A new intermediate mass protostar in the Cepheus A HW2 region

We present the discovery of the first molecular hot core associated with an intermediate mass protostar in the CepA HW2 region. The hot condensation was detected from single dish and interferometric observations of several high excitation rotational lines (from 100 to 880K above the ground state) of SO2 in the ground vibrational state and of HC3N in the vibrationally excited states v7=1 and v7=2. The kinetic temperature derived from both molecules is 160K. The high-angular resolution observations (1.25'' x 0.99'') of the SO2 J=28(7,21)-29(6,24) line (488K above the ground state) show that the hot gas is concentrated in a compact condensation with a size of 0.6''(430AU), located 0.4'' (300AU) east from the radio-jet HW2. The total SO2 column density in the hot condensation is 10E18cm-2, with a H2 column density ranging from 10E23 to 6 x 10E24cm-2. The H2 density and the SO2 fractional abundance must be larger than 10E7cm-3 and 2 x 10E-7 respectively. The most likely alternatives for the nature of the hot and very dense condensation are discussed. From the large column densities of hot gas, the detection of the HC3N vibrationally excited lines and the large SO2 abundance, we favor the interpretation of a hot core heated by an intermediate mass protostar of 10E3 Lo. This indicates that the CepA HW2 region contains a cluster of very young stars

IC 4200: a gas-rich early-type galaxy formed via a major merger

We present the result of radio and optical observations of the S0 galaxy IC 4200. We find that the galaxy hosts 8.5 billion solar masses of HI rotating on a ~90 deg warped disk extended out to 60 kpc from the centre of the galaxy. Optical spectroscopy reveals a simple-stellar-population-equivalent age of 1.5 Gyr in the centre of the galaxy and V- and R-band images show stellar shells. Ionised gas is observed within the stellar body and is kinematically decoupled from the stars and characterised by LINER-like line ratios.We interpret these observational results as evidence for a major merger origin of IC 4200, and date the merger back to 1-3 Gyr ago.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics; 18 pages, 13 figures; the tables of Appendix C can be downloaded at http://www.astro.rug.nl/~pserra/IC420

HICOD2000 - Integrated system for coding, protection and trading of earth observation products in JPEG2000

This paper describes a system, called HICOD2000, derived from a project developed in collaboration between two Portuguese companies and the European Space Agency that exploited the possibilities offered by the emerging image encoding standard - JPEG2000 - and its applicability to Earth Observation Products. The work described on this paper has been completed and it's currently being integrated with ESA own systems and EO products portal. Other important characteristic of the system consists in the usage of a Digital Rights Management platform to control the access and usage of EO products coded in JPEG2000 format.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

The microbiota of the bilio-pancreatic system: A cohort, STROBE-compliant study

Background: The gut microbiota play an essential role in protecting the host against pathogenic microorganisms by modulating immunity and regulating metabolic processes. In response to environmental factors, microbes can hugely alter their metabolism. These factors can substantially impact the host and have potential pathologic implications. Particularly pathogenic microorganisms colonizing pancreas and biliary tract tissues may be involved in chronic inflammation and cancer evolution. Purpose: To evaluate the effect of bile microbiota on survival in patients with pancreas and biliary tract disease (PBD). Patients and Methods: We investigated 152 Italian patients with cholelithiasis (CHL), cholangitis (CHA), cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), gallbladder carcinoma (GBC), pancreas head carcinoma (PHC), ampullary carcinoma (ACA), and chronic pancreatitis (CHP). Demographics, bile cultures, therapy, and survival rates were analyzed in cohorts (T1 death <6 months; T2 death <12 months; T3 death <18 months, T3S alive at 18 months). Results: The most common bacteria in T1 were E. coli, K. pneumoniae, andP. aeruginosa. In T2, the most common bacteria were E. coli and P. aeruginosa. InT3, there were no significant bacteria isolated, while in T3S the most common bacteria were like those found in T1. E. coli and K. pneumoniae were positive predictors of survival for PHC and ACA, respectively. E. coli, K. pneumoniae, andP. aeruginosa showed a high percentage of resistant bacteria to 3CGS, aminoglycosides class, and quinolone group especially at T1 and T2 in cancer patients. Conclusions: An unprecedented increase of E. coli in bile leads to a decrease in survival. We suggest that some strains isolated in bile samples may be considered within the group of risk factors in carcinogenesis and/or progression of hepato-biliary malignancy. A better understanding of bile microbiota in patients with PBD should lead to a multifaceted approach to rapidly detect and treat pathogens before patients enter the surgical setting in tandem with the implementation of the infection control policy

