6,719 research outputs found
Kepler423b: a half-Jupiter mass planet transiting a very old solar-like star
We report the spectroscopic confirmation of the Kepler object of interest
KOI-183.01 (Kepler-423b), a half-Jupiter mass planet transiting an old
solar-like star every 2.7 days. Our analysis is the first to combine the full
Kepler photometry (quarters 1-17) with high-precision radial velocity
measurements taken with the FIES spectrograph at the Nordic Optical Telescope.
We simultaneously modelled the photometric and spectroscopic data-sets using
Bayesian approach coupled with Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling. We found that
the Kepler pre-search data conditioned (PDC) light curve of KOI-183 exhibits
quarter-to-quarter systematic variations of the transit depth, with a
peak-to-peak amplitude of about 4.3 % and seasonal trends reoccurring every
four quarters. We attributed these systematics to an incorrect assessment of
the quarterly variation of the crowding metric. The host star KOI-183 is a G4
dwarf with M_\rm{Sun},
R_\rm{Sun}, K, dex, and with
an age of Gyr. The planet KOI-183b has a mass of
M and a radius of
R, yielding a planetary bulk
density of g/cm. The radius of KOI-183b
is consistent with both theoretical models for irradiated coreless giant
planets and expectations based on empirical laws. The inclination of the
stellar spin axis suggests that the system is aligned along the line of sight.
We detected a tentative secondary eclipse of the planet at a 2-
confidence level ( ppm) and found that the
orbit might have a small non-zero eccentricity of .
With a Bond albedo of , KOI-183b is one of the
gas-giant planets with the lowest albedo known so far.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in A&A.
Planet designation changed from KOI-183b to Kepler-423
Sawja: Static Analysis Workshop for Java
Static analysis is a powerful technique for automatic verification of
programs but raises major engineering challenges when developing a full-fledged
analyzer for a realistic language such as Java. This paper describes the Sawja
library: a static analysis framework fully compliant with Java 6 which provides
OCaml modules for efficiently manipulating Java bytecode programs. We present
the main features of the library, including (i) efficient functional
data-structures for representing program with implicit sharing and lazy
parsing, (ii) an intermediate stack-less representation, and (iii) fast
computation and manipulation of complete programs
Angiostrongylus vasorum: Epidemiological, clinical and histopathological insights
Background: Canine angiostrongylosis is a nematode infection in domestic dogs and wild carnivores. The present report focuses on epidemiological, clinical and histopathological findings in a case of fatal disseminated angiostrongylosis in a dog living in southern Italy and provides data on the extent of the spread of Angiostrongylus vasorum in the same area.Case presentation: A 4-year-old female English Setter from the Campania region of southern Italy was referred with a 2-week history of cough and severe respiratory distress that did not respond to antimicrobial therapy. Based on clinical, radiological, echographical and cytological findings (including the presence of larvae), a suspect diagnosis of lungworm infection was performed. After few days the dog died due to progressive clinical aggravation. Complete postmortem examination was conducted within 24 hours from death and samples from lungs, heart, liver, kidney, spleen, stomach and small intestine were fixed in 10% buffered formalin. Grossly, several hemorrhagic foci were observed mostly in the lungs, liver, kidney. Microscopically, the lungs contained numerous, multifocal to coalescing granulomas composed of epitheliod macrophages, multinucleated giant cells and some neutrophils, frequently associated with parasite eggs and larvae. The lungs contained many firm nodules, many adult nematodes approximately 1.5 to 2 cm in length were observed in cut sections and identified as A. vasorum. A subsequent parasitological survey performed with FLOTAC on stray dogs living in the same area showed the presence of A. vasorum larvae in 17 of 1639 stray dogs examined (1.04%).Conclusion: This survey provides new data on distribution of A. vasorum and underlines that canine angiostrongylosis should be considered as differential diagnosis in dogs
Study of the Fusion-Fission Process in the Reaction
Fusion-fission and fully energy-damped binary processes of the
Cl+Mg reaction were investigated using particle-particle
coincidence techniques at a Cl bombarding energy of E
8 MeV/nucleon. Inclusive data were also taken in order to determine the partial
wave distribution of the fusion process. The fragment-fragment correlation data
show that the majority of events arises from a binary-decay process with a
relatively large multiplicity of secondary light-charged particles emitted by
the two primary excited fragments in the exit channel. No evidence is observed
for ternary-breakup processes, as expected from the systematics recently
established for incident energies below 15 MeV/nucleon and for a large number
of reactions. The binary-process results are compared with predictions of
statistical-model calculations. The calculations were performed using the
Extended Hauser-Feshbach method, based on the available phase space at the
scission point of the compound nucleus. This new method uses
temperature-dependent level densities and its predictions are in good agreement
with the presented experimental data, thus consistent with the fusion-fission
origin of the binary fully-damped yields.Comment: 30 pages standard REVTeX file, 10 eps Figures; to be published at the
European Physical Journal A - Hadrons and Nucle
The pattern of TSH and fT4 levels across different BMI ranges in a large cohort of euthyroid patients with obesity.
