High resolution observations of Cen A: Yellow and red supergiants in a region of jet-induced star formation?

We present the analysis of near infrared (NIR), adaptive optics (AO) Subaru and archived HST imaging data of a region near the northern middle lobe (NML) of the Centaurus A (Cen A) jet, at a distance of $\sim15$ kpc north-east (NE) from the center of NGC5128. Low-pass filtering of the NIR images reveals strong -- $>3\sigma$ above the background mean -- signal at the expected position of the brightest star in the equivalent HST field. Statistical analysis of the NIR background noise suggests that the probability to observe $>3\sigma$ signal at the same position, in three independent measurements due to stochastic background fluctuations alone is negligible ($\leq10^{-7}\%$) and, therefore, that this signal should reflect the detection of the NIR counterparts of the brightest HST star. An extensive photometric analysis of this star yields $V-I$, visual-NIR, and NIR colors expected from a yellow supergiant (YSG) with an estimated age $\sim10^{+4}_{-3}$ Myr. Furthermore, the second and third brighter HST stars are, likely, also supergiants in Cen A, with estimated ages $\sim16^{+6}_{-3}$ Myr and $\sim25^{+15}_{-9}$ Myr, respectively. The ages of these three supergiants are in good agreement with the ages of the young massive stars that were previously found in the vicinity and are thought to have formed during the later phases of the jet-HI cloud interaction that appears to drive the star formation (SF) in the region for the past $\sim100$ Myr.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in Ap

Pearling: stroke segmentation with crusted pearl strings

We introduce a novel segmentation technique, called Pearling, for the semi-automatic extraction of idealized models of networks of strokes (variable width curves) in images. These networks may for example represent roads in an aerial photograph, vessels in a medical scan, or strokes in a drawing. The operator seeds the process by selecting representative areas of good (stroke interior) and bad colors. Then, the operator may either provide a rough trace through a particular path in the stroke graph or simply pick a starting point (seed) on a stroke and a direction of growth. Pearling computes in realtime the centerlines of the strokes, the bifurcations, and the thickness function along each stroke, hence producing a purified medial axis transform of a desired portion of the stroke graph. No prior segmentation or thresholding is required. Simple gestures may be used to trim or extend the selection or to add branches. The realtime performance and reliability of Pearling results from a novel disk-sampling approach, which traces the strokes by optimizing the positions and radii of a discrete series of disks (pearls) along the stroke. A continuous model is defined through subdivision. By design, the idealized pearl string model is slightly wider than necessary to ensure that it contains the stroke boundary. A narrower core model that fits inside the stroke is computed simultaneously. The difference between the pearl string and its core contains the boundary of the stroke and may be used to capture, compress, visualize, or analyze the raw image data along the stroke boundary

Capillaria plica como agente etiológico de hematuria en un perro

Se describen los hallazgos clínicos y hematológicos, diagnóstico y tratamiento de un caso de hematuria y disuria provocado por Capíllaria plica en un perro macho de un año y medio.Clinical picture, haematologic features, diagnostic techniques and treatment protocols are discussed regarding a male dog one year and a half old with hematuria caused by Capillaria plica

A case of capecitabine-induced coronary microspasm in a patient with rectal cancer

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is the most frequently used chemotherapy agent concomitant with radiotherapy in the management of patients with rectal cancer. Capecitabine is an oral fluoropyrimidine that mimics the pharmaconkinetics of infusional 5-FU. This new drug is replacing 5-FU as a part of the combined-modality treatment of a number of gastrointestinal cancers. While cardiac events associated with the use of 5-FU are a well known side effect, capecitabine-induced cardiotoxicity has been only rarely reported. Here, we reviewed the case of a patient with rectal cancer who had a capecitabine-induced coronary vasospasm. The most prominent mutation of the dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase gene was also analyzed

Formes et dépots glaciaires et périglaciaires de la Serra do Geres-Xurés (Portugal; Galiza) Levé cartographique

