6,940 research outputs found
A Rare Presentation of Invasive Tuberculosis of the Central Nervous System in an Immunocompetent Patient in a Nonendemic Country.
We herein report a rare case of a 25-year-old immunocompetent male patient with disseminated tuberculosis of central nervous system (CNS), first presenting as multiple cerebral lesions with no meningeal involvement. Subsequent diagnostic workup disclosed extensive peritoneal involvement. A broad differential diagnosis was considered, including neoplastic and infectious diseases. The diagnosis was confirmed with positive PCR result for Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the biopsied mesenteric tissue. The patient was started on tuberculostatic regimen with favorable outcome. No acquired or hereditary immunodeficiency was documented. Disseminated tuberculosis in immunocompetent individuals is extremely rare. Genetic susceptibility factors have been reported in individuals with extensive forms of the disease and a high index of suspicion is required, as observed in our case.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Solid helium at high pressure: A path-integral Monte Carlo simulation
Solid helium (3He and 4He) in the hcp and fcc phases has been studied by
path-integral Monte Carlo. Simulations were carried out in the
isothermal-isobaric (NPT) ensemble at pressures up to 52 GPa. This allows one
to study the temperature and pressure dependences of isotopic effects on the
crystal volume and vibrational energy in a wide parameter range. The obtained
equation of state at room temperature agrees with available experimental data.
The kinetic energy, E_k, of solid helium is found to be larger than the
vibrational potential energy, E_p. The ratio E_k/E_p amounts to about 1.4 at
low pressures, and decreases as the applied pressure is raised, converging to
1, as in a harmonic solid. Results of these simulations have been compared with
those yielded by previous path integral simulations in the NVT ensemble. The
validity range of earlier approximations is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
Photospheric activity, rotation and magnetic interaction in LHS 6343 A
Context. The Kepler mission has recently discovered a brown dwarf companion
transiting one member of the M4V+M5V visual binary system LHS 6343 AB with an
orbital period of 12.71 days. Aims. The particular interest of this transiting
system lies in the synchronicity between the transits of the brown dwarf C
component and the main modulation observed in the light curve, which is assumed
to be caused by rotating starspots on the A component. We model the activity of
this star by deriving maps of the active regions that allow us to study stellar
rotation and the possible interaction with the brown dwarf companion. Methods.
An average transit profile was derived, and the photometric perturbations due
to spots occulted during transits are removed to derive more precise transit
parameters. We applied a maximum entropy spot model to fit the out-of-transit
optical modulation as observed by Kepler during an uninterrupted interval of
500 days. It assumes that stellar active regions consist of cool spots and
bright faculae whose visibility is modulated by stellar rotation. Results.
Thanks to the extended photometric time series, we refine the determination of
the transit parameters and find evidence of spots that are occulted by the
brown dwarf during its transits. The modelling of the out-of-transit light
curve of LHS 6343 A reveals several starspots rotating with a slightly longer
period than the orbital period of the brown dwarf, i.e., 13.13 +- 0.02 days. No
signature attributable to differential rotation is observed. We find evidence
of a persistent active longitude on the M dwarf preceding the sub- companion
point by 100 deg and lasting for at least 500 days. This can be relevant for
understanding how magnetic interaction works in low-mass binary and star-planet
systems.Comment: 14 pages, 16 figure
Doppler-beaming in the Kepler light curve of LHS 6343 A
Context. Kepler observations revealed a brown dwarf eclipsing the M-type star
LHS 6343 A with a period of 12.71 days. In addition, an out-of-eclipse light
modulation with the same period and a relative semi-amplitude of 2 x 10^-4 was
observed showing an almost constant phase lag to the eclipses produced by the
brown dwarf. In a previous work, we concluded that this was due to the light
modulation induced by photospheric active regions in LHS 6343 A. Aims. In the
present work, we prove that most of the out-of-eclipse light modulation is
caused by the Doppler-beaming induced by the orbital motion of the primary
star. Methods. We introduce a model of the Doppler-beaming for an eccentric