Purpose: A multifold association relates the hypothalamo-pituitary-thyroid axis to body weight. The potential underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. Further, the mild severity of obesity and the small proportion of individuals with obesity in so far published cohort studies provide little insights on metabolic correlates of thyroid function in obesity. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 5009 adults with obesity (F/M, 3448/1561; age range, 18-87 years; BMI range, 30.0-82.7 kg/m2), without known thyroid disease in a study on TSH and fT4 levels, lipid profile, glucose homeostasis and insulin resistance, anthropometric parameters including BIA-derived fat mass (%FM) and fat-free mass (FFM). Results: The overall reference interval for TSH in our obese cohort was 0.58-5.07 mIU/L. As subgroups, females and non-smokers showed higher TSH levels as compared to their counterparts (p<0.0001 for both), while fT4 values were comparable between groups. There was a significant upward trend for TSH levels across incremental BMI classes in females, while the opposite trend was seen for fT4 levels in males (p<0.0001 for both). Expectedly, TSH was associated with %FM and FFM (p<0,0001 for both). TSH and fT4 showed correlations with several metabolic variables, and both declined with aging (TSH, p<0.0001; fT4, p<0.01). In a subgroup undergoing leptin measurement, leptin levels were positively associated with TSH levels (p<0.01). At the multivariable regression analysis, in the group as a whole, smoking habit emerged as the main independent predictor of TSH (β=-0.24, p<0.0001) and fT4 (β=-0.25, p<0.0001) levels. In non-smokers, %FM (β=0.08, p<0.0001) and age (β=-0.05, p<0.001) were the main significant predictors of TSH levels. In the subset of nonsmokers having leptin measured, leptin emerged as the strongest predictor of TSH levels (β=0.17, p<0.01). Conclusions: Our study provides evidence of a gender- and smoking-dependent regulation of TSH levels in obesity
Mature teratoma arising from an undescended testis in a horse: comparison between ultrasonographic and morphological features
Scant information is available on the ultrasonographic appearance of different testicular tumours in the stallion. Preoperative ultrasound imaging and gross and microscopic features of a testicular teratoma in a horse is described. An asymptomatic 4 years old cryptorchid Arabian horse was admitted for orchiectomy. Combined transabdominal and inguinal ultrasound examination revealed a large complex ovoid mass, containing both solid and cystic elements with internal echoes, located dorsally to the superficial inguinal ring. Two main hypoechoic cavities divided by a linear hyperechoic septum were evident, with a hyperechoic circular structure inside the lumen of the largest one. A tumour of the undescended testis was suspected. Ultrasound findings guided a provisional diagnosis of teratoma that was confirmed by histology following surgical removal of the tumour. Due to the correspondence between ultrasonographic and morphological features, trans-abdominal ultrasonography was conclusive in the preoperative planning
G-Quadruplex Dynamics Contribute To Regulation Of Mitochondrial Gene Expression
Single-stranded DNA or RNA sequences rich in guanine (G) can adopt non-canonical structures known as G-quadruplexes (G4). Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences that are predicted to form G4 are enriched on the heavy-strand and have been associated with formation of deletion breakpoints. Increasing evidence supports the ability of mtDNA to form G4 in cancer cells; however, the functional roles of G4 structures in regulating mitochondrial nucleic acid homeostasis in non-cancerous cells remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate by live cell imaging that the G4-ligand RHPS4 localizes primarily to mitochondria at low doses. We find that low doses of RHPS4 do not induce a nuclear DNA damage response but do cause an acute inhibition of mitochondrial transcript elongation, leading to respiratory complex depletion. We also observe that RHPS4 interferes with mtDNA levels or synthesis both in cells and isolated mitochondria. Importantly, a mtDNA variant that increases G4 stability and anti-parallel G4-forming character shows a stronger respiratory defect in response to RHPS4, supporting the conclusion that mitochondrial sensitivity to RHPS4 is G4-mediated. Taken together, our results indicate a direct role for G4 perturbation in mitochondrial genome replication, transcription processivity, and respiratory function in normal cells
Dipolar degrees of freedom and Isospin equilibration processes in Heavy Ion collisions
Background: In heavy ion collision at the Fermi energies Isospin
equilibration processes occur- ring when nuclei with different charge/mass
asymmetries interacts have been investigated to get information on the
nucleon-nucleon Iso-vectorial effective interaction. Purpose: In this paper,
for the system 48Ca +27 Al at 40 MeV/nucleon, we investigate on this process by
means of an observable tightly linked to isospin equilibration processes and
sensitive in exclusive way to the dynamical stage of the collision. From the
comparison with dynamical model calculations we want also to obtain information
on the Iso-vectorial effective microscopic interaction. Method: The average
time derivative of the total dipole associated to the relative motion of all
emitted charged particles and fragments has been determined from the measured
charges and velocities by using the 4? multi-detector CHIMERA. The average has
been determined for semi- peripheral collisions and for different charges Zb of
the biggest produced fragment. Experimental evidences collected for the systems
27Al+48Ca and 27Al+40Ca at 40 MeV/nucleon used to support this novel method of
investigation are also discussed.Comment: Submitted for publication on Phys. Rev. C. 0n 24-oct-201
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