Water vapor and silicon monoxide maser observations in the protoplanetary nebula OH 231.8+4

OH 231.8+4.2 is a well studied preplanetary nebula (pPN) around a binary stellar system that shows a remarkable bipolar outflow. To study the structure and kinematics of the inner 10-80 AU nebular regions we performed high-resolution observations of the H$_2$O 6$_{1,6}$--5$_{2,3}$ and $^{28}$SiO $v$=2, $J$=1--0 maser emissions with the Very Long Baseline Array. The absolute position of both emission distributions were recovered using the phase referencing technique, and accurately registered in HST optical images. H$_2$O maser clumps are found to be distributed in two areas of 20 mas in size spatially displaced by $\sim$60 milli-arcseconds along an axis oriented nearly north-south. SiO masers are tentatively found to be placed between the two H$_2$O maser emitting regions, probably indicating the position of the Mira component of the system. The SiO maser emission traces an inner equatorial component with a diameter of 12 AU, probably a disk rotating around the M-type star. Outwards, we detect in the H$_2$O data a pair of polar caps, separated by 80 AU. We believe that the inner regions of the nebula probably have been altered by the presence of the companion, leading to an equator-to-pole density contrast that may explain the lack of H$_2$O masers and strong SiO maser emission in the denser, equatorial regions.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, A&A accepte

Recent developments in the eikonal description of the breakup of exotic nuclei

The study of exotic nuclear structures, such as halo nuclei, is usually performed through nuclear reactions. An accurate reaction model coupled to a realistic description of the projectile is needed to correctly interpret experimental data. In this contribution, we briefly summarise the assumptions made within the modelling of reactions involving halo nuclei. We describe briefly the Continuum-Discretised Coupled Channel method (CDCC) and the Dynamical Eikonal Approximation (DEA) in particular and present a comparison between them for the breakup of 15C on Pb at 68AMeV. We show the problem faced by the models based on the eikonal approximation at low energy and detail a correction that enables their extension down to lower beam energies. A new reaction observable is also presented. It consists of the ratio between angular distributions for two different processes, such as elastic scattering and breakup. This ratio is completely independent of the reaction mechanism and hence is more sensitive to the projectile structure than usual reaction observables, which makes it a very powerful tool to study exotic structures far from stability.Comment: Contribution to the proceedings of the XXI International School on Nuclear Physics and Applications & the International Symposium on Exotic Nuclei, dedicated to the 60th Anniversary of the JINR (Dubna) (Varna, Bulgaria, 6-12 September 2015), 7 pages, 4 figure

A new model of justice that repairs the damage caused

L’objectiu d’aquest article és exposar, d’una banda, les bases que sustenten el dret penal des d’un plantejament divulgatiu que ajudi a comprendre a un públic no necessàriament especialitzat els fins de la pena, així com els diversos models de càstig i tractament quehistòricament s’han aplicat a les persones que han comès un delicte. Però, d’altra banda, el text pretén avançar en la modernització de la justícia, després d’assenyalar els límits que el sistema penal troba en l’actualitat. Així, es planteja un seguit de propostes que des del prisma d’una justícia restaurativa significarien no només unes penes més actuals i més acords a la dignitat humana, sinó que també serien més sostenibles tant des d’un punt de vista social com econòmic. La justícia restaurativa, amb els seus inseparables elements ètics, és, en aquest sentit, el paradigma des del qual entenem que la justícia penal es pot is’ha de modificar atribuint a la reparació un important paper durant tot el procés.El objetivo de este artículo es exponer, por un lado, las bases que sustentan el derecho penal desde un planteamiento divulgativo que ayude a comprender a un público no necesariamente especializado los fines de la pena, así como los diversos modelos de castigo y tratamiento que históricamente se han aplicado a las personas que han cometido un delito.Pero, por otro, el texto pretende avanzar en la modernización de la justicia, tras señalar los límites que el sistema penal encuentra en la actualidad. Así, se plantea una serie de propuestas que desde el prisma de una justicia restaurativa significarían no solo unas penas más actuales y más acordes a la dignidad humana, sino que también serían mássostenibles tanto desde un punto de vista social como económico. La justicia restaurativa, con sus inseparables elementos éticos, es, en este sentido, el paradigma desde el que entendemos que la justicia penal puede y debe modificarse atribuyendo a la reparación un importante papel durante todo el proceso.The aim of this article is, on the one hand, to set out in a clear expository form the bases that underpin Spanish criminal law, in order to assist a generally non-specialist public in understanding the objectives of sentencing and the different models of punishment and treatment that have historically been applied to people convicted of a crime. On the other hand, the article seeks to contribute to the modernization of criminal justice by noting some of the limitations under which the penal systemcurrently labours. To this end it puts forward a series of proposals from the perspective of restorative justice which would make sentencing not only less antiquated and more consistent with human dignity, but would also bemore sustainable from both a social and an economic point of view. Restorative justice, with its inseparable ethical elements, is, in this respect, the paradigm from which we consider that criminal justice can and should be modified, in assigning an important role in the whole process to reparation

