A flat faint end of the Fornax cluster galaxy luminosity function

We analyse the photometric properties of the early-type Fornax cluster dwarf galaxy population (M_V>-17 mag), based on a wide field imaging study of the central cluster area in V and I band-passes with IMACS/Magellan at Las Campanas Observatory. We create a fiducial sample of ~100 Fornax cluster dwarf ellipticals (dEs) with -16.6<M_V<-8.8 mag in the following three steps: (1) To verify cluster membership, we measured I-band surface brightness fluctuations (SBF) distances to candidate dEs known from previous surveys; (2) We re-assessed morphological classifications for those candidate dEs that are too faint for SBF detection; and (3) We searched for new candidate dEs in the size-luminosity regime close to the resolution limit of previous surveys. The resulting fiducial dE sample follows a well-defined surface brightness - magnitude relation, showing that Fornax dEs are about 40% larger than Local Group dEs. The sample also defines a colour-magnitude relation similar to that of Local Group dEs. The early-type dwarf galaxy luminosity function in Fornax has a very flat faint end slope alpha = -1.1 +/- 0.1. We compare the number of dwarfs per unit mass with those in other environments and find that the Fornax cluster fits well into a general trend of a lack of high-mass dwarfs in more massive environments.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to appear in the proceedings of IAU Symposium 244 'Dark galaxies and lost baryons', Cambridge University Press, editors J. I. Davies & M. D. Disne

The counterparts of Local Group dwarf spheroidals in nearby clusters

In this contribution, we report on the discovery of dwarf spheroidals (dSphs) in the core of the Fornax cluster. Their photometric properties -- like magnitude, colour, surface brightness -- are very similar to those of Local Group dSphs. However, at a given total magnitude, dSphs in Fornax seem to be more extended than their Local Group counterparts. The membership of several dwarf galaxy candidates in Fornax has been confirmed by surface brightness fluctuation measurements on deep wide-field images taken with the Magellan telescope. The analysis of these images also confirms the flat faint end slope of the luminosity function for dSphs in Fornax which contradicts the expected large number of small dark matter halos connected to dwarf galaxies in LambdaCDM theory. Dwarf spheroidals have also been detected in the Hydra I and Centaurus cluster. A preliminary analysis of their photometric properties shows that they obey similar scaling relations as their counterparts in Fornax and the Local Group.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the IAUC198 "Near-Field Cosmology with Dwarf Elliptical Galaxies", H. Jerjen & B. Binggeli (eds.

The Dwarf Galaxy Population of the Dorado group down to Mv=-11

We present V and I CCD photometry of suspected low-surface brightness dwarf galaxies detected in a survey covering ~2.4 deg^2 around the central region of the Dorado group of galaxies. The low-surface brightness galaxies were chosen based on their sizes and magnitudes at the limiting isophote of 26.0V\mu. The selected galaxies have magnitudes brighter than V=20 (Mv=-11 for an assumed distance to the group of 17.2 Mpc), with central surface brightnesses \mu0>22.5 V mag/arcsec^2, scale lengths h>2'', and diameters > 14'' at the limiting isophote. Using these criteria, we identified 69 dwarf galaxy candidates. Four of them are large very low-surface brightness galaxies that were detected on a smoothed image, after masking high surface brightness objects. Monte Carlo simulations performed to estimate completeness, photometric uncertainties and to evaluate our ability to detect extended low-surface brightness galaxies show that the completeness fraction is, on average, > 80% for dwarf galaxies with $-17<M_{V}<-10.5$ and 22.5<\mu0<25.5 V mag/arcsec^2, for the range of sizes considered by us (D>14''). The V-I colors of the dwarf candidates vary from -0.3 to 2.3 with a peak on V-I=0.98, suggesting a range of different stellar populations in these galaxies. The projected surface density of the dwarf galaxies shows a concentration towards the group center similar in extent to that found around five X-ray groups and the elliptical galaxy NGC1132 studied by Mulchaey and Zabludoff (1999), suggesting that the dwarf galaxies in Dorado are probably physically associated with the overall potential well of the group.Comment: 32 pages, 16 postscript figures and 3 figures in GIF format, aastex v5.0. To appear in The Astronomical Journal, January 200

