An overview of jets and outflows in stellar mass black holes

In this book chapter, we will briefly review the current empirical understanding of the relation between accretion state and and outflows in accreting stellar mass black holes. The focus will be on the empirical connections between X-ray states and relativistic (`radio') jets, although we are now also able to draw accretion disc winds into the picture in a systematic way. We will furthermore consider the latest attempts to measure/order jet power, and to compare it to other (potentially) measurable quantities, most importantly black hole spin.Comment: Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews. Also to appear in the Space Sciences Series of ISSI - The Physics of Accretion on to Black Holes (Springer Publisher

San Francisco Syncope Rule, Osservatorio Epidemiologico sulla Sincope nel Lazio risk score, and clinical judgment in the assessment of short-term outcome of syncope

Objective The study aimed to compare the efficacy of the Osservatorio Epidemiologico sulla Sincope nel Lazio (OESIL) risk score, San Francisco Syncope Rule, and clinical judgment in assessing the short-term prognosis of syncope. Methods We studied 488 patients consecutively seen for syncope at the emergency department of 2 general hospitals between January and July 2004. Sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and likelihood ratios for short-term (within 10 days) severe outcomes were computed for each decision rule and clinical judgment. Severe outcomes comprised death, major therapeutic procedures, and early readmission to hospital. Results Clinical judgment had a sensitivity of 77%, a specificity of 69%, and would have admitted less patients (34%, P < .05 vs decision rules). The OESIL risk score was characterized by a sensitivity of 88% and a specificity of 60% (admission 43%). San Francisco Syncope Rule sensitivity was 81% and specificity was 63% (admission 40%). According to both clinical rules, no discharged patient would have died. With combined OESIL risk score and clinical judgment, the probability of adverse events was 0.7% for patients with both low risk scores, whereas that for both high risk scores was roughly 16%. Conclusion Because of a relatively low sensitivity, both risk scores were partially lacking in recognizing patients with short-term high-risk syncope. However, the application of the decision rules would have identified all patients who subsequently died, and OESIL risk score and clinical judgment combined seem to improve the decision-making process concerning the identification of high-risk patients who deserve admission

The Infra-Red Telescope on board the THESEUS mission

International audienceThe Infra-Red Telescope (IRT) on board the Transient High Energy Sky and Early Universe Surveyor (THESEUS) ESA M5 candidate mission will play a key role in identifying and characterizing moderate to high redshift Gamma-Ray Bursts afterglows. The IRT is the enabling instrument on board THESEUS for measuring autonomously the redshift of the several hundreds of GRBs detected per year by the Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) and the X- and Gamma-Ray Imaging Spectrometer (XGIS), and thus allowing the big ground based telescopes to be triggered on a redshift pre-selected sample, and finally fulfilling the cosmological goals of the mission. The IRT will be composed by a primary mirror of 0.7 m of diameter coupled to a single camera in a Cassegrain design. It will work in the 0.7-1.8 {\mu}m wavelength range, and will provide a 10x10 arc min imaging field of view with sub-arc second localization capabilities, and, at the same time, a 5x5 arc min field of view with moderate (R up to ~500) spectroscopic capabilities. Its sensitivity, mainly limited by the satellite jitter, is adapted to detect all the GRBs, localized by the SXI/XGIS, and to acquire spectra for the majority of them