Constraining late-time transitions in the dark energy equation of state

One of the most compelling goals of observational cosmology is the characterisation of the properties of the dark energy component thought to be responsible for the recent acceleration of the universe, including its possible dynamics. In this work we study phenomenological but physically motivated classes of models in which the dark energy equation of state can undergo a rapid transition at low redshifts, perhaps associated with the onset of the acceleration phase itself. Through a standard statistical analysis we have used low-redshift cosmological data, coming from Type Ia supernova and Hubble parameter measurements, to set constraints on the steepness of these possible transitions as well as on the present-day values of the dark energy equation of state and in the asymptotic past in these models. We have also studied the way in which these constraints depend on the specific parametrisation being used. Our results confirm that such late-time transitions are strongly constrained. If one demands a matter-like pre-transition behaviour, then the transition is constrained to occur at high redshifts (effectively in the matter era), while if the pre-transition equation of state is a free parameter then it is constrained to be close to that of a cosmological constant. In any case, the value of dark energy equation of state near the present day must also be very similar to that of a cosmological constant. The overall conclusion is that any significant deviations from this behaviour can only occur in the deep matter era, so there is no evidence for a transition associated with the onset of acceleration. Observational tools capable of probing the dynamics of the universe in the deep matter era are therefore particularly important.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures; Astronomy & Astrophysics (in press

Erratum to : Effect of a mixed reality-based intervention on arm, hand, and finger function on chronic stroke

Altres ajuts: This study was funded in part by the Project TEREHA (IDI-20110844) and Project NeuroVR (TIN2013-44741-R) of the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain, the Project Consolider-C (SEJ2006-14301/PSIC) of the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia of Spain, the "CIBER of Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition, an initiative of ISCIII", and the Excellence Research Program PROMETEO of the Conselleria de Educación of Generalitat Valenciana (2008-157)Erratum: The original article mistakenly omitted a key affiliation for the author, Carolina Colomer. The authors would therefore like to state the affiliation of 'Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain' as the second affiliation for Dr Colomer.Furthermore, the authors would also like to add a statement to the Acknowledgements sub-section stating: "This work has been developed within the framework of a medical doctorate at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona.

Detection of chromothripsis-like patterns with a custom array platform for chronic lymphocytic leukemia

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License.-- et al.Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a common disease with highly variable clinical course. Several recurrent chromosomal alterations are associated with prognosis and may guide risk-adapted therapy. We have developed a targeted genome-wide array to provide a robust tool for ascertaining abnormalities in CLL and to overcome limitations of the 4-marker fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). DNA from 180 CLL patients were hybridized to the qChip®Hemo array with a high density of probes covering commonly altered loci in CLL (11q22-q23, 13q14, and 17p13), nine focal regions (2p15-p16.1, 2p24.3, 2q13, 2q36.3-q37.1, 3p21.31, 8q24.21, 9p21.3, 10q24.32, and 18q21.32-q21.33) and two larger regions (6q14.1-q22.31 and 7q31.33-q33). Overall, 86% of the cases presented copy number alterations (CNA) by array. There was a high concordance of array findings with FISH (84% sensitivity, 100% specificity); all discrepancies corresponded to subclonal alterations detected only by FISH. A chromothripsis-like pattern was detected in eight cases. Three showed concomitant shattered 5p with gain of TERT along with isochromosome 17q. Presence of 11q loss was associated with shorter time to first treatment (P=0.003), whereas 17p loss, increased genomic complexity, and chromothripsis were associated with shorter overall survival (P<0.001, P=0.001, and P=0.02, respectively). In conclusion, we have validated a targeted array for the diagnosis of CLL that accurately detects, in a single experiment, all relevant CNAs, genomic complexity, chromothripsis, copy number neutral loss of heterozygosity, and CNAs not covered by the FISH panel. This test may be used as a practical tool to stratify CLL patients for routine diagnostics or clinical trials.Supported by: Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Grant numbers: PI11/01177, PI14/00571; Worldwide Cancer Research; Grant number: 12-0142; Marato de TV3; Grant number: TV3-Cancer/2013410; Generalitat de Catalunya Suport Grups de Recerca; Grant number: 2013-SGR-378; Red Tematica de Investigacion Cooperativa en Cancer (RTICC), Grant numbers: RD12/0036/0036, RD12/0036/0023, RD12/0036/0004, RD12/0036/0069; Subprograma Juan de la Cierva, Grant number: JCI-2011-10232; Miguel Servet Contract, Grant number: CP13/00159; the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN) through the ISCIII —International Cancer Genome Consortium for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (ICGC-CLL Genome Project); Institucio Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats” (ICREA) of the Generalitat de Catalunya; European Regional Development Fund “Una manera de fer Europa”; Alexander von Humboldt Post-doctoral Fellowship.Peer Reviewe