Las deformidades vertebrales a través de las artes plásticas

Si la medicina constituye el primero y más poderoso medio de intervención del hombre con respecto a su vulnerable naturaleza, el arte es también el primero y más poderoso instrumento que el hombre ha podido encontrar para expresar su propia condición. Con los años el hombre ha evolucionado, y con él la medicina y el arte. El arte trabaja sobre el mismo motivo que la medicina: el hombre. De ahí el extraordinario valor, desde el punto de vista ontológico, de muchas obras de arte, que jamás habrían sido realizadas si la enfermedad y el ejercicio del arte médico no les hubiera creado el tema; ya no tiene sentido la separación entre ciencias del espíritu y ciencias de la naturaleza para el mejor entendimiento del ser humano, porque lo correcto es considerar que los conocimientos médico-científicos y artístico-plásticos se unen en el hombre

Echoes of multiple outbursts of Sagittarius A* revealed by Chandra

The relatively rapid spatial and temporal variability of the X-ray radiation from some molecular clouds near the Galactic center shows that this emission component is due to the reflection of X-rays generated by a source that was luminous in the past, most likely the central supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*. Studying the evolution of the molecular cloud reflection features is therefore a key element to reconstruct Sgr A*'s past activity. The aim of the present work is to study this emission on small angular scales in order to characterize the source outburst on short time scales. We use Chandra high-resolution data collected from 1999 to 2011 to study the most rapid variations detected so far, those of clouds between 5' and 20' from Sgr A* towards positive longitudes. Our systematic spectral-imaging analysis of the reflection emission, notably of the Fe Kalpha line at 6.4 keV and its associated 4-8 keV continuum, allows us to characterize the variations down to 15" angular scale and 1-year time scale. We reveal for the first time abrupt variations of few years only and in particular a short peaked emission, with a factor of 10 increase followed by a comparable decrease, that propagates along the dense filaments of the Bridge cloud. This 2-year peaked feature contrasts with the slower 10-year linear variations we reveal in all the other molecular structures of the region. Based on column density constraints, we argue that these two different behaviors are unlikely to be due to the same illuminating event. The variations are likely due to a highly variable active phase of Sgr A* sometime within the past few hundred years, characterized by at least two luminous outbursts of a few-year time scale and during which the Sgr A* luminosity went up to at least 10^39 erg/s.Comment: 17 pages, 16 figures, Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

The Intrinsic Two-Dimensional Size of Sagittarius A*

We report the detection of the two-dimensional structure of the radio source associated with the Galactic Center black hole, Sagittarius A*, obtained from Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations at a wavelength of 7mm. The intrinsic source is modeled as an elliptical Gaussian with major axis size 35.4 x 12.6 R_S in position angle 95 deg East of North. This morphology can be interpreted in the context of both jet and accretion disk models for the radio emission. There is supporting evidence in large angular-scale multi-wavelength observations for both source models for a preferred axis near 95 deg. We also place a maximum peak-to-peak change of 15% in the intrinsic major axis size over five different epochs. Three observations were triggered by detection of near infrared (NIR) flares and one was simultaneous with a large X-ray flare detected by NuSTAR. The absence of simultaneous and quasi-simultaneous flares indicates that not all high energy events produce variability at radio wavelengths. This supports the conclusion that NIR and X-ray flares are primarily due to electron excitation and not to an enhanced accretion rate onto the black hole.Comment: accepted for publication in Ap

Relación entre la orientación del cotilo y los cambios radiológicos evolutivos tras prótesis total de cadera tipo Charnley-Müller

