176 research outputs found
the alterations of plumage of parasitic origin
Described herein are the main lesions to the plumage caused by insects and mites, both on the vane or the calamus of feathers. Practical data are given, aimed to make a correct differential diagnosis. Mallophaga cut the barbs of feathers, whereas dermestidae can cut also the rachis. Mites make holes in the vane of feathers and sometimes they stick the barbs the ones to the others or they attack the calamus both inside and by digging tunnels in the outside wall of the calamus causing the fall of feathers
Sancassania berlesei (Michael, 1903): an opportunistic mite infesting litters in poultry farms causing dermatitis in humans and animals
Reported herein are some cases of human dermatitis caused by S. berlesei, a mite coming from seriously infested poultry farms. It appears unable to determine traumatic lesions on human skin, but it causes itch and inflammation also at the level of mucosas. Besides this mite can be found accidentally also on reared fowls'wounds by peak
Readily Available Chiral Benzimidazoles-Derived Guanidines as Organocatalysts in the Asymmetric α-Amination of 1,3-Dicarbonyl Compounds
The synthesis and the evaluation as organocatalysts of new chiral guanidines derived from benzimidazoles in the enantioselective α-amination of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds using di-t-butylazodicarboxylate as aminating agent is herein disclosed. The catalysts are readily synthesized through the reaction of 2-chlorobezimidazole and a chiral amine in moderate-to-good yields. Among all of them, those derived from (R)-1-phenylethan-1-amine (1) and (S)-1-(2-naphthyl)ethan-1-amine (3) turned out to be the most efficient for such asymmetric transformation, rendering good-to-high yields and moderate-to-good enantioselectivities for the amination products.Financial support from the University of Alicante (VIGROB-173, VIGROB-285, GRE12-03, UAUSTI13-01, UAUSTI13-02), and Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (CTQ2011-24151) is acknowledged
Preoperative charcoal suspension tattoo for the detection of differentiated thyroid cancer recurrence
Recurrent differentiated thyroid carcinoma can easily be detected by means of ultrasound (US) and thyroglobulin, and often requires further surgical intervention. Revision surgery is often a technical challenge with significant risk of complications, considering the altered anatomy, with a possibility of leaving behind residual neoplasm. Preoperative US-guided tattooing localization has been introduced to reduce and prevent these potential problems during revision surgery. Encouraging results have been reported in the literature. Under US guidance, the lesion is identified and 0.5-2 ml of colloidal charcoal is injected in its proximity using a 23 gauge needle. The extraction is accompanied by injection at constant pressure of charcoal in order to leave a trace of pigment along the path of the needle till the skin. From April 2008 to January 2016 we performed revision surgery in 27 patients for lymph-nodes metastasis in differentiated thyroid cancer, using the technique of preoperative charcoal tattoo localization. Our previous study on the first group of 13 patients published in 2012, reported the preliminary results in terms of success rate and complications. The tolerance of charcoal injection was good for all patients and the procedure was demonstrated to be useful, contributing to the removal of metastatic lesion in 93% of procedures. We have registered minor surgical complications during revision in the central compartment of the neck: Transitory hypoparathyroidism in 2 cases (11%) and transitory vocal cord paresis in 3 cases (16%). Based on these results, preoperative charcoal tattoo localization in revision surgery of the neck for differentiated thyroid cancer recurrence can be considered a safe technique, easy to perform, with low-costs and useful during surgical procedures, providing a significant reduction of iatrogenic damage and risks
The lively accretion disc in NGC 2992. III. Tentative evidence of rapid Ultra Fast Outflow variability
We report on the 2019 XMM-Newton+NuSTAR monitoring campaign of the Seyfert
galaxy NGC 2992, observed at one of its highest flux levels in the X-rays. The
time-averaged spectra of the two XMM-Newton orbits show Ultra Fast Outflows
(UFOs) absorbing structures above 9 keV with significance. A
detailed investigation of the temporal evolution on a 5 ks time scale
reveals UFO absorption lines at a confidence level 95% (2) in 8 out
of 50 XMM-Newton segments, estimated via Monte Carlo simulations. We observe a
wind variability corresponding to a length scale of 5 Schwarzschild radii
. Adopting the novel Wind in the Ionised Nuclear Environment (WINE) model,
we estimate the outflowing gas velocity (), column density
() and ionisation state ($\log(\xi_0/erg\ cm\
s^{-1})=3.7-4.7\dot{M}_{out}\simeq0.3-0.8 M_{\odot} yr^{-1}\dot{p}_{out}\simeq 20-90 L_{Bol}/c\dot{E}_K \simeq 2-25 L_{Bol}\approx\approx\approx 5 r_S, 10^{11} {cm}^{-3}$, respectively.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. 21 pages, 11
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Mechanistic Insights on the Mechanosynthesis of Phenytoin, a WHO Essential Medicine
