Extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs around A-F type stars. II. A planet found with ELODIE around the F6V star HD 33564

We present here the detection of a planet orbiting around the F6V star HD 33564. The radial velocity measurements, obtained with the ELODIE echelle spectrograph at the Haute-Provence Observatory, show a variation with a period of 388 days. Assuming a primary mass of 1.25 Mo, the best Keplerian fit to the data leads to a minimum mass of 9.1 MJup for the companion.Comment: 5 pages. Final version, accepted for publication (A&A). Some Spitzer results on HD33564 (taken this year; not yet published), finally show that the detection of IR excess around this star (by IRAS) is spuriou

Extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs around A-F type stars V. A planetary system found with HARPS around the F6IV-V star HD 60532

Aims: In the frame of the search for extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs around early-type stars, we present the results obtained for the F-type main-sequence star HD 60532 (F6V) with HARPS. Methods: Using 147 spectra obtained with HARPS at La Silla on a time baseline of two years, we study the radial velocities of this star. Results: HD 60532 radial velocities are periodically variable, and the variations have a Keplerian origin. This star is surrounded by a planetary system of two planets with minimum masses of 1 and 2.5 Mjup and orbital separations of 0.76 and 1.58 AU respectively. We also detect high-frequency, low-amplitude (10 m/s peak-to-peak) pulsations. Dynamical studies of the system point toward a possible 3:1 mean-motion resonance which should be confirmed within the next decade.Comment: 7 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Toward a ‘Migrant Trap’? Local Development, Urban Sustainability, Sociodemographic Inequalities, and the Economic Decline in a Mediterranean Metropolis

After years following the breakdown of the Great Recession in Europe, crisis-driven urban shrinkage can be adequately investigated considering changes over time in selected demographic indicators, with a specific focus on migration. Using official statistics and a literature review, the present study documents the inherent demographic decline in metropolitan Athens (Greece) as a response to economic stagnation after a long-lasting expansion. The empirical results of our study delineate metropolitan shrinkage in Southern Europe as a process associated with complex socioeconomic conditions leading to (possibly counterintuitive) demographic outcomes as far as migration trends are concerned. Recession has determined unsustainable economic conditions especially for non-native population segments, promoting both class and ethnic segregation. The negative migration balance in the 2010s led to an intense population decline hitting settlements made already demographically fragile because of low fertility and aging. Athens became a sort of ‘migrant trap’, being progressively unattractive for incoming migration flows—both internal and international—and losing an increasingly high number of non-native residents settling in the area, especially during the ‘gold’ decade of the 2004 Olympics. A sudden reduction in immigration rates reflected both economic (recession) and non-economic (population aging, fertility reduction, and childbearing postponement) factors, causing an incipient shrinkage after secular urban growth. The empirical results of our study add to the traditional literature on ‘industrial cities shrinkage’ in Europe and contribute to (re)formulate short- and medium-term development scenarios in large agglomerations, shedding further light on the role of migration in crisis-driven processes of urban decline in Mediterranean Europe

The Industrial Pattern of Italian Regions: A Disaggregated Sectoral Analysis Based on Input–Output Tables

Italy joined the so-called ‘Industry 4.0’ European framework in 2016, which designed and approved a national plan to regulate this key issue for regional development. To better support such a framework, the present study attempts to quantify the contribution of the Italian regions to the output formation process. More specifically, a multi-sectoral Input–Output (IO) model that supports national policies was proposed to cumulatively consider 29 industries that partition the Italian economy into representative branches at the level of administrative regions. Elementary input data were derived from the inter-sectoral table of the economy released by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT). The economic outcomes of the Italian regions were estimated using a non-survey procedure, based on Flegg Location Quotients, to determine the upstream and downstream positions of each industry at country and regional levels. Indices grounded on the Hypothetical Extraction Method (HEM) further delineated the role each industry plays in the regional economy. The empirical findings of this study demonstrate how non-survey IO regionalization and the resulting industry-based indices provide appropriate knowledge for regional development policies

Effective Dose and Size Specific Dose Estimation with and without Tube Current Modulation for Thoracic Computed Tomography Examinations: A Phantom Study

The purpose of this study is to reduce radiation dose for chest CT examination by including Tube Current Modulation (TCM) to a standard CT protocol. A scan of an anthropomorphic male Alderson phantom was performed on a 128-slice scanner. The estimation of effective dose (ED) in both scans with and without mAs modulation was done via multiplication of Dose Length Product (DLP) to a conversion factor. Results were compared to those measured with a CT-Expo software. The size specific dose estimation (SSDE) values were obtained by multiplication of the volume CT dose index (CTDIvol) with a conversion size factor related to the phantom’s effective diameter. Objective assessment of image quality was performed with Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) measurements in phantom. SPSS software was used for data analysis. Results showed including CARE Dose 4D; ED was lowered by 48.35% and 51.51% using DLP and CT-expo, respectively. In addition, ED ranges between 7.01 mSv and 6.6 mSv in case of standard protocol, while it ranges between 3.62 mSv and 3.2 mSv with TCM. Similar results are found for SSDE; dose was higher without TCM of 16.25 mGy and was lower by 48.8% including TCM. The SNR values calculated were significantly different (p=0.03<0.05). The highest one is measured on images acquired with TCM and reconstructed with Filtered back projection (FBP). In conclusion, this study proves the potential of TCM technique in SSDE and ED reduction and in conserving image quality with high diagnostic reference level for thoracic CT examinations

