Extension of Tycho catalog for low-extinction windows in the galactic bulge

We present in this work secondary catalogs up to $m_{Val} \sim 13$ based on the Tycho reference frame (ESA, 1997) for 12 selected low-extinction fields towards the galactic bulge. The observations have been performed with the Askania-Zeiss Meridian Circle equiped with a CCD camera, located at the Abrah\~ao de Moraes Observatory (Valinhos, Brazil) and operated by the Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, S\~ao Paulo University. The presented catalog, though not complete, has been designed to help in intensive search programmes (e.g. microlensing and variable searches) and therefore the selected standards have a high astrometric and photometric ($V$ band, approximately) quality. The mean precisions obtained were $0.0018^{s}$ in $\alpha$, 0.013'' in $\delta$, 0.030 for the standard deviation in magnitude and 0.0042 for the magnitude when weighted with the error bars in each night (in the mean, 42 stars for the catalog of each window). Tables B.1 to B.12 are also available in eletronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, A&A Latex style. Published in A&A

Stellar variability in low-extinction regions towards the Galactic Bulge

Intensive monitoring of low-extinction windows towards the galactic bulge has provided in the last years valuable information for studies about the dynamics, kinematics and formation history of this part of the galaxy, mainly by characterizing the bulge stellar populations (Paczy\'nski, 1996). Since 1997, we have been conducting an intensive photometric-astrometric survey of the galactic bulge, with the monitoring of about 120000 stars in 12 windows uniformly distributed in galactic latitude and longitude (Blanco & Terndrup, 1989 e Blanco, 1988) never before submitted to this kind of survey. For this purpose, we have used the IAG/USP CCD Meridian Circle of the Abrah\~ao de Moraes Observatory. The main objective of this work is the identification and classification of variable objects. In this work we present the set up and development of the necessary tools for a project like this and the posterior analysis of our data. We briefly describe the construction of a program to organize and detect variables among the observed stars, including real time alerts (for variations greater than 0.3 magnitudes). The preliminary analysis after the processing of 76 nights of observation yielded 479 variable stars, from which 96.7 % of them are new. We discuss the preliminary classification of this variables, based on: a) the observed amplitude of variation; b) the shape of light curve; c) the expected variable classes among our data and d) the calculated periods, whenever possible. Finally, we discuss the future perspectives for the project and for the applications and analysis of the discovered variable stars.Comment: 10 pages, 14 figures. Accepted by A&A

Concise review: An (Im)Penetrable Shield- How the Tumor Microenvironment Protects Cancer Stem Cells

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are defined by their unlimited self-renewal ability and their capacity to initiate and maintain malignancy, traits that are not found in most cells that comprise the tumor. Although current cancer treatments successfully reduce tumor burden, the tumor will likely recur unless CSCs are effectively eradicated. This challenge is made greater by the protective impact of the tumor microenvironment (TME), consisting of infiltrating immune cells, endothelial cells, extracellular matrix, and signaling molecules. The TME acts as a therapeutic barrier through immunosuppressive, and thereby tumor-promoting, actions. These factors, outside of the cancer cell lineage, work in concert to shelter CSCs from both the body's intrinsic anticancer immunity and pharmaceutical interventions to maintain cancer growth. Emerging therapies aimed at the TME offer a promising new tool in breaking through this shield to target the CSCs, yet definitive treatments remain unrealized. In this review, we summarize the mechanisms by which CSCs are protected by the TME and current efforts to overcome these barrier

Polynomial solutions of nonlinear integral equations

We analyze the polynomial solutions of a nonlinear integral equation, generalizing the work of C. Bender and E. Ben-Naim. We show that, in some cases, an orthogonal solution exists and we give its general form in terms of kernel polynomials.Comment: 10 page

Empirical Bayes Double Shrinkage for Combining Biased and Unbiased Causal Estimates

Motivated by the proliferation of observational datasets and the need to integrate non-randomized evidence with randomized controlled trials, causal inference researchers have recently proposed several new methodologies for combining biased and unbiased estimators. We contribute to this growing literature by developing a new class of estimators for the data-combination problem: double-shrinkage estimators. Double-shrinkers first compute a data-driven convex combination of the the biased and unbiased estimators, and then apply a final, Stein-like shrinkage toward zero. Such estimators do not require hyperparameter tuning, and are targeted at multidimensional causal estimands, such as vectors of conditional average treatment effects (CATEs). We derive several workable versions of double-shrinkage estimators and propose a method for constructing valid Empirical Bayes confidence intervals. We also demonstrate the utility of our estimators using simulations on data from the Women's Health Initiative

Consequences of a covariant Description of Heavy Ion Reactions at intermediate Energies

Heavy ion collisions at intermediate energies are studied by using a new RQMD code, which is a covariant generalization of the QMD approach. We show that this new implementation is able to produce the same results in the nonrelativistic limit (i.e. 50MeV/nucl.) as the non-covariant QMD. Such a comparison is not available in the literature. At higher energies (i.e. 1.5 GeV/nucl. and 2 GeV/nucl.) RQMD and QMD give different results in respect to the time evolution of the phase space, for example for the directed transverse flow. These differences show that consequences of a covariant description of heavy ion reactions within the framework of RQMD are existing even at intermediate energies.Comment: LaTex-file, 28 pages, 8 figures (available upon request), accepted for publication in Physical Review

Moose models with vanishing SS parameter

In the linear moose framework, which naturally emerges in deconstruction models, we show that there is a unique solution for the vanishing of the $S$ parameter at the lowest order in the weak interactions. We consider an effective gauge theory based on $K$ SU(2) gauge groups, $K+1$ chiral fields and electroweak groups $SU(2)_L$ and $U(1)_Y$ at the ends of the chain of the moose. $S$ vanishes when a link in the moose chain is cut. As a consequence one has to introduce a dynamical non local field connecting the two ends of the moose. Then the model acquires an additional custodial symmetry which protects this result. We examine also the possibility of a strong suppression of $S$ through an exponential behavior of the link couplings as suggested by Randall Sundrum metric.Comment: LaTex file, 27 pages, 8 figure

Microvariability in the optical polarization of 3C 279

We present results of a microvariability polarization study in the violently variable quasaer 3C279. We have resolved the polarization curves in the V band for this object down to timescales of minutes. We found two main components in the evolution of the degree of linear polarization, one consisting of a flicker with timescales of several tens of minutes and other component with far more significant variations on timescales of a few days. The linear polarization descended from ∼17%. down to ∼8% in three nights. The polarization angle underwent a sudden change of more that 10 degrees in a few hours, perhaps indicating the injection of a new shock in the jet. The amplitude of the intranight flickering in the degree of polarization is at the level of ∼1%. These are probably the best sampled polarization data ever obtained for this object. We also performed IR observations and we provide a follow-up of the evolution of this source at such energies after the main polarization outburst.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y GeofísicasInstituto Argentino de Radioastronomí

Top-BESS model and its phenomenology

We introduce the top-BESS model which is the effective description of the strong electroweak symmetry breaking with a single new SU(2)_L+R triplet vector resonance. The model is a modification of the BESS model in the fermion sector. The triplet couples to the third generation of quarks only. This approach reflects a possible extraordinary role of the top quark in the mechanism of electroweak symmetry breaking. The low-energy limits on the model parameters found provide hope for finding sizable signals in the LHC Drell-Yan processes as well as in the s-channel production processes at the ILC. However, there are regions of the model parameter space where the interplay of the direct and indirect fermion couplings can hide the resonance peak in a scattering process even though the resonance exists and couples directly to top and bottom quarks.Comment: published in Physical Review D, minor changes in text, 21 pages, 37 figure