739 research outputs found
Characterization of a defective PbWO4 crystal cut along the a-c crystallographic plane: structural assessment and a novel photoelastic stress analysis
Among scintillators, the PWO is one of the most widely used, for instance in
CMS calorimeter at CERN and PANDA project. Crystallographic structure and
chemical composition as well as residual stress condition, are indicators of
homogeneity and good quality of the crystal. In this paper, structural
characterization of a defective PbWO4 (PWO) crystal has been performed by X-ray
Diffraction (XRD), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) and Photoelasticity in
the unusual a-c crystallographic plane. XRD and EDS analysis have been used to
investigate crystallographic orientation and chemical composition, while stress
distribution, which indicates macroscopic inhomogeneities and defects, has been
obtained by photoelastic approaches, in Conoscopic and Sphenoscopic
configuration. Since the sample is cut along the a-c crystallographic plane, a
new method is proposed for the interpretation of the fringe pattern. The
structural analysis has detected odds from the nominal lattice dimension, which
can be attributed to the strong presence of Pb and W. A strong inhomogeneity
over the crystal sample has been revealed by the photoelastic inspection. The
results give reliability to the proposed procedure which is exploitable in
crystals with other structures.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, revised versio
On the HI-Hole and AGB Stellar Population of the Sagittarius Dwarf Irregular Galaxy
Using two HST/ACS data-sets that are separated by ~2 years has allowed us to
derive the relative proper-motion for the Sagittarius dwarf irregular (SagDIG)
and reduce the heavy foreground Galactic contamination. The proper-motion
decontaminated SagDIG catalog provides a much clearer view of the young
red-supergiant and intermediate-age asymptotic giant branch populations. We
report the identification of 3 Milky Way carbon-rich dwarf stars, probably
belonging to the thin disk, and pointing to the high incidence of this class at
low Galactic latitudes. A sub-group of 4 oxygen-rich candidate stars depicts a
faint, red extension of the well-defined SagDIG carbon-rich sequence. The
origin of these oxygen-rich candidate stars remains unclear, reflecting the
uncertainty in the ratio of carbon/oxygen rich stars. SagDIG is also a gas-rich
galaxy characterized by a single large cavity in the gas disk (HI-hole), which
is offset by ~360 pc from the optical centre of the galaxy. We nonetheless
investigate the stellar feedback hypothesis by comparing the proper-motion
cleaned stellar populations within the HI-hole with appropriately selected
comparison regions, having higher HI densities external to the hole. The
comparison shows no significant differences. In particular, the centre of the
HI-hole (and the comparison regions) lack stellar populations younger than ~400
Myr, which are otherwise abundant in the inner body of the galaxy. We conclude
that there is no convincing evidence that the SagDIG HI-hole is the result of
stellar feedback, and that gravitational and thermal instabilities in the gas
are the most likely mechanism for its formation.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 11 pages, 6 jpeg figure
The old and heavy bulge of M31 I. Kinematics and stellar populations
We present new optical long-slit data along 6 position angles of the bulge
region of M31. We derive accurate stellar and gas kinematics reaching 5 arcmin
from the center, where the disk light contribution is always less than 30%, and
out to 8 arcmin along the major axis, where the disk makes 55% of the total
light. We show that the velocity dispersions of McElroy (1983) are severely
underestimated (by up to 50 km/s) and previous dynamical models have
underestimated the stellar mass of M31's bulge by a factor 2. Moreover, the
light-weighted velocity dispersion of the galaxy grows to 166 km/s, thus
reducing the discrepancy between the predicted and measured mass of the black
hole at the center of M31. The kinematic position angle varies with distance,
pointing to triaxiality. We detect gas counterrotation near the bulge minor
axis. We measure eight emission-corrected Lick indices. They are approximately
constant on circles. We derive the age, metallicity and alpha-element
overabundance profiles. Except for the region in the inner arcsecs of the
galaxy, the bulge of M31 is uniformly old (>12 Gyr, with many best-fit ages at
the model grid limit of 15 Gyr), slightly alpha-elements overabundant
([alpha/Fe]~0.2) and at solar metallicity, in agreement with studies of the
resolved stellar components. The predicted u-g, g-r and r-i Sloan color
profiles match reasonably well the dust-corrected observations. The stellar
populations have approximately radially constant mass-to-light ratios (M/L_R ~
4-4.5 for a Kroupa IMF), in agreement with stellar dynamical estimates based on
our new velocity dispersions. In the inner arcsecs the luminosity-weighted age
drops to 4-8 Gyr, while the metallicity increases to above 3 times the solar
value.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
VLT multi-epoch radial velocity survey toward NGC 6253. Analysis of three transiting planetary candidates
We measured the radial velocity of 139 stars in the region of NGC 6253,
discussing cluster's membership and binarity in this sample, complementing our
analysis with photometric, proper motion, and radial velocity data available
from previous studies of this cluster, and analyzing three planetary transiting
candidates we found in the field of NGC 6253. Spectra were obtained with the
UVES and GIRAFFE spectrographs at the VLT, during three epochs in August 2008.
The mean radial velocity of the cluster is -29.11+/-0.85 km/s. Using both
radial velocities and proper motions we found 35 cluster's members, among which
12 are likely cluster's close binary systems. One star may have a sub-stellar
companion, requiring a more intensive follow-up. Our results are in good
agreement with past radial velocity and photometric measurements. Furthermore,
using our photometry, astrometry and spectroscopy we identified a new sub-giant
branch eclipsing binary system, member of the cluster. The cluster's close
binary frequency at 29% +/- 9% (34% +/-10% once including long period
binaries), appears higher than the field binary frequency equal to (22% +/- 5%,
though these estimates are still consistent within the uncertainties. Among the
three transiting planetary candidates the brightest one (V=15.26) is worth to
be more intensively investigated with higher percision spectroscopy. We
discussed the possibility to detect sub-stellar companions (brown dwarfs and
planets) with the radial velocity technique (both with UVES/GIRAFFE and HARPS)
around turn-off stars of old open clusters [abridged].Comment: 25 pages, 18 figures, 8 tables. Accepted for publication in A&
A phenobarbital overdose: a case report
Background: Phenobarbital is a long-acting barbiturate,
responsible for many cases of poisoning, from unintentional
overdose or attempted suicide. We report a case of phenobarbital
overdose in a patient with history of depression.
Patients and Methods: A 60 year old woman was admitted to
our Internal Medicine Unit for drowsiness, irritability, difficulties in
the maintenance of an upright position, dysphasia and weakness.
She was suffering from depression and epilepsy and treated with
phenobarbital 150 mg/die.
Results: At the admittance, she had high fever and neck stiffness;
phenobarbital serum levels were 71.2 mcg/ml (3 times u.n.l.);
aminotransferases were 12-17u.n.l. Arterial blood pressure was
80/50 mmHg. An inflammatory meningeal process was excluded
by lumbar puncture; a brain and spinal cord CT scan excluded
spine bone lesions and ischemic stroke. In the suspect of an
overdose, a protocol of urine alkalinization was applied resulting
in a reduction of phenobarbital levels below the therapeutic range
in about 6 days, with state of consciousness, cognitive and
behavioral functions improvement. A rapid normalization in
aminotransferases levels was noted and serology for hepatitis
viruses (HAV, HBV, CMV, EBV, HSV) resulted negative.
Conclusions: In our patient phenobarbital was responsible for
stupor, hypotension, hypertonicity and aminotransferases
elevation, whereas fever was due to a concomitant pulmonary
inflammatory process resolved after antibiotic therapy. Despite the
use of these drugs has been progressively reduced, the number
overdose reports remains still hig
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