A Mid-Infrared Imaging Survey of Embedded Young Stellar Objects in the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Core

Results of a comprehensive, new, ground-based mid-infrared imaging survey of the young stellar population of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud are presented. Data were acquired at the Palomar 5-m and at the Keck 10-m telescopes with the MIRLIN and LWS instruments, at 0.25 arcsec and 0.25 arcsec resolutions, respectively. Of 172 survey objects, 85 were detected. Among the 22 multiple systems observed, 15 were resolved and their individual component fluxes determined. A plot of the frequency distribution of the detected objects with SED spectral slope shows that YSOs spend ~400,000 yr in the Flat Spectrum phase, clearing out their remnant infall envelopes. Mid-infrared variability is found among a significant fraction of the surveyed objects, and is found to occur for all SED classes with optically thick disks. Large-amplitude near-infrared variability, also found for all SED classes with optically thick disks, seems to occur with somewhat higher frequency at the earlier evolutionary stages. Although a general trend of mid-infrared excess and NIR veiling exists proceeding through SED classes, with Class I objects generally exhibiting K-veilings > 1, Flat Spectrum objects with K-veilings > 0.58, and Class III objects with K-veilings =0, Class II objects exhibit the widest range of K-band veiling values, 0-4.5. However, the highly variable value of veiling that a single source can exhibit in any of the SED classes in which active disk accretion can take place is striking, and is direct observational evidence for highly time-variable accretion activity in disks. Finally, by comparing mid-infrared vs. near-infrared excesses in a subsample with well-determined effective temperatures and extinction values, disk clearing mechanisms are explored. The results are consistent with disk clearing proceeding from the inside-out.Comment: 18 pages + 5 tables + 7 figure

Diffraction-Limited Imaging and Photometry of NGC 1068

The nearby Seyfert 2 Galaxy NGC 1068 was observed with speckle imaging techniques in the near-infrared H-band (1.6 microns) at the Hale 200-inch Telescope and K-band (2.2 microns) at the 10 m Keck I Telescope. Images with diffraction limited or near-diffraction limited resolutions of 0.''05 - 0.''1 were obtained and used to search for structure in the nuclear region. Images of the nucleus of NGC 1068 reveal an extended region of emission which accounts for nearly 50% of the nuclear flux at K-band. This region extends 10 pc on either side of an unresolved point source nucleus which is at most, 0.''02 or 1.4 pc in size. Both the point source and the newly imaged extended emission are very red, with identical H-K colors corresponding to a color temperature of 800 K. While the point source is of a size to be consistent with grains in thermal equilibrium with the nuclear source, the extended emission is not. It must consist either of nuclear emission which has been reflected off an extended dusty disk or of small grains raised to transiently high temperatures by reflected UV photons.Comment: accepted to AJ, AAS LaTeX and epsfig, 22 pages incl. 5 ps figure

Excitonic effects in two-dimensional vibrational spectra of liquid formamide

The linear and two-dimensional infrared (2DIR) responses of the amide I vibrational mode in liquid formamide are investigated experimentally and theoretically using molecular dynamics simulations. The recent method based on the numerical integration of the Schrödinger equation is employed to calculate the 2DIR spectra. Special attention is devoted to the interplay of the structural dynamics and the excitonic nature of the amide I modes in determining the optical response of the studied system. In particular, combining experimental data, simulated spectra and analysis of the simulated atomic trajectory in terms of a transition dipole coupling model, we provide a convincing explanation of the peculiar features of the 2DIR spectra, which show a substantial increase of the antidiagonal bandwidth with increasing frequency. We point out that, at variance with liquid water, the 2DIR spectral profile of formamide is determined more by the excitonic nature of the vibrational states than by the fast structural dynamics responsible for the frequency fluctuations

Quiescent H2 Emission From Pre-Main Sequence Stars in Chamaeleon I

We report the discovery of quiescent emission from molecular hydrogen gas located in the circumstellar disks of six pre-main sequence stars, including two weak-line T Tauri stars (TTS), and one Herbig AeBe star, in the Chamaeleon I star forming region. For two of these stars, we also place upper limits on the 2->1 S(1)/1->0 S(1) line ratios of 0.4 and 0.5. Of the 11 pre-main sequence sources now known to be sources of quiescent near-infrared hydrogen emission, four possess transitional disks, which suggests that detectable levels of H$_2$ emission and the presence of inner disk holes are correlated. These H$_2$ detections demonstrate that these inner holes are not completely devoid of gas, in agreement with the presence of observable accretion signatures for all four of these stars and the recent detections of [Ne II] emission from three of them. The overlap in [Ne II] and H$_2$ detections hints at a possible correlation between these two features and suggests a shared excitation mechanism of high energy photons. Our models, combined with the kinematic information from the H$_2$ lines, locate the bulk of the emitting gas at a few tens of AU from the stars. We also find a correlation between H$_2$ detections and those targets which possess the largest H$\alpha$ equivalent widths, suggesting a link between accretion activity and quiescent H$_2$ emission. We conclude that quiescent H$_2$ emission from relatively hot gas within the disks of TTS is most likely related to on-going accretion activity, the production of UV photons and/or X-rays, and the evolutionary status of the dust grain populations in the inner disks.Comment: 12 pages, emulateapj, Accepted by Ap