Los autores realizan un estudio retrospectivo de 87 cotilos cementados, para averiguar si la posición del implante determina alteraciones radiológicas alrededor de este cotilo en la evolución de la prótesis total de cadera. Se valoraron una serie de parámetros radiológicos: protusión acetabular del cotilo, osteoporosis regional periacetabular, presencia de imágenes quísticas alrededor del acetábulo, presencia de esclerosis subcondral, calcificaciones yuxtacotiloideas y migración vertical del cotilo. Estos parámetros se relacionaron con los ángulos de inclinación y anteversión del cotilo. En los resultados obtenidos, destaca la relación estadísticamente significativa entre la posición del cotilo con la presencia de protusión acetabular, imágenes quísticas y osteoporosis regional y esclerosis subcondral periacetabulares. La posición «idónea» para este cotilo cementado parece ser de 35° a 45° el ángulo de inclinación y de 15° el ángulo de anteversiónEighty-seven cemented total hip prothesis were retrospectively reviewed in order to ascertain whether the position of the acetabular implant induces radiographic changes around the cup during follow-up. Several radiographic parameters were evaluated: acetabular protrusión of the cup, periacetabular local osteoporosis, cystic images, subchondral sclerosis, presence of calcifications around the cup and vertical displacement of the cup. These findings were correlated with the inclination and anteversion angles of the cup. A statistically significant correlation was found between the position of the cup the following parameters: degree of acetabular protrusion, presence of cystic images, local osteoporosis and periacetabular subchondral sclerosis. The ideal position of the cemented cup results to be of 35-45° inclination angle and 15° anteversion angle

Modeling Variable Emission Lines in AGNs: Method and Application to NGC 5548

We present a new scheme for modeling the broad line region in active galactic nuclei (AGNs). It involves photoionization calculations of a large number of clouds, in several pre-determined geometries, and a comparison of the calculated line intensities with observed emission line light curves. Fitting several observed light curves simultaneously provides strong constraints on model parameters such as the run of density and column density across the nucleus, the shape of the ionizing continuum, and the radial distribution of the emission line clouds. When applying the model to the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 5548, we were able to reconstruct the light curves of four ultraviolet emission-lines, in time and in absolute flux. This has not been achieved by any previous work. We argue that the Balmer lines light curves, and possibly also the MgII2798 light curve, cannot be tested in this scheme because of the limitations of present-day photoionization codes. Our fit procedure can be used to rule out models where the particle density scales as r^{-2}, where r is the distance from the central source. The best models are those where the density scales as r^{-1} or r^{-1.5}. We can place a lower limit on the column density at a distance of 1 ld, of N_{col}(r=1) >~ 10^{23} cm^{-2} and limit the particle density to be in the range of 10^{12.5}>N(r=1)>10^{11} cm^{-3}. We have also tested the idea that the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the ionizing continuum is changing with continuum luminosity. None of the variable-shape SED tried resulted in real improvement over a constant SED case although models with harder continuum during phases of higher luminosity seem to fit better the observed spectrum. Reddening and/or different composition seem to play a minor role, at least to the extent tested in this work.Comment: 12 pages, including 9 embedded EPS figures, accepted for publication in Ap

A Rewriting Based Model for Probabilistic Distributed Object Systems

Concurrent and distributed systems have traditionally been modelled using nondeterministic transitions over configurations. The nondeterminism provides an abstraction over scheduling, network delays, failures and randomization. However a probabilistic model can capture these sources of nondeterminism more precisely and enable statistical analysis, simulations and reasoning. We have developed a general semantic framework for probabilistic systems using probabilistic rewriting. Our framework also allows nondeterminism in the system. In this paper, we briefly describe the framework and its application to concurrent object based systems such as actors. We also identify a su#ciently expressive fragment of the general framework and describe its implementation. The concepts are illustrated by a simple client-server example

Towards the specification and verification of modal properties for structured systems

System specification formalisms should come with suitable property specification languages and effective verification tools. We sketch a framework for the verification of quantified temporal properties of systems with dynamically evolving structure. We consider visual specification formalisms like graph transformation systems (GTS) where program states are modelled as graphs, and the program behavior is specified by graph transformation rules. The state space of a GTS can be represented as a graph transition system (GTrS), i.e. a transition system with states and transitions labelled, respectively, with a graph, and with a partial morphism representing the evolution of state components. Unfortunately, GTrSs are prohibitively large or infinite even for simple systems, making verification intractable and hence calling for appropriate abstraction techniques

