A strong form of the Quantitative Isoperimetric inequality

We give a refinement of the quantitative isoperimetric inequality. We prove that the isoperimetric gap controls not only the Fraenkel asymmetry but also the oscillation of the boundary

Effect of Ferric Sodium EDTA administration, in combination with vitamin C, folic acid, copper gluconate, zinc gluconate and selenomethionine, on cardiovascular risk evaluation: exploration of the HRV frequency domain

diseases. Using the Heart Rate Variability (HRV) analysis is possible to provide an evaluation of the safety and the effectiveness of intervention. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Ferric Sodium EDTA in combination with vitamin C, folic acid, copper gluconate, zinc gluconate and selenomethionine (Ferachel forte®) 2 tabs/day for 24 days in elderly patients with secondary anaemia, by exploring the HRV frequency domain. Methods: In 45 elderly patients with secondary anaemia and/or low-moderate kidney failure, laboratory values after administration of Ferric Sodium EDTA, 2 tabs a day, in combination with vitamin C, folic acid, copper gluconate, zinc gluconate and selenomethionine (Ferachel forte®) for 24 days (N=16 patients) or ferrous gluconate 63 mg/day added to saline solution, administered using intravenous access during the hospitalization period of 15 ± 5 days (N=29 patients) were evaluated. Also, ECG signals and bioelectrical impedance (BIA) were measured. Results: Oral iron supplementation with Ferric Sodium EDTA, in combination with vitamin C, folic acid, copper gluconate, zinc gluconate and selenomethionine (Ferachel forte®) confirmed to be effective and safe about the cardiovascular risk in old patients. This study showed the real superiority of the oral administration about the cardiovascular risk in elderly patients in comparison with intravenous administration of ferrous gluconate. Conclusion: This study confirms that Ferric Sodium EDTA combination (Ferachel forte®) can be a valid alternative to ferrous gluconate intravenous therapy (gold standard) in the treatment of secondary anaemia in elderly patients. In fact, during the treatment, efficacy results have been maintained without statistically significant variations about cardiovascular risk, evaluated by exploring the HRV frequency domain

A state-of-the-art analysis of the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 6822

We present a detailed photometric study of the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 6822 aimed at investigating the properties of its stellar populations and, in particular, the presence of stellar radial gradients. Our goal is to analyse the stellar populations in six fields, which cover the whole bar of this dwarf galaxy. We derived the quantitative star formation history (SFH) of the six fields using the IAC method, involving IAC-pop/MinnIAC codes. The solutions we derived show an enhanced star formation rate (SFR) in Fields 1 and 3 during the past 500 Myr. The SFRs of the other fields are almost extinguished at very recent epochs and. We study the radial gradients of the SFR and consider the total mass converted into stars in two time intervals (between 0 and 0.5 Gyr ago and between 0.5 and 13.5 Gyr ago). We find that the scale lengths of the young and intermediate-to-old populations are perfectly compatible, with the exception of the young populations in Fields 1 and 3. The recent SF in these two fields is greater than in the other ones. This might be an indication that in these two fields we are sampling incipient spiral arms. Further evidence and new observations are required to prove this hypothesis. In addition, we derived the age-metallicity relations. As expected, the metallicity increases with time for all of the fields. We do not observe any radial gradient in the metallicity.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures, Accepted to A&

INTEGRAL discovery of non-thermal hard X-ray emission from the Ophiuchus cluster

We present the results of deep observations of the Ophiuchus cluster of galaxies with INTEGRAL in the 3-80 keV band. We analyse 3 Ms of INTEGRAL data on the Ophiuchus cluster with the IBIS/ISGRI hard X-ray imager and the JEM-X X-ray monitor. In the X-ray band using JEM-X, we show that the source is extended, and that the morphology is compatible with the results found by previous missions. Above 20 keV, we show that the size of the source is slightly larger than the PSF of the instrument, and is consistent with the soft X-ray morphology found with JEM-X and ASCA. Thanks to the constraints on the temperature provided by JEM-X, we show that the spectrum of the cluster is not well fitted by a single-temperature thermal Bremsstrahlung model, and that another spectral component is needed to explain the high energy data. We detect the high energy tail with a higher detection significance (6.4 sigma) than the BeppoSAX claim (2 sigma). Because of the imaging capabilities of JEM-X and ISGRI, we are able to exclude the possibility that the excess emission comes from very hot regions or absorbed AGN, which proves that the excess emission is indeed of non-thermal origin. Using the available radio data together with the non-thermal hard X-ray flux, we estimate a magnetic field B ~ 0.1-0.2 mu G.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, accepted by A&

