Detection of the old stellar component of the major Galactic bar

We present near-IR colour--magnitude diagrams and star counts for a number of regions along the Galactic plane. It is shown that along the l=27 b=0 line of sight there is a feature at 5.7 +-0.7kpc with a density of stars at least a factor two and probably more than a factor five times that of the disc at the same position. This feature forms a distinct clump on an H vs. J-H diagram and is seen at all longitudes from the bulge to about l=28, but at no longitude greater than this. The distance to the feature at l=20 is about 0.5kpc further than at l=27 and by l=10 it has merged with, or has become, the bulge. Given that at l=27 and l=21 there is also a clustering of very young stars, the only component that can reasonably explain what is seen is a bar with half length of around 4kpc and a position angle of about 43+-7.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures accepted as a letter in MNRA

GPCALMA: a Grid Approach to Mammographic Screening

The next generation of High Energy Physics experiments requires a GRID approach to a distributed computing system and the associated data management: the key concept is the "Virtual Organisation" (VO), a group of geographycally distributed users with a common goal and the will to share their resources. A similar approach is being applied to a group of Hospitals which joined the GPCALMA project (Grid Platform for Computer Assisted Library for MAmmography), which will allow common screening programs for early diagnosis of breast and, in the future, lung cancer. HEP techniques come into play in writing the application code, which makes use of neural networks for the image analysis and shows performances similar to radiologists in the diagnosis. GRID technologies will allow remote image analysis and interactive online diagnosis, with a relevant reduction of the delays presently associated to screening programs.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; to appear in the Proceedings of Frontier Detectors For Frontier Physics, 9th Pisa Meeting on Advanced Detectors, 25-31 May 2003, La Biodola, Isola d'Elba, Ital

Leveraging Geologic CO2 Storage Technology for CO2-EOR Management

Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) through CO2 injection has evolved from the laboratory testing and field piloting phases in the early 1970s to the widespread and refined operations of today. Over the last 20 years, geological CO2 storage (GCS) has emerged as a promising approach to dispose of large volumes of CO2. Much of the early advances in the operational aspects of GCS were learned from CO2-EOR. However, given its “newness� and the health, safety, and environment (HSE) concerns related to CO2 emissions, considerable fundamental and applied research with heavily instrumented GCS field projects, from pilot to commercial scale, has produced data not ordinarily available from conventional CO2-EOR studies. A key exception is the Weyburn-Midale CO2-EOR project in Saskatchewan, Canada, which has had a dedicated characterization, reservoir dynamics and surveillance program in operation since 2000. Even though many of the processes and workflows for these two operations are similar, significant differences do exist primarily because of the different objectives and regulatory environments that exist for CO2-EOR and CO2 storage projects. Fundamentally, CO2 storage tools and processes are geared toward developing a much more detailed understanding of the storage system and the physical and chemical processes accompanying CO2 injection, with monitoring and surveillance being conducted during the pre-operational, operational, and post-operational stages of a project. Pre-operational monitoring for a CO2-EOR project is primarily focused on understanding the reservoir physical and petrophysical properties as well as the properties of the reservoir and injected fluids. Surveillance in the operational phase of an EOR flood is limited, with emphasis being placed on monitoring injection pressures and rates as well as the volumes and properties of the injected and produced fluids. Lessons learned from GCS research and field tests will likely benefit CO2-EOR project performance by employing aspects of characterization, simulation and surveillance. This study reviews the predictive and diagnostic tools currently applied to GCS projects and infers how their deployment might improve CO2-EOR projects. These improvements might include project conformance, CO2 utilization / oil produced, field management, and containment risks.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Familial translocation t(5;11)(q32;q23) resulting in Jacobsen syndrome and distal trisomy 5q31 in a female patient

A detailed clinical analysis of the patient’s condition was performed. The chromosomes were studied through the GTG-banding analysis and FISH withCri-du-Chat Region Probe - LSI EGR1, LSI D5S23, D5S72

Large-scale production of somatic embryos as a source of hypocotyl explants for Vitis vinifera micrografting

To the standard methods currently used to make grapevine virus-free, apex micrografting on hypocotyls of somatic embryos is proposed as an alternative procedure. The study defines optimal conditions to produce hypocotyl fragments suitable for micrografting. Interruption of the process by storage of tissues or embryos at low temperature (+ 4 °C) was assessed at different stages and for durations up to 6 months. Best procedure to produce somatic embryos were: long-term maintenance of embryogenic cultures on C1 medium (5 μM 2.4-D + 1 μM BAP, solidified with 4 g·l-1 agar and 4 g·l-1 Phytagel) ; differentiation of embryogenic callus for 2 months on C2 medium (5 μM NOA + 1 μM BAP, gelling agents same as above) ; transfer of single embryos on plant growth regulator-free medium for 2-3 weeks for germination. At different steps of the process, embryogenic tissues or differentiated embryos can be stored for up to 180 d for some cultivars. Micrografting assays were performed with various types of embryo and with apices from several V. vinifera cultivars. White to slightly coloured hypocotyls, excised from embryos germinated in darkness, gave best results for micrografting, while hypocotyl shape had little influence. For all genotypes tested the success rate ranged from 18 to 30 %.