Physical characteristics of G331.5-0.1: The luminous central region of a Giant Molecular Cloud

We report molecular line and dust continuum observations toward the high-mass star forming region G331.5-0.1, one of the most luminous regions of massive star-formation in the Milky Way, located at the tangent region of the Norma spiral arm, at a distance of 7.5 kpc. Molecular emission was mapped toward the G331.5-0.1 GMC in the CO (J=1-0) and C18O (J=1-0) lines with NANTEN, while its central region was mapped in CS (J=2-1 and J=5-4) with SEST, and in CS (J=7-6) and 13CO (J=3-2) with ASTE. Continuum emission mapped at 1.2 mm with SIMBA and at 0.87 mm with LABOCA reveal the presence of six compact and luminous dust clumps, making this source one of the most densely populated central regions of a GMC in the Galaxy. The dust clumps are associated with molecular gas and they have the following average properties: size of 1.6 pc, mass of 3.2x10^3 Msun, molecular hydrogen density of 3.7x10^4 cm^{-3}, dust temperature of 32 K, and integrated luminosity of 5.7x10^5 Lsun, consistent with values found toward other massive star forming dust clumps. The CS and 13CO spectra show the presence of two velocity components: a high-velocity component at ~ -89 km s^{-1}, seen toward four of the clumps, and a low-velocity component at ~ -101 km s^{-1} seen toward the other two clumps. Radio continuum emission is present toward four of the molecular clumps, with spectral index estimated for two of them of 0.8+-0.2 and 1.2+-0.2. A high-velocity molecular outflow is found at the center of the brightest clump, with a line width of 26 km s^{-1} (FWHM) in CS (J=7-6). Observations of SiO (J=7-6 and J=8-7), and SO (J_K=8_8-7_7 and J_K=8_7-7_6) lines provide estimates of the gas rotational temperature toward this outflow >120 K and >75 K, respectively.Comment: 34 pages, 20 figures, 11 tables, Accepted for Publication in The Astrophysical Journa

The Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey. XI. Temperatures and Substructure of Galactic Clumps Based on 350 ?M Observations

We present 107 maps of continuum emission at 350 mu m from Galactic molecular clumps. Observed sources were mainly selected from the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey (BGPS) catalog, with three additional maps covering star-forming regions in the outer Galaxy. The higher resolution of the SHARC-II images (8."5 beam) compared with the 1.1 mm images from BGPS (33"beam) allowed us to identify a large population of smaller substructures within the clumps. A catalog is presented for the 1386 sources extracted from the 350 mu m maps. The color temperature distribution of clumps based on the two wavelengths has a median of 13.3 K and mean of 16.3 +/- 0.4 K, assuming an opacity law index of 1.7. For the structures with good determination of color temperatures, the mean ratio of gas temperature, determined from NH3 observations, to dust color temperature is 0.88 and the median ratio is 0.76. About half the clumps have more than 2 substructures and 22 clumps have more than 10. The fraction of the mass in dense substructures seen at 350 mu m compared to the mass of their parental clump is similar to 0.19, and the surface densities of these substructures are, on average, 2.2 times those seen in the clumps identified at 1.1 mm. For a well-characterized sample, 88 structures (31%) exceed a surface density of 0.2 g cm(-2), and 18 (6%) exceed 1.0 g cm(-2), thresholds for massive star Formation suggested by theorists.National Science Foundation through NSF grant AST-0708403NRAONSF AST-9980846, AST-0206158, AST-1109116Fulbright FellowshipASI, AgenziaSpaziale Italiana I/038/080/0, I/029/12/0national funding agency: CSA (Canada)national funding agency: NAOC (China)national funding agency: CEA (France)national funding agency: ASI (Italy)national funding agency: MCINN (Spain)national funding agency: Stockholm Observatory (Sweden)national funding agency: STFC (UK)national funding agency: NASA (USA)national funding agency: CNES (France)national funding agency: CNRS (France)Astronom

ALMA observations of the massive molecular outflow G331.512-0.103

The object of this study is one of the most energetic and luminous molecular outflows known in the Galaxy, G331.512-0.103. Observations with ALMA Band 7 (350 GHz; 0.86 mm) reveal a very compact, extremely young bipolar outflow and a more symmetric outflowing shocked shell surrounding a very small region of ionized gas. The velocities of the bipolar outflow are about 70 km s^{-1} on either side of the systemic velocity. The expansion velocity of the shocked shell is ~24 km s^{-1}, implying a crossing time of about 2000 yrs. Along the symmetry axis of the outflow, there is a velocity feature, which could be a molecular "bullet" of high-velocity dense material. The source is one of the youngest examples of massive molecular outflow found associated with a high-mass star.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, small typos correcte

Lactococcus garvieae endocarditis in a patient undergoing chronic hemodialysis. First case report in Chile and review of the literature

Indexación: Scopus; Scielo.Los casos reportados de infección por Lactococcus garvieae son escasos y sólo uno asociado a hemodiálisis. Comunicamos el caso de endocarditis infecciosa de curso fatal por L. garvieae en un paciente con una enfermedad renal crónica sometido a hemodiálisis y portador de diverticulosis colónica no complicada. Se realiza una revisión de los casos publicados y se discuten los actuales desafíos diagnósticos y terapéuticos de este patógeno, capaz de producir infecciones graves y potencialmente fatales en pacientes susceptibles. Este sería el segundo caso de infección asociada a hemodiálisis y el primero reportado en Chile.Reports of Lactococcus garvieae infections in humans are scarce, and only one of them in a patient under-going hemodialysis. We report the first case of Lactococcus garvieae infection in Chile, presenting as an infective endocarditis, ultimately fatal, in a patient with uncomplicated colonic diverticulosis and end stage renal failure undergoing chronic hemodialysis. We review the published cases and discuss the diagnostic and therapeutic challenges associated with this new, increasingly diagnosed pathogen, capable of producing serious infections in susceptible patients.https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0716-10182017000400397&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=e

The Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey. XIII. Physical Properties and Mass Functions of Dense Molecular Cloud Structures

We use the distance probability density function (DPDF) formalism of Ellsworth-Bowers et al. (2013, 2015) to derive physical properties for the collection of 1,710 Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey (BGPS) version 2 sources with well-constrained distance estimates. To account for Malmquist bias, we estimate that the present sample of BGPS sources is 90% complete above 400 $M_\odot$ and 50% complete above 70 $M_\odot$. The mass distributions for the entire sample and astrophysically motivated subsets are generally fitted well by a lognormal function, with approximately power-law distributions at high mass. Power-law behavior emerges more clearly when the sample population is narrowed in heliocentric distance (power-law index $\alpha = 2.0\pm0.1$ for sources nearer than 6.5 kpc and $\alpha = 1.9\pm0.1$ for objects between 2 kpc and 10 kpc). The high-mass power-law indices are generally $1.85 \leq \alpha \leq 2.05$ for various subsamples of sources, intermediate between that of giant molecular clouds and the stellar initial mass function. The fit to the entire sample yields a high-mass power-law $\hat{\alpha} = 1.94_{-0.10}^{+0.34}$. Physical properties of BGPS sources are consistent with large molecular cloud clumps or small molecular clouds, but the fractal nature of the dense interstellar medium makes difficult the mapping of observational categories to the dominant physical processes driving the observed structure. The face-on map of the Galactic disk's mass surface density based on BGPS dense molecular cloud structures reveals the high-mass star-forming regions W43, W49, and W51 as prominent mass concentrations in the first quadrant. Furthermore, we present a 0.25-kpc resolution map of the dense gas mass fraction across the Galactic disk that peaks around 5%.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; 32 pages, 21 figure

The Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey IX: Data Release 2 and Outer Galaxy Extension

We present a re-reduction and expansion of the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey, first presented by Aguirre et al. (2011) and Rosolowsky et al. (2010). The BGPS is a 1.1 mm survey of dust emission in the Northern galactic plane, covering longitudes -10 < \ell < 90 and latitudes |b| < 0.5 with a typical 1-\sigma RMS sensitivity of 30-100 mJy in a 33" beam. Version 2 of the survey includes an additional 20 square degrees of coverage in the 3rd and 4th quadrants and 2 square degrees in the 1st quadrant. The new data release has improved angular recovery, with complete recovery out to 80" and partial recovery to 300", and reduced negative bowls around bright sources resulting from the atmospheric subtraction process. We resolve the factor of 1.5 flux calibration offset between the v1.0 data release and other data sets and determine that there is no offset between v2.0 and other data sets. The v2.0 pointing accuracy is tested against other surveys and demonstrated to be accurate and an improvement over v1.0. We present simulations and tests of the pipeline and its properties, including measurements of the pipeline's angular transfer function. The Bolocat cataloging tool was used to extract a new catalog, which includes 8594 sources, with 591 in the expanded regions. We have demonstrated that the Bolocat 40" and 80" apertures are accurate even in the presence of strong extended background emission. The number of sources is lower than in v1.0, but the amount of flux and area included in identified sources is larger.Comment: 36 pages, 16 figures, accepted to ApJS. Data available from http://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/data/BOLOCAM_GPS

Cost-effectiveness of alternative methods of surgical repair of inguinal hernia

Objectives: To assess the relative cost-effectiveness of laparoscopic methods of inguinal hernia repair compared with open flat mesh and open non-mesh repair. Methods: Data on the effectiveness of these alternatives came from three systematic reviews comparing: (i) laparoscopic methods with open flat mesh or non-mesh methods; (ii) open flat mesh with open non-mesh repair; and (iii) methods that used synthetic mesh to repair the hernia defect with those that did not. Data on costs were obtained from the authors of economic evaluations previously conducted alongside trials included in the reviews. A Markov model was used to model cost-effectiveness for a five-year period after the initial operation. The outcomes of the model were presented using a balance sheet approach and as cost per hernia recurrence avoided and cost per extra day at usual activities. Results: Open flat mesh was the most cost-effective method of preventing recurrences. Laparoscopic repair provided a shorter period of convalescence and less long-term pain compared with open flat mesh but was more costly. The mean incremental cost per additional day back at usual activities compared with open flat mesh was €38 and €80 for totally extraperitoneal and transabdominal preperitoneal repair, respectively. Conclusions: Laparoscopic repair is not cost-effective compared with open flat mesh repair in terms of cost per recurrence avoided. Decisions about the use of laparoscopic repair depend on whether the benefits (reduced pain and earlier return to usual activities) outweigh the extra costs and intraoperative risks. On the evidence presented here, these extra costs are unlikely to be offset by the short-term benefits of laparoscopic repair.Luke Vale, Adrian Grant, Kirsty McCormack, Neil W. Scott and the EU Hernia Trialists Collaboratio