Spitzer/IRS Observations of Seyfert 1.8s and 1.9s: A Comparison with Seyfert 1s and Seyfert 2s

We present Spitzer Space Telescope mid-infrared spectra of 12 Seyfert 1.8 and 1.9 galaxies over the 5-38 um region. We compare the spectral characteristics of this sample to those of 58 Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 galaxies from the Spitzer archives. An analysis of the spectral shapes, the silicate 10 um feature and the emission line fluxes have enabled us to characterize the mid-IR properties of Seyfert 1.8/1.9s. We find that the equivalent widths of the 10 um silicate feature are generally weak in all Seyfert galaxies, as previously reported by several studies. The few Seyfert galaxies in this sample that show deep 10 um silicate absorption features are highly inclined and/or merging galaxies. It is likely that these absorption features originate primarily in the dusty interstellar medium of the host galaxy rather than in a dusty torus on parsec scales close to the central engine. We find that the equivalent width of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) band at 6.2 um correlates strongly with the 20-30 um spectral index. Either of these quantities are good indicators of the amount of starburst contribution to the mid-IR spectra. The spectra of Seyfert 1.8 and 1.9s are dominated by these starburst features, similar to most Seyfert 2s. They show strong PAH bands and a strong red continuum toward 30 um. The strengths of the high-ionization forbidden narrow emission lines [O IV] 25.89 um, [Ne III] 15.56 um and [Ne V] 14.32 um relative to [Ne II] 12.81 um are weaker in Seyfert 1.8/1.9s and Seyfert 2s as compared to Seyfert 1s. The weakness of high-ionization lines in Seyfert 1.8-1.9s is suggestive of intrinsically weak active galactic nuclei (AGN) continua, and/or stronger star formation activity leading to enhanced [Ne II]. We discuss the implications of these observational results in the context of the Unified Model of AGN.Comment: 36 pages, 4 tables, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal, December 200

Obscuration in extremely luminous quasars

The spectral energy distributions and infrared (IR) spectra of a sample of obscured AGNs selected in the mid-IR are modeled with recent clumpy torus models to investigate the nature of the sources, the properties of the obscuring matter, and dependencies on luminosity. The sample contains 21 obscured AGNs at z=1.3-3 discovered in the largest Spitzer surveys (SWIRE, NDWFS, & FLS) by means of their extremely red IR to optical colors. All sources show the 9.7micron silicate feature in absorption and have extreme mid-IR luminosities (L(6micron)~10^46 erg/s). The IR SEDs and spectra of 12 sources are well reproduced with a simple torus model, while the remaining 9 sources require foreground extinction from a cold dust component to reproduce both the depth of the silicate feature and the near-IR emission from hot dust. The best-fit torus models show a broad range of inclinations, with no preference for the edge-on torus expected in obscured AGNs. Based on the unobscured QSO mid-IR luminosity function, and on a color-selected sample of obscured and unobscured IR sources, we estimate the surface densities of obscured and unobscured QSOs at L(6micron)>10^12 Lsun, and z=1.3-3.0 to be about 17-22 deg^-2, and 11.7 deg^-2, respectively. Overall we find that ~35-41% of luminous QSOs are unobscured, 37-40% are obscured by the torus, and 23-25% are obscured by a cold absorber detached from the torus. These fractions constrain the torus half opening angle to be ~67 deg. This value is significantly larger than found for FIR selected samples of AGN at lower luminosity (~46 deg), supporting the receding torus scenario. A far-IR component is observed in 8 objects. The estimated far-IR luminosities associated with this component all exceed 3.3x10^12 Lsun, implying SFRs of 600-3000 Msun/yr. (Abridged)Comment: ApJ accepte