On the quantumness of correlations in nuclear magnetic resonance

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) was successfully employed to test several protocols and ideas in Quantum Information Science. In most of these implementations the existence of entanglement was ruled out. This fact introduced concerns and questions about the quantum nature of such bench tests. In this article we address some issues related to the non-classical aspects of NMR systems. We discuss some experiments where the quantum aspects of this system are supported by quantum correlations of separable states. Such quantumness, beyond the entanglement-separability paradigm, is revealed via a departure between the quantum and the classical versions of information theory. In this scenario, the concept of quantum discord seems to play an important role. We also present an experimental implementation of an analogous of the single-photon Mach-Zehnder interferometer employing two nuclear spins to encode the interferometric paths. This experiment illustrate how non-classical correlations of separable states may be used to simulate quantum dynamics. The results obtained are completely equivalent to the optical scenario, where entanglement (between two field modes) may be present

Mycotoxin-producing and other fungi isolated from grapes for wine production, with particular emphasis on ochratoxin A

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by filamentous fungi that have been detected in food commodities, including grapes and wine. A survey was conducted to assess mycotoxin-producing fungi in grapes destined for wine production. The mycotoxigenic capacity of the isolates was tested in culture media. Grapes were analyzed by plating methods from 4 Portuguese wine-growing regions at 3 maturation stages (pea berry, early veraison and ripe berry) between 2001 and 2003. From the 10 602 strains detected and identified, the most frequent genera were Cladosporium (25%), Alternaria (24%), Botrytis (15%), Penicillium (9%) and Aspergillus (8%). Most (92.0%) were nonmycotoxigenic or produced mycotoxins of unknown relevance to health. Potential producers of ochratoxin A (OTA) (Aspergillus niger aggregate, 5.4%, Aspergillus carbonarius, 0.6%) and trichothecenes (Fusarium spp., 0.4%; Trichothecium roseum, 0.8%) were the most frequent mycotoxigenic species isolated from grapes. OTA was detected in all cultures of A. carbonarius and 4% of A. niger aggregate strains. There was potential for OTA and trichothecene production in grapes by A. carbonarius and T. roseum, respectively, prior to harvest time. Data presented herein indicate that A. carbonarius is most likely to occur in vineyards with Mediterranean climates, while T. roseum is more likely to occur in more temperate climates, and is associated with gray rot. The present work emphasizes the need to use grapes under good condition so as to reduce the risk of contamination with mycotoxigenic fungi and subsequent mycotoxin occurrence in wine.EC - Quality of Life Program (QoL), Key Action 1 (KA1) on Food, Nutrition and Health - contract number QLK1-CT-2001-01761, Wine-Ochra Risk.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - grant SFRH/BD/1436/2000

The importance of family context in alcoholism

In the present study, 56 chronic alcoholics were compared with 56 controls with no excessive drinking habits, all of them male. The drinking habits of their parents were studied, as were parental rearing, dyadic relations with the spouses, attachment to significant people, and the education they gave to their own children. It was noted that the alcoholics' parents had heavier drinking habits and could have acted as learning models. As regards the other characteristics, the dyadic cohesion, the global score of the education received from the father and the personal style of criticism/rejection in the education of their own children were underline

Orbital current mode in elliptical quantum dots

An orbital current mode peculiar to deformed quantum dots is theoretically investigated; first by using a simple model that allows to interpret analytically its main characteristics, and second, by numerically solving the microscopic equations of time evolution after an initial perturbation within the time-dependent local-spin-density approximation. Results for different deformations and sizes are shown.Comment: 4 REVTEX pages, 4 PDF figures, accepted in PRB:R