[Resumo] Apresentam-se os primeiros resultados de um levantamento cartográfico do pormenor das formas e depósitos glaciários e periglaciários da Serra do Geres-Xurés, levado a efeito por urna equipa de investigadores portugueses e espanhois. Os levantamentos de campo foram realizados nas escalas de 1:5.000 ou 1: 10.000 e tiveram urna importante componente sedimentológica, nomeadamente pelo estudo dos tzlls subglaciários, que se revelaram da maior importancia para o diagnóstico preciso de formas de erosao e de acumula~ao quase sempre pouco nítidas. Esse levantamento nao está ainda completo, mas é possível, desde já, deduzir várias conclus5es acerca da glacia~aoe da morfogénese periglaciária, que sao indicadas no final do texto principal[Résumé] Nous présentons les premiers résultats du levé cartographique détaillé mené par une équipe de chercheurs portugais et espagnols. Les levés de terrain ont été réalisés aux échelles du 1:5.000 ou du 1.10.000. Une attention particuliere a été accordée al'étude des tzlls sous-glaciaires, indispensables au diagnostic rigoureux de formes souvent trop peu claires. Ce levé pas encore terminé, mais il semble possible, des maintenat, de dégager quelques conclusions: 1) Présence, indiscutable, de manifestations glaciaires, tant du coté du Minho que du coté galicien. Cela confume, donc, idées de Schmidt-Thomé et de Coudé-Gaussen. 2) Les formes d' érosion et d' accumulation conservées révelent une glaciation essentiellement de cirque et de vallée. Dans une hypothése de glaciation restreinte, l'épaisseur maximale des langues glaciaires serait de l'ordre de 150 m. Mais ces manifestations représentent, tres probablement, un épisode de retrait des glaciers. L'étude des tills sous-glaciaires suggere, en effet, une glaciation plus ample, avec formation probable d'une calotte de plateau. 3) La répartition spatiale des manifestations glaciaires canographiées montre deux types de contraintes: a) structural, qui commande les directions de grandes vallées englacées; b) climatique, révélant une dyssimétrie NW-SE, avec accumulation préférentielle des neiges du coté oriental (probablement due aun effet d'abri vis-a-vis des vents dominants). 4) Absence d'une morphologie glaciaire typique, ce qui signifie que l'action des glaciers a été peu efficace; elle s'est limitée, pratiquement, a la destruetion et au transport des manteaux d'altérites pré-glaciaires. 5) Monotonie des manÍfestations periglaciaires; il s'agit, surtout, de versant réglés, avec tabliers d'éboulis, et de quelques coulées de solif1uxi6n. Mais c'est ala dynamique cryonivale que revient l'essentiel de l'a1lure des grands versants de la montagne. 6) Absence de pergélisol. Les éboulis et les blocs des grands versants ne sont pas dus ala macrogélifraction. Les actions cryonivales se sont certainement limitées au déchaussemet des blocs, déja préfigurés dans la roche par la fracturation tectonique et par la météoris~tion pré-glaciaire. 7) Absence d'une séparation nette entre l'étage périglaciaire et l'étage glaciaire, al'exception pres du versant galicien. Tout au plus peut-on parler d'un étage forestier (<<étage des arenes», COUDE-GAUSSEN, 1979, 1981), OU les actions cryonivales seraient tres limitees, et d'un étage «glacionival» (ETIICHER, 1988), pres de la limite des neiges persistante

On the Regularity of Optimal Transportation Potentials on Round Spheres

In this paper the regularity of optimal transportation potentials defined on round spheres is investigated. Specifically, this research generalises the calculations done by Loeper, where he showed that the strong (A3) condition of Trudinger and Wang is satisfied on the round sphere, when the cost-function is the geodesic distance squared. In order to generalise Loeper's calculation to a broader class of cost-functions, the (A3) condition is reformulated via a stereographic projection that maps charts of the sphere into Euclidean space. This reformulation subsequently allows one to verify the (A3) condition for any case where the cost-fuction of the associated optimal transportation problem can be expressed as a function of the geodesic distance between points on a round sphere. With this, several examples of such cost-functions are then analysed to see whether or not they satisfy this (A3) condition.Comment: 24 pages, 4 figure

Carotenoid-based skin ornaments reflect foraging propensity in a seabird, Sula leucogaster

Carotenoid-based ornaments are common signalling features in animals. It has long been proposed that such ornaments communicate information about foraging abilities to potential mates. However, evidence linking foraging with ornamentation is largely missing from unmanipulated, free-ranging populations. To investigate this relationship, we studied a coastal population of brown booby (Sula leucogaster brewsteri), a seabird with a carotenoid-based gular skin ornament. δ13C values from both feathers and blood plasma were negatively correlated with male gular colour, indicating birds that consumed more pelagic prey in offshore locations had more ornamented skin than those that fed on nearshore, benthic prey. This relationship was supported by our GPS tracking results, which revealed longer, more offshore foraging trips among highly ornamented males. Our data show that brown booby ornaments are honest indicators of foraging propensity; a link consistent with the rarity hypothesis and potentially driven by the concentration of carotenoids found in phytoplankton versus benthic algae. Carotenoid-based ornaments may reflect foraging tendencies in animals such as coastal predators that use food webs with distinct carotenoid profiles

Design of Force Fields from Data at Finite Temperature

We investigate the problem of how to obtain the force field between atoms of an experimentally determined structure. We show how this problem can be efficiently solved, even at finite temperature, where the position of the atoms differs substantially from the ground state. We apply our method to systems modeling proteins and demonstrate that the correct potentials can be recovered even in the presence of thermal noise.Comment: 10 pages, 1 postcript figure, Late

Feasibility report of conservative surgery, perioperative high-dose-rate brachytherapy (PHDRB), and low-to-moderate dose external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) in pediatric sarcomas

This study was undertaken to determine the feasibility of perioperative high-dose-rate brachytherapy (PHDRB) as an accelerated boost in patients with pediatric sarcomas. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Five pediatric patients (ages 7-16) with soft tissue sarcomas (STS) or soft tissue recurrences of previously treated osteosarcomas were treated with surgical resection and PHDRB (16-24 Gy) for R0-R1 resections. Patients with STS and osteosarcomas received 27 Gy and 45 Gy of EBRT postoperatively. RESULTS: After a median follow-up of 27 months (range, 12-50) all the patients remain locally controlled. Only 1 patient developed regrowth of pulmonary metastases and died of distant disease at 16 months. CONCLUSIONS: The use of PHDRB is safe in the short-term in this pediatric population. Only 1 patient suffered a partial wound dehiscence that may not be entirely related to PHDRB. Patients with recurrent osteosarcomas can be treated in a fashion similar to their adult soft tissue counterparts and avoid limb amputation. Younger patients with STS may achieve local control and prevent growth retardation with a combination of PHDRB and moderate doses of EBR