11,221 research outputs found
The white dwarf cooling sequence of 47 Tucanae
47 Tucanae is one of the most interesting and well observed and theoretically
studied globular clusters. This allows us to study the reliability of our
understanding of white dwarf cooling sequences, to confront different methods
to determine its age, and to assess other important characteristics, like its
star formation history. Here we present a population synthesis study of the
cooling sequence of the globular cluster 47 Tucanae. In particular, we study
the distribution of effective temperatures, the shape of the color-magnitude
diagram, and the corresponding magnitude and color distributions. We do so
using an up-to-date population synthesis code based on Monte Carlo techniques,
that incorporates the most recent and reliable cooling sequences and an
accurate modeling of the observational biases. We find a good agreement between
our theoretical models and the observed data. Thus, our study, rules out
previous claims that there are still missing physics in the white dwarf cooling
models at moderately high effective temperatures. We also derive the age of the
cluster using the termination of the cooling sequence, obtaining a good
agreement with the age determinations using the main-sequence turn-off.
Finally, we find that the star formation history of the cluster is compatible
with that btained using main sequence stars, which predict the existence of two
distinct populations. We conclude that a correct modeling of the white dwarf
population of globular clusters, used in combination with the number counts of
main sequence stars provides an unique tool to model the properties of globular
clusters.Comment: 6 pages and 4 figures accepted for publication in A &
A search for new hot subdwarf stars by means of Virtual Observatory tools
Hot subdwarf stars are faint, blue objects, and are the main contributors to
the far-UV excess observed in elliptical galaxies. They offer an excellent
laboratory to study close and wide binary systems, and to scrutinize their
interiors through asteroseismology, as some of them undergo stellar
oscillations. However, their origins are still uncertain, and increasing the
number of detections is crucial to undertake statistical studies. In this work,
we aim at defining a strategy to find new, uncatalogued hot subdwarfs. Making
use of Virtual Observatory tools we thoroughly search stellar catalogues to
retrieve multi-colour photometry and astrometric information of a known sample
of blue objects, including hot subdwarfs, white dwarfs, cataclysmic variables
and main sequence OB stars. We define a procedure to discriminate among these
spectral classes, particularly designed to obtain a hot subdwarf sample with a
low contamination factor. In order to check the validity of the method, this
procedure is then applied to two test sky regions: the Kepler FoV and to a test
region of around (RA:225, DEC:5) deg. As a result, we obtained 38 hot subdwarf
candidates, 23 of which had already a spectral classification. We have acquired
spectroscopy for three other targets, and four additional ones have an
available SDSS spectrum, which we used to determine their spectral type. A
temperature estimate is provided for the candidates based on their spectral
energy distribution, considering two-atmospheres fit for objects with clear
infrared excess. Eventually, out of 30 candidates with spectral classification,
26 objects were confirmed to be hot subdwarfs, yielding a contamination factor
of only 13%. The high rate of success demonstrates the validity of the proposed
strategy to find new uncatalogued hot subdwarfs. An application of this method
to the entire sky will be presented in a forthcoming work.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure
Metodología para la elaboración de guías de intervención basadas en la evidencia en psicología y salud mental: procedimientos del NICE
El presente material explica el proceso de desarrollo de guías de práctica clínica que
utiliza el NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence), una de las
instituciones de referencia en la elaboración de guías de intervenciones basadas en la
evidencia.
La primera parte está dirigida a la descripción de las característica generales de esta
institución, que incluye la explicación de su organización y la estructuración en grupos
de trabajo con perfiles y funciones bien definidas. Posteriormente se exponen los
elementos claves de la metodología que utiliza el NICE para la elaboración de sus
recomendaciones.
