X-ray astronomy in the new Millenium. A Summary

Recent X-ray observations have had a major impact on topics ranging from protostars to cosmology. They have also drawn attention to important and general physical processes that currently limit our understanding of thermal and nonthermal X-ray sources. These include unmeasured atomic astrophysics data (wavelengths, oscillator strengths etc.), basic hydromagnetic processes (e.g. shock structure, reconnection), plasma processes (such as electron-ion equipartition and heat conduction) and radiative transfer (in disks and accretion columns). Progress on these problems will probably come from integrative studies that draw upon observations, throughout the electromagnetic spectrum, of different classes of source. X-ray observations are also giving a new perspective on astronomical subjects, like the nature of galactic nuclei and the evolution of stellar populations. They are contributing to answering central cosmological questions including the measurement of the matter content of the universe, understanding its overall luminosity density, describing its chemical evolution and locating the first luminous objects. X-ray astronomy has a healthy future with several international space missions under construction and in development.Comment: 12 page

Van Wyk-Grumbach syndrome: a rare presentation of a common endocrine disorder

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Effects of the Energy Error Distribution of Fluorescence Telescopes on the UHECR energy spectrum

The measurement of the ultra high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) spectrum is strongly affected by uncertainties on the reconstructed energy. The determination of the presence or absence of the GZK cutoff and its position in the energy spectrum depends not only on high statistics but also on the shape of the energy error distribution. Here we determine the energy error distribution for fluorescence telescopes, based on a Monte Carlo simulation. The HiRes and Auger fluorescence telescopes are simulated in detail. We analyze the UHECR spectrum convolved with this energy error distribution. We compare this spectrum with one convolved with a lognormal error distribution as well as with a Gaussian error distribution. We show that the energy error distribution for fluorescence detectors can not be represented by these known distributions. We conclude that the convolved energy spectrum will be smeared but not enough to affect the GZK cutoff detection. This conclusion stands for both HiRes and Auger fluorescence telescopes. This result differs from the effect of the energy error distribution obtained with ground detectors and reinforces the importance of the fluorescence energy measurement. We also investigate the effect of possible fluorescence yield measurement errors in the energy spectrum.Comment: 24 pages, 11 figure

Printed Temperature Sensor based on Graphene oxide/PEDOT:PSS

Temperature is an important physical parameter which need to be monitored for various applications ranging from health monitoring to robotics [1] , [2]. In humans, accurate measurement of the variations in the skin temperature is utilized for investigation of homeostasis, physical activities, cardiovascular health and several other health diagnostics methods [1] - [5]. For robotics, the integrated temperature sensing can help in distinguishing the hot and cold objects. Among a variety of temperature sensors (e.g. thermocouple, mercury thermometer etc.) the resistive method based temperature detection is widely used due to its rapid response, stability and accuracy [4], [6]. Various materials (e.g. semiconductors, metals, graphite , metal oxides and ceramics etc.) have been used to develop the temperature sensors [7] - [11]. However, owing to the complex processing steps along with the lack of flexibility, many times it is difficult to integrate these sensors on surfaces that can confirm to curvy body parts of a robot or prosthetic limb. In this context, printing technologies with simplified processing steps are aimed to provide low cost route for flexible/bendable sensors [12] - [15]

Some Approaches to Treatment of Patients with Thyroid Nodular Diseases in the Semipalatinsk Region of Kazakhstan

It was determined by experts that in the region adjacent to the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site thyroid nodular prevalence was significantly associated with radiation dose from nuclear weapons testing. The medical rehabilitation of patients is of special practical and scientific importance in this region. Some patients have contraindications for surgery and radioiodine or refuse them for various reasons. Percutaneous intranodular injection therapy by "Paoscle" (PIITP) was used for treatment of patients with benign thyroid nodular diseases. The study group included a total of 107 patients (mainly "pretoxic" and "compensated" nodules). Seventyfour patients received PIITP on an out-patient basis. Seventy-two of them were women and 2 men, mean age, 52.9±1.3 years; range 26 to 77 years. Thyroid ultrasound examination, fineneedle aspiration biopsy, thyroid function tests and cytopathology were performed in all patients to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment. The nodule volume reduction rate for patients with thyroid adenomas was 56% on average and 60.2% in the case of colloid nodules. The reduction rate of thyroid adenomas with necrotic and cystic degeneration was higher and reached 72%. The suggested method is indicated for cases of benign nodular thyroid diseases (cysts, adenomas, adenomas with necrotic and cystic degeneration, colloid nodules, polynodular goiter). We did not reveal any complications or thyroid test abnormalities after the treatment. A tendency to normalization of the blood serum thyroglobulin level and antibodies to thyroglobulin was documented. Analysis of the treatment results revealed that this approach is effective, inexpensive, safe, well tolerated and can be used on an outpatient basis