Star clusters near and far; tracing star formation across cosmic time

© 2020 Springer-Verlag. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-020-00690-x.Star clusters are fundamental units of stellar feedback and unique tracers of their host galactic properties. In this review, we will first focus on their constituents, i.e.\ detailed insight into their stellar populations and their surrounding ionised, warm, neutral, and molecular gas. We, then, move beyond the Local Group to review star cluster populations at various evolutionary stages, and in diverse galactic environmental conditions accessible in the local Universe. At high redshift, where conditions for cluster formation and evolution are more extreme, we are only able to observe the integrated light of a handful of objects that we believe will become globular clusters. We therefore discuss how numerical and analytical methods, informed by the observed properties of cluster populations in the local Universe, are used to develop sophisticated simulations potentially capable of disentangling the genetic map of galaxy formation and assembly that is carried by globular cluster populations.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Psychological and clinical characteristics of patients with spontaneous coronary artery dissection: A case-control study

Contains fulltext : 228549.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Anterior Segment OCTA of Melanocytic Lesions of the Conjunctiva and Iris

PURPOSE: To study the feasibility and diagnostic value of vascular imaging using optical coherence tomography (OCT)-angiography (OCTA) of melanocytic lesions of the conjunctiva and iris.DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.METHODS: Twenty-five patients with an untreated conjunctival lesion (5 melanoma, 13 nevus, 7 primary ac-quired melanosis [PAM]) and 52 patients with an un-treated iris lesion (10 melanoma, 42 nevus) were included. Patients were imaged using a commercially available OCTA device, with the addition of an anterior segment lens and manual focussing. Tumor vessel pres-ence, vascular patterns and vascular density were assessed.RESULTS: Good OCTA images were obtained in 18 of 25 conjunctival lesions and 42 of 52 iris lesions. Failure was caused by lack of patient cooperation, an unfavorable location, or mydriasis. In all imaged conjunctival lesions and 77% of iris lesions, vascular structures were detected. Conjunctival melanoma and nevi demonstrated the same intralesional tortuous patterns, whereas vasculature in eyes with PAM was similar to normal conjunctiva. Both iris melanoma and nevi demonstrated tortuous patterns, distinct from the radially oriented normal iris vasculature.CONCLUSIONS: Optical coherence tomography angiog-raphy (OCTA) allows for noninvasive imaging of the vasculature in melanocytic lesions of the conjunctiva and iris. Good image quality depends highly on patient cooper-ation and lesion characteristics. Differentiation of benign and malignant lesions was not possible. New software is called for to improve image acquisition and analysis.Ophthalmic researc