Si bien en principio, estos procedimientos son generales y están fuertemente vinculados
a las intervenciones en el ámbito sanitario, en los últimos años se han extendido al
ámbito de las intervenciones sociales, educativas y de salud mental. Por lo cual, la
metodología que aquí se expone, puede aplicarse para la generación de guías de
intervención psicológica o psicoeducativas aplicables en distintos contextos
Hidden clear cell acanthoma with uncommon dermoscopic findings
Dear Editor, A 73-year-old woman presented with less than a 1-year history of an erythematous, well-delimited and shiny lesion on her left buttock, near the gluteal fold. Dermoscopic examination showed dotted vessels arranged in a linear pattern involving the entire lesion. These vascular findings are also called metaphorically a ‘string of pearls’ pattern. Another vascular pattern observed on the periphery of the lesion is that of branched vessels with rounded endings. Surprisingly, dermoscopy also revealed multiple rosettes (also known as ‘four-clod dots’). Differential diagnoses included mainly clear cell acanthoma, irritated seborrheic keratosis, Bowen´s disease and eccrine poroma. The lesion was completely surgically removed and histopathologic examination revealed an epidermic lesion with marked psoriasiform hyperplasia, in which epidermal cells show clear cytoplasms (Fig. 3). These findings are consistent with the diagnosis of Clear Cell Acanthoma (CCA)..
Monte Carlo simulations of post-common-envelope white dwarf + main sequence binaries: The effects of including recombination energy
Detached WD+MS PCEBs are perhaps the most suitable objects for testing
predictions of close-compact binary-star evolution theories, in particular, CE
evolution. The population of WD+MS PCEBs has been simulated by several authors
in the past and compared with observations. However, most of those predictions
did not take the possible contributions to the envelope ejection from
additional sources of energy (mostly recombination energy) into account. Here
we update existing binary population models of WD+MS PCEBs by assuming that a
fraction of the recombination energy available within the envelope contributes
to ejecting the envelope. We performed Monte Carlo simulations of 10^7 MS+MS
binaries for 9 different models using standard assumptions for the initial
primary mass function, binary separations, and initial-mass-ratio distribution
and evolved these systems using the publicly available BSE code. Including a
fraction of recombination energy leads to a clear prediction of a large number
of long orbital period (>~10 days) systems mostly containing high-mass WDs. The
fraction of systems with He-core WD primaries increases with the CE efficiency
and the existence of very low-mass He WDs is only predicted for high values of
the CE efficiency (>~0.5). All models predict on average longer orbital periods
for PCEBs containing C/O-core WDs than for PCEBs containing He WDs. This effect
increases with increasing values of both efficiencies. Longer periods after the
CE phase are also predicted for systems containing more massive secondary
stars. The initial-mass-ratio distribution affects the distribution of orbital
periods, especially the distribution of secondary star masses. Our simulations,
in combination with a large and homogeneous observational sample, can provide
constraints on the values of the CE efficiencies, as well as on the
initial-mass-ratio distribution for MS+MS binary stars.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A&
New objects in old structures: The Iron Age hoard of the Palacio III megalithic funerary complex (Almadén de la Plata, Seville, Spain)
Cultural contact, exchange and interaction feature high in the list of challenging topics of current research on European Prehistory. Not far off is the issue of the changing role of monuments in the making and maintaining of key cultural devices such as memory and identity. Addressing both these highly-debated issues from a science-based perspective, in this paper we look at an unusual case study set in southern Iberia and illustrate how these archaeological questions can benefit from robust materials-science approaches.We present the contextual, morphological and analytical study of an exceptional Early Iron Age hoard composed of a number of different (and mostly exotic) materials such as amber, quartz, silver and ceramic. This hoard, found under the fallen orthostat of a megalithic structure built at least 2000 years earlier, throws new light on long-distance exchange networks and the effect they could have had on the cultural identities and social relations of local Iberian Early Iron Age communities. Moreover, the archaeometric study reveals how diverse and distant the sources of these item are (Northern Europe to Eastern and Western Mediterranean raw materials, as well as local and eastern technologies), therefore raising questions concerning the social mechanisms used to establish change and resistance in contexts of colonial encounter
Comparison between Airborne Pollen and Aeroallergen Quantification with the ChemVol Impact Sampler. Olive pollen vs Ole e 1
Comparison between Airborne Pollen and Aeroallergen Quantification with the ChemVol Impact Sampler. Olive pollen vs Ole e 1.
