Perinatal Tuberculosis: Is it a Forgotten Disease?

Perinatal tuberculosis is an uncommon condition but with a high mortality and a challenging diagnosis. We present four cases of perinatal tuberculosis managed between 1991-2014 in a Spanish Tertiary Hospital. The infection should be considered in patients with progressive respiratory symptoms and with a poor response to conventional antibiotic therapy, especially in those with positive epidemiologic risk. Bronchoscopy can be a useful tool for diagnosis

Compressibility and structural stability of ultra-incompressible bimetallic interstitial carbides and nitrides

We have investigated by means of high-pressure x-ray diffraction the structural stability of Pd2Mo3N, Ni2Mo3C0.52N0.48, Co3Mo3C0.62N0.38, and Fe3Mo3C. We have found that they remain stable in their ambient-pressure cubic phase at least up to 48 GPa. All of them have a bulk modulus larger than 330 GPa, being the least compressible material Fe3Mo3C, B0 = 374(3) GPa. In addition, apparently a reduction of compressibility is detected as the carbon content increased. The equation of state for each material is determined. A comparison with other refractory materials indicates that interstitial nitrides and carbides behave as ultra-incompressible materials.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Binary frequency of planet-host stars at wide separations: A new brown dwarf companion to a planet-host star

The aim of the project is to improve our knowledge on the multiplicity of planet-host stars at wide physical separations. We cross-matched approximately 6200 square degree area of the Southern sky imaged by the Visible Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) Hemisphere Survey (VHS) with the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) to look for wide common proper motion companions to known planet-host stars. We complemented our astrometric search with photometric criteria. We confirmed spectroscopically the co-moving nature of seven sources out of 16 companion candidates and discarded eight, while the remaining one stays as a candidate. Among these new wide companions to planet-host stars, we discovered a T4.5 dwarf companion at 6.3 arcmin (~9000 au) from HIP70849, a K7V star which hosts a 9 Jupiter mass planet with an eccentric orbit. We also report two new stellar M dwarf companions to one G and one metal-rich K star. We infer stellar and substellar binary frequencies for our complete sample of 37 targets of 5.4+/-3.8% and 2.7+/-2.7% (1 sigma confidence level), respectively, for projected physical separations larger than ~60-160 au assuming the range of distances of planet-host stars (24-75 pc). These values are comparable to the frequencies of non planet-host stars. We find that the period-eccentricity trend holds with a lack of multiple systems with planets at large eccentricities (e > 0.2) for periods less than 40 days. However, the lack of planets more massive than 2.5 Jupiter masses and short periods (<40 days) orbiting single stars is not so obvious due to recent discoveries by ground-based transit surveys and space missions.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 13 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables, optical spectra will be available at CDS Strasbour

Dark matter candidates in the NMSSM with RH neutrino superfields

R-parity conserving supersymmetric models with right-handed (RH) neutrinos are very appealing since they could naturally explain neutrino physics and also provide a good dark matter (DM) candidate such as the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP). In this work we consider the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model (NMSSM) plus RH neutrino superfields, with effective Majorana masses dynamically generated at the electroweak scale (EW). We perform a scan of the relevant parameter space and study both possible DM candidates: RH sneutrino and neutralino. Especially for the case of RH sneutrino DM we analyse the intimate relation between both candidates to obtain the correct amount of relic density. Besides the well-known resonances, annihilations through scalar quartic couplings and coannihilation mechanisms with all kind of neutralinos, are crucial. Finally, we present the impact of current and future direct and indirect detection experiments on both DM candidates.Comment: Version published in JCAP, 40 pages, 8 figures, 6 table

Búsqueda de dianas en Podosphaera Xanthii para el desarrollo de nuevas fitoterapias antifúngicas

La resistencia a fungicidas en uno de los principales problemas de la agricultura y esto es especialmente patente en el caso de los oídios. En España y en las principales áreas productoras del mundo, el oídio de las cucurbitáceas es una amenaza muy grave, y Podosphaera xanthii es considerado como el principal agente causante de la enfermedad. Hasta la fecha, la aplicación de fungicidas y el uso de variedades resistentes son las principales herramientas para el control de la enfermedad. En cualquier caso, el oídio sigue imponiendo serias limitaciones en la producción agrícola, siendo necesario el desarrollo de nuevas estrategias de control. En este estudio se pretende proporcionar información sobre las bases moleculares de P. xanthii que pueda ser de utilidad para el desarrollo de nuevas herramientas de fitoprotección. Para lograr este objetivo, estamos centrando nuestra atención en un conjunto de proteínas fúngicas carentes de función, determinado en un estudio anterior. Ante la falta de homología con proteínas funcionalmente anotadas, para conocer la posible función de dichas proteínas, en primer lugar, llevamos a cabo un análisis in silico detallado de las proteínas que incluye modelado 3D, predicción de posibles ligandos e identificación de dominios funcionales. En segundo lugar, para la identificación de proteínas clave para la patogénesis de P. xanthii, silenciamos proteínas del hongo con función predicha bioinformáticamente mediante silenciamiento génico inducido por hospedador (HIGS) empleando Agrobacterium tumefaciens como vector para la expresión transitoria de construcciones de silenciamiento en células de melón, y desde ellas, al hongo diana. Finalmente, las proteínas con un fenotipo claro de silenciamiento serán seleccionadas para la caracterización de su actividad biológica. En este congreso se mostrarán los resultados más relevantes obtenidos hasta la fecha, relativos a la asimilación de azufre.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. Este trabajo ha sido financiado por una ayuda del Programa Estatal de I+D+i Orientada a los Retos de la Sociedad (AGL2016-76216-C2-1-R), cofinanciada con fondos FEDER (UE). Los autores agredecen además ayudas del Plan Propio de Investigación de la Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

The State of the Circumstellar Medium Surrounding Gamma-Ray Burst Sources and its Effect on the Afterglow Appearance

We present a numerical investigation of the contribution of the presupernova ejecta of Wolf-Rayet stars to the environment surrounding gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), and describe how this external matter can affect the observable afterglow characteristics. An implicit hydrodynamic calculation for massive stellar evolution is used here to provide the inner boundary conditions for an explicit hydrodynamical code to model the circumstellar gas dynamics. The resulting properties of the circumstellar medium are then used to calculate the deceleration of a relativistic, gas-dynamic jet and the corresponding afterglow light curve produced as the shock wave propagates through the shocked-wind medium. We find that variations in the stellar wind drive instabilities that may produce radial filaments in the shocked-wind region. These comet-like tails of clumps could give rise to strong temporal variations in the early afterglow lightcurve. Afterglows may be expected to differ widely among themselves, depending on the angular anisotropy of the jet and the properties of the stellar progenitor; a wide diversity of behaviors may be the rule, rather than the exception.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, ApJ in pres

Optimal interpolation of satellite and ground data for irradiance nowcasting at city scales

We use a Bayesian method, optimal interpolation, to improve satellite derived irradiance estimates at city-scales using ground sensor data. Optimal interpolation requires error covariances in the satellite estimates and ground data, which define how information from the sensor locations is distributed across a large area. We describe three methods to choose such covariances, including a covariance parameterization that depends on the relative cloudiness between locations. Results are computed with ground data from 22 sensors over a 75×80 km area centered on Tucson, AZ, using two satellite derived irradiance models. The improvements in standard error metrics for both satellite models indicate that our approach is applicable to additional satellite derived irradiance models. We also show that optimal interpolation can nearly eliminate mean bias error and improve the root mean squared error by 50%