Redshifts in the Southern Abell Redshift Survey Clusters. I. The Data

The Southern Abell Redshift Survey contains 39 clusters of galaxies with redshifts in the range 0.0 < z < 0.31 and a median redshift depth of z = 0.0845. SARS covers the region 0 21h (while avoiding the LMC and SMC) with b > 40. Cluster locations were chosen from the Abell and Abell-Corwin-Olowin catalogs while galaxy positions were selected from the Automatic Plate Measuring Facility galaxy catalog with extinction-corrected magnitudes in the range 15 <= b_j < 19. SARS utilized the Las Campanas 2.5 m duPont telescope, observing either 65 or 128 objects concurrently over a 1.5 sq deg field. New redshifts for 3440 galaxies are reported in the fields of these 39 clusters of galaxies.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal, Table 2 can be downloaded in its entirety from http://trotsky.arc.nasa.gov/~mway/SARS1/sars1-table2.cs

The Globular Cluster System of NGC 1399: III. VLT Spectroscopy and Database

Radial velocities of 468 globular clusters around NGC 1399, the central galaxy in the Fornax cluster, have been obtained with FORS2 and the Mask Exchange Unit (MXU) at the ESO Very Large Telescope. This is the largest sample of globular cluster velocities around any galaxy obtained so far. The mean velocity uncertainty is 50 km/sec. This data sample is accurate and large enough to be used in studies of the mass distribution of NGC 1399 and the properties of its globular cluster system. Here we describe the observations, the reduction procedure, and discuss the uncertainties of the resulting velocities. The complete sample of cluster velocities which is used in a dynamical study of NGC 1399 is tabulated. A subsample is compared with previously published values.Comment: 34 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, accepted by A

Sentimentos da Criança/Jovem Hospitalizados face à Informação Disponibilizada pela Equipa de Saúde

Com a hospitalização, as crianças/jovens veem interrompidas as suas atividades normais, defrontando-se com o isolamento do que lhes é familiar, sujeitos a normas, rotinas, horários, tratamentos, procedimentos invasivos, num ambiente estranho. Neste sentido, assume grande relevância compreender os sentimentos das crianças/jovens hospitalizados face à informação disponibilizada pela equipa de saúde, devendo este aspeto ser valorizado na prática profissional em Pediatria. Assim, delineou-se como objetivo geral para esta investigação compreender os sentimentos da criança/jovens hospitalizados face à informação disponibilizada pela equipa de saúde. Optou-se por uma investigação que se contextualiza num estudo qualitativo, com abordagem fenomenológica. Assim, entrevistaram-se 18 crianças/jovens internados no Serviço de Pediatria do Centro Hospitalar Cova da Beira com idades compreendidas entre os 6 e os 17 anos, cujos motivos da hospitalização foram a cirurgia, a patologia gastrointestinal entre outros, tendo a maioria experiência de hospitalizações anteriores. Os resultados revelam que, na globalidade, as crianças/jovens entrevistados estão bem informados, sendo as informações acerca do motivo do internamento e da sua doença dadas, na maioria, pelo médico/enfermeiro. Em relação ao facto de as crianças/jovens sentirem que o momento em que a informação lhes foi dada foi o mais adequado, apurou-se que quase todos admitiram que a mesma foi dada no momento adequado. Todas as crianças/jovens admitiram que foram bem informados pelos profissionais de saúde acerca do funcionamento e rotinas do serviço onde estão hospitalizados. Grande parte das crianças/jovens relataram que é importante que lhes tenha sido solicitado o seu assentimento/consentimento para os tratamentos/procedimentos. Em relação ao que sentem face à informação que lhes foi facultada acerca da sua doença e tratamentos, registou-se satisfação e insatisfação. Prevaleceram as opiniões dos que afirmaram sentir-se satisfeitos. As crianças/jovens que referem sentir-se insatisfeitas atribuem na sua maioria ao facto de as informações terem sido facultadas apenas às suas mães

Low testosterone levels and high estradiol to testosterone ratio are associated with hyperinflammatory state and mortality in hospitalized men with COVID-19

Evidence supports a sex disparity in clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients, with men exhibiting higher mortality rates compared to women. We aimed to test the correlation between serum levels of sex hormones [total testosterone, estradiol (E2), estradiol to testosterone (E2/T) ratio, progesterone), prolactin and 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and markers of inflammation, coagulation and sepsis at admission in hospitalized men with COVID-19