Torres M.C.1, C. Antunes2, M.J. Velasco1, R. Ferro2, H. García-Mozo1, R. Ribeiro2, R.Brandao3, Galán, C1 and the HIALINE team4
1Department of Botany, Ecology and Plant Physiology, University of Córdoba
2Department of Chemistry, University of Évora, Portugal
3Department of Biology, University of Évora, Portugal
4J.T.M. Buters, Germany, M. Thibaudon, France, M. Smith, Great Britain, C. Galan, Spain, R. Brandao and C. Antunes, Portugal, G. Reese, Germany, R. Albertini, Italy, L. Grewling, Poland, A. Rantio-Lehtimäki, Finland, S. Jäger and U. Berger, Austria, I. Sauliene, Lithuania, L. Cecchi, Italy
Nowadays, pollinosis is affecting a large percentage of population in the countries with a western life style. The existence of allergenic activity in the atmosphere is not only associated to pollen grains and fungal spores, but also to submicronic and paucimicronic biological particles. The origin of these allergens can be due to the rupture of pollen transported in the atmosphere or to the presence of allergens from other parts of the plant making amorphous material with an allergen load.
Olive pollen is recognized as one of the main causes of allergic disease in the Mediterranean area. In this study we have tried to compare olive pollen count in the air and Ole e 1 as major allergen of this species, at two different localities in South of Europe: Evora (Portugal) and Córdoba (Spain). At each location both samplers were placed side-by-side.
Pollen grains have been sampled using a volumetric Hirst type spore trap. Chemvol high-volume cascade impactor equipped with stages PM>10µm, 10 µm>PM>2.5µm were used for detecting aeroallergens. Ole e 1 major allergen was determined using allergen specific ELISA´s.
Similar behaviour between pollen and the total allergenic load was observed during the pollen season. Nevertheless, at some occasions, during the previous and later period of the pollen season, airborne allergenic load was detected in South Spain, due to the contributions from other Oleaceae species. For this reason the use of these two different methodologies allow a better understanding of the allergenic load in the atmosphere.
This work was supported in part by the European Agency for Health and Consumers EAHC, Luxembourg, under the grant agreement 20081107
Numerical precision radiative corrections to the Dalitz plot of baryon semileptonic decays including the spin-momentum correlation of the decaying and emitted baryons
We calculate the radiative corrections to the angular correlation between the
polarization of the decaying and the direction of the emitted spin one-half
baryons in the semileptonic decay mode. The final results are presented, first,
with the triple integration of the bremsstrahlung photon ready to be performed
numerically and, second, in an analytical form. A third presentation of our
results in the form of numerical arrays of coefficients to be multiplied by the
quadratic products of form factors is discussed. This latter may be the most
practical one to use in Monte Carlo simulations. A series of crosschecks is
performed. Previous results to order (alpha/pi)(q/M_1) for the decays of
unpolarized baryons are reviewed, too, where q is the momentum transfer and M_1
is the mass of the decaying baryon. This paper is self-contained and organized
to make it accessible and reliable in the analysis of the Dalitz plot of
precision experiments involving heavy quarks and is not compromised to fixing
the form factors at predetermined values. It is assumed that the real photons
are kinematically discriminated. Otherwise, our results have a general
model-independent applicability.Comment: 34 pages, 4 tables, no figures. Some sections have been shortened.
Conclusions remain unchange
Probing the electron-phonon coupling in ozone-doped graphene by Raman spectroscopy
We have investigated the effects of ozone treatment on graphene by Raman
scattering. Sequential ozone short-exposure cycles resulted in increasing the
doping levels as inferred from the blue shift of the 2 and peak
frequencies, without introducing significant disorder. The two-phonon 2 and
2 Raman peak intensities show a significant decrease, while, on the
contrary, the one-phonon G Raman peak intensity remains constant for the whole
exposure process. The former reflects the dynamics of the photoexcited
electrons (holes) and, specifically, the increase of the electron-electron
scattering rate with doping. From the ratio of 2 to 2 intensities, which
remains constant with doping, we could extract the ratio of electron-phonon
coupling parameters. This ratio is found independent on the number of layers up
to ten layers. Moreover, the rate of decrease of 2 and 2 intensities
with doping was found to slowdown inversely proportional to the number of
graphene layers, revealing the increase of the electron-electron collision
probability
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