Correction of distortion for optimal image stacking in Wide Field Adaptive Optics: Application to GeMS data

The advent of Wide Field Adaptive Optics (WFAO) systems marks the beginning of a new era in high spatial resolution imaging. The newly commissioned Gemini South Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics System (GeMS) combined with the infrared camera Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI), delivers quasi diffraction-limited images over a field of 2 arc-minutes across. However, despite this excellent performance, some variable residues still limit the quality of the analyses. In particular, distortions severely affect GSAOI and become a critical issue for high-precision astrometry and photometry. In this paper, we investigate an optimal way to correct for the distortion following an inverse problem approach. Formalism as well as applications on GeMS data are presented.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Analysis of ground-based differential imager performance

In the context of extrasolar planet direct detection, we evaluated the performance of differential imaging with ground-based telescopes. This study was carried out in the framework of the VLT-Planet Finder project and is further extended to the case of Extremely Large Telescopes. Our analysis is providing critical specifications for future instruments mostly in terms of phase aberrations but also regarding alignments of the instrument optics or offset pointing on the coronagraph. It is found that Planet Finder projects on 8m class telescopes can be successful at detecting Extrasolar Giant Planets providing phase aberrations, alignments and pointing are accurately controlled. The situation is more pessimistic for the detection of terrestrial planets with Extremely Large Telescopes for which phase aberrations must be lowered at a very challenging level

Bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaws: A report on 30 cases

Aim: To report a series of thirty cases of bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (BRONJ). Material and Methods: For 30 patients with BRONJ, gender, age, underlying diagnosis, type of bisphos- phonate (BP), administration route and duration, location and stage of osteonecrosis, symptoms and oral health status, radiological findings of the jaws, treatment and outcome, were recorded. Results: Underlying diagnoses in the series (12 male; 18 female; mean age 70.50 \ub1 9.62) were: 12 multiple myeloma, 7 breast cancer, 3 prostate carcinoma, 1 kidney/lung/ bladder/mediastinal cancer, 1 chronic lymphocytic leukemia, 1 osteoporosis, 1 palatal osteosarcoma + osteoporosis, 1 non-Hodgkin\u2019s lymphoma. Forty-seven osteonecrotic lesions were detected; 30 localized in the mandible, 17 in the maxilla; trigger events were tooth extraction in 31 cases (66%), periodontal disease in 4 (8.50%), incongruous dentures in 3 (6.40%), perimplantitis in 1 (2.10%), unknown in 8 (17%). Twenty-nine patients had received treatment using amino bisphosphonates (25 zoledronate, 2 pamidronate, 2 alendronate) and 1 clodronate; the administration route was intravenous in 27 patients, oral in 2 and intramuscular in 1. Mean number of doses to bone exposure for patients was 34.11 for zoledronate, 50.50 for pamidronate, 146 for alendronate, and 500 for clodronate. Among statistical data the only significant finding was that panoramic dental radiography gave no concrete support for diagnosis of ONJ lesions (p 64 0.04). Conclusions: Our case series reflects literature data. We emphasize the insufficient role of panoramic radiography to study osteonecrotic lesions and the role of poor oral hygiene

Stationary motion of a self gravitating toroidal incompressible liquid layer

We consider an incompressible fluid contained in a toroidal stratum which is only subjected to Newtonian self-attraction. Under the assumption of infinitesimal tickness of the stratum we show the existence of stationary motions during which the stratum is approximatly a round torus (with radii r, R and R>>r) that rotates around its axis and at the same time rolls on itself. Therefore each particle of the stratum describes an helix-like trajectory around the circumference of radius R that connects the centers of the cross sections of the torus