In recent years, mechanochemistry has enriched the toolbox of synthetic chemists, enabling faster and more sustainable access to new materials and existing products, including active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). However, molecular-level understanding of most mechanochemical reactions remains limited, delaying the implementation of mechanochemistry in industrial applications. Herein, we have applied in situ monitoring by Raman spectroscopy to the mechanosynthesis of phenytoin, a World Health Organization (WHO) Essential Medicine, enabling the observation, isolation, and characterization of key molecular-migration intermediates involved in the single-step transformation of benzil, urea, and KOH into phenytoin. This work contributes to the elucidation of a reaction mechanism that has been subjected to a number of interpretations over time and paints a clear picture of how mechanosynthesis can be applied and optimized for the preparation of added-value molecules
Firmamento: a multi-messenger astronomy tool for citizen and professional scientists
Firmamento (https://firmamento.hosting.nyu.edu) is a new-concept web-based
and mobile-friendly data analysis tool dedicated to
multi-frequency/multi-messenger emitters, as exemplified by blazars. Although
initially intended to support a citizen researcher project at New York
University-Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), Firmamento has evolved to be a valuable tool for
professional researchers due to its broad accessibility to classical and
contemporary multi-frequency open data sets. From this perspective Firmamento
facilitates the identification of new blazars and other multi-frequency
emitters in the localisation uncertainty regions of sources detected by current
and planned observatories such as Fermi-LAT, Swift , eROSITA, CTA, ASTRI
Mini-Array, LHAASO, IceCube, KM3Net, SWGO, etc. The multi-epoch and
multi-wavelength data that Firmamento retrieves from over 90 remote and local
catalogues and databases can be used to characterise the spectral energy
distribution and the variability properties of cosmic sources as well as to
constrain physical models. Firmamento distinguishes itself from other online
platforms due to its high specialization, the use of machine learning and other
methodologies to characterise the data and for its commitment to inclusivity.
From this particular perspective, its objective is to assist both researchers
and citizens interested in science, strengthening a trend that is bound to gain
momentum in the coming years as data retrieval facilities improve in power and
machine learning/artificial intelligence tools become more widely availableComment: Accepted for publication in A
A tryptophan metabolite prevents depletion of circulating endothelial progenitor cells in systemic low-grade inflammation
BackgroundChronic systemic inflammation reduces the bioavailability of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1), a key enzyme of immune tolerance catalyzing the initial step of tryptophan degradation along the so-called l-kynurenine (l-kyn) pathway, that is induced by inflammatory stimuli and exerts anti-inflammatory effects. A specific relationship between IDO1 activity and circulating EPC numbers has not yet been investigated.MethodsIn this study, circulating EPCs were examined in mice treated with low doses of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to mimic low-grade inflammation. Moreover, the association between IDO1 activity and circulating EPCs was studied in a cohort of 277 patients with variable systemic low-grade inflammation.ResultsRepeated low doses of LPS caused a decrease in circulating EPCs and l-kyn supplementation, mimicking IDO1 activation, significantly increased EPC numbers under homeostatic conditions preventing EPC decline in low-grade endotoxemia. Accordingly, in patients with variable systemic low-grade inflammation, there was a significant interaction between IDO1 activity and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in predicting circulating EPCs, with high hs-CRP associated with significantly lower EPCs at low IDO1 activity but not at high IDO1 activity.InterpretationOverall, these findings demonstrate that systemic low-grade inflammation reduces circulating EPCs. However, high IDO1 activity and l-kyn supplementation limit circulating EPC loss in low-grade inflammation
The Chandra COSMOS Survey, I: Overview and Point Source Catalog
The Chandra COSMOS Survey (C-COSMOS) is a large, 1.8 Ms, Chandra} program
that has imaged the central 0.5 sq.deg of the COSMOS field (centered at 10h,
+02deg) with an effective exposure of ~160ksec, and an outer 0.4sq.deg. area
with an effective exposure of ~80ksec. The limiting source detection depths are
1.9e-16 erg cm(-2) s(-1) in the Soft (0.5-2 keV) band, 7.3e(-16) erg cm^-2 s^-1
in the Hard (2-10 keV) band, and 5.7e(-16) erg cm(-2) s(-1) in the Full (0.5-10
keV) band. Here we describe the strategy, design and execution of the C-COSMOS
survey, and present the catalog of 1761 point sources detected at a probability
of being spurious of <2e(-5) (1655 in the Full, 1340 in the Soft, and 1017 in
the Hard bands). By using a grid of 36 heavily (~50%) overlapping pointing
positions with the ACIS-I imager, a remarkably uniform (to 12%) exposure across
the inner 0.5 sq.deg field was obtained, leading to a sharply defined lower
flux limit. The widely different PSFs obtained in each exposure at each point
in the field required a novel source detection method, because of the
overlapping tiling strategy, which is described in a companion paper. (Puccetti
et al. Paper II). This method produced reliable sources down to a 7-12 counts,
as verified by the resulting logN-logS curve, with sub-arcsecond positions,
enabling optical and infrared identifications of virtually all sources, as
reported in a second companion paper (Civano et al. Paper III). The full
catalog is described here in detail, and is available on-line.Comment: Revised to omit egregious bold facing and fix missing ',' in author
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