orbit and also considered the ellipsoidal effect. The data were fitted using a
Bayesian approach implemented through a Monte Carlo Markov chain method. Model
residuals were analysed by searching for periodicities using a Lomb-Scargle
periodogram. Results. For the first seven quarters of Kepler observations and
the orbit previously derived from the radial velocity measurements, we show
that the light modulation of the system outside eclipses is dominated by the
Doppler-beaming effect. A period search performed on the residuals shows a
significant periodicity of 42.5 +- 3.2 days with a false-alarm probability of 5
x 10^-4, probably associated with the rotational modulation of the primary
component.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure
Generation of isolated attosecond pulses in the far field by spatial filtering with an intense few-cycle mid-infrared laser
We report theoretical calculations of high-order harmonic generation (HHG) of
Xe with the inclusion of multi-electron effects and macroscopic propagation of
the fundamental and harmonic fields in an ionizing medium. By using the
time-frequency analysis we show that the reshaping of the fundamental laser
field is responsible for the continuum structure in the HHG spectra. We further
suggest a method for obtaining an isolated attosecond pulse (IAP) by using a
filter centered on axis to select the harmonics in the far field with different
divergence. We also discuss the carrier-envelope-phase dependence of an IAP and
the possibility to optimize the yield of the IAP. With the intense few-cycle
mid-infrared lasers, this offers a possible method for generating isolated
attosecond pulses.Comment: 8 figure
A multi-wavelength view of the central kiloparsec region in the Luminous Infrared Galaxy NGC1614
The Luminous Infrared Galaxy NGC1614 hosts a prominent circumnuclear ring of
star formation. However, the nature of the dominant emitting mechanism in its
central ~100 pc is still under debate. We present sub-arcsecond angular
resolution radio, mid-infrared, Pa-alpha, optical, and X-ray observations of
NGC1614, aimed at studying in detail both the circumnuclear ring and the
nuclear region. The 8.4 GHz continuum emission traced by the Very Large Array
(VLA) and the Gemini/T-ReCS 8.7 micron emission, as well as the Pa-alpha line
emission, show remarkable morphological similarities within the star-forming
ring, suggesting that the underlying emission mechanisms are tightly related.
We used an HST/NICMOS Pa-alpha map of similar resolution to our radio maps to
disentangle the thermal free-free and non-thermal synchrotron radio emission,
from which we obtained the intrinsic synchrotron power-law for each individual
region within the central kpc of NGC1614. The radio ring surrounds a relatively
faint, steep-spectrum source at the very center of the galaxy, suggesting that
the central source is not powered by an AGN, but rather by a compact (r < 90
pc) starburst. Chandra X-ray data also show that the central kpc region is
dominated by starburst activity, without requiring the existence of an AGN. We
also used publicly available infrared data to model-fit the spectral energy
distribution of both the starburst ring and a putative AGN in NGC1614. In
summary, we conclude that there is no need to invoke an AGN to explain the
observed bolometric properties of the galaxy.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in Ap
Observational evidence for a correlation between macroturbulent broadening and line-profile variations in OB Supergiants
The spectra of O and B supergiants are known to be affected by a significant
form of extra line broadening (usually referred to as macroturbulence) in
addition to that produced by stellar rotation. Recent analyses of high
resolution spectra have shown that the interpretation of this line broadening
as a consequence of large scale turbulent motions would imply highly supersonic
velocity fields in photospheric regions, making this scenario quite improbable.
Stellar oscillations have been proposed as a likely alternative explanation. As
part of a long term observational project, we are investigating the
macroturbulent broadening in O and B supergiants and its possible connection
with spectroscopic variability phenomena and stellar oscillations. In this
letter, we present the first encouraging results of our project, namely firm
observational evidence for a strong correlation between the extra broadening
and photospheric line-profile variations in a sample of 13 supergiants with
spectral types ranging from O9.5 to B8.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ
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