous, those to cell-bodies and dendrites of GoCs in both the granular layer and molecular layer were virtually absent. Our results argue against the functional significance of direct synaptic contacts between CFs and interneurons at the input stage, but support those at the output stage

The GAPS Programme at TNG -- XXV. Stellar atmospheric parameters and chemical composition through GIARPS optical and near-infrared spectra

The detailed chemical composition of stars is important in many astrophysical fields, among which the characterisation of exoplanetary systems. Previous studies seem to indicate an anomalous chemical pattern of the youngest stellar population in the solar vicinity with a sub-solar metal content. This can influence various observational relations linking the properties of exoplanets to the characteristics of the host stars, for example the giant planet-metallicity relation. In this framework, we aim to expand our knowledge of the chemical composition of intermediate-age stars and understand whether these peculiarities are real or related to spectroscopic analysis techniques. We analysed high-resolution optical and near-infrared GIARPS spectra of intermediate-age stars (< 700Myr). To overcome issues related to the young ages of the stars, we applied a new spectroscopic method that uses titanium lines to derive the atmospheric parameters, in particular surface gravities and microturbulence velocity parameter. We also derived abundances of 14 different atomic species. The lack of systematic trends between elemental abundances and effective temperatures validates our method. However, we observed that the coolest (<5400 K) stars in the sample, display higher abundances for the Cr II, and for high-excitation potential C I lines. We found a positive correlation between the higher abundances measured of C I and Cr II and the activity index logR$_{HK}$. Instead, we found no correlations between the C abundances obtained from CH molecular band at 4300\AA, and both effective temperatures and activity. Thus, we suggest that these are better estimates for C abundances in young and cool stars. Finally, we found an indication of an increasing abundance ratio [X/H] with the condensation temperature for HD167389, indicating possible episodes of planet engulfment.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in A&

The GAPS Programme at TNG: XLII. A characterisation study of the multi-planet system around the 400 Myr-old star HD 63433 (TOI-1726)

Context. The GAPS collaboration is carrying out a spectroscopic and photometric follow-up of a sample of young stars with planets (age ≲600 Myr) to characterise planetary systems at the early stages of their evolution. Aims: For more than 2 yr, we monitored with the HARPS-N spectrograph the 400 Myr-old star HD 63433, which hosts two close-in (orbital periods Pb ~ 7.1 and Pc ~ 20.5 days) sub-Neptunes detected by the TESS space telescope, and it was announced in 2020. Using radial velocities and additional TESS photometry, we aim to provide the first measurement of their masses, improve the measure of their size and orbital parameters, and study the evolution of the atmospheric mass-loss rate due to photoevaporation. Methods: We tested state-of-the-art analysis techniques and different models to mitigate the dominant signals due to stellar activity that are detected in the radial velocity time series. We used a hydro-based analytical description of the atmospheric mass-loss rate, coupled with a core-envelope model and stellar evolutionary tracks, to study the past and future evolution of the planetary masses and radii. Results: We derived new measurements of the planetary orbital periods and radii (Pb = 7.10794 ± 0.000009 days, rb = 2.02+0.06-0.05R⊕; Pc = 20.54379 ± 0.00002 days, rc = 2.44 ± 0.07 R⊕), and determined mass upper limits (mb ≲11 M⊕; mc ≲31 M⊕; 95% confidence level), with evidence at a 2.1-2.7σ significance level that HD 63433 c might be a dense mini-Neptune with a Neptune-like mass. For a grid of test masses below our derived dynamical upper limits, we found that HD 63433 b has very likely lost any gaseous H-He envelope, supporting HST-based observations that are indicative of there being no ongoing atmospheric will keep evaporating over the next ~5 Gyr if its current mass is mc ≲15 M⊕, while it should be hydrodynamically stable for higher masses