Evidence of vacuum birefringence from the polarisation of the optical emission from an Isolated Neutron Star

Isolated Neutron Stars are some of the most exciting stellar objects known to astronomers: they have the most extreme magnetic fields, with values up to $10^{15}$ G, and, with the exception of stellar-mass black holes, they are the most dense stars, with densities of $\approx 10^{14}$ g cm$^{-3}$. As such, they are perfect laboratories to test theories of electromagnetism and nuclear physics under conditions of magnetic field and density unattainable on Earth. In particular, the interaction of radiation with strong magnetic fields is the cause of the {\em vacuum birefringence}, an effect predicted by quantum electrodynamics in 1936 but that lacked an observational evidence until now. Here, we show how the study of the polarisation of the optical radiation from the surface of an isolated neutron star yielded such an observational evidence, opening exciting perspectives for similar studies at other wavelengths.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, Contributed to the 13th Patras Workshop on Axions, WIMPs and WISPs, Thessaloniki, May 15 to 19, 201

Electron localization and possible phase separation in the absence of a charge density wave in single-phase 1T-VS2_2

We report on a systematic study of the structural, magnetic and transport properties of high-purity 1T-VS$_2$ powder samples prepared under high pressure. The results differ notably from those previously obtained by de-intercalating Li from LiVS$_2$. First, no Charge Density Wave (CDW) is found by transmission electron microscopy down to 94 K. Though, \textit{ab initio} phonon calculations unveil a latent CDW instability driven by an acoustic phonon softening at the wave vector ${\bf q}_{CDW} \approx$ (0.21,0.21,0) previously reported in de-intercalated samples. A further indication of latent lattice instability is given by an anomalous expansion of the V-S bond distance at low temperature. Second, infrared optical absorption and electrical resistivity measurements give evidence of non metallic properties, consistent with the observation of no CDW phase. On the other hand, magnetic susceptibility and NMR data suggest the coexistence of localized moments with metallic carriers, in agreement with \textit{ab initio} band structure calculations. This discrepancy is reconciled by a picture of electron localization induced by disorder or electronic correlations leading to a phase separation of metallic and non-metallic domains in the nm scale. We conclude that 1T-VS$_2$ is at the verge of a CDW transition and suggest that residual electronic doping in Li de-intercalated samples stabilizes a uniform CDW phase with metallic properties.Comment: 22 pages, 10 Figures. Full resolution pictures available at http://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.89.23512

Health-related quality of life in AYA cancer survivors who underwent HSCT compared with healthy peers

This\ue002study\ue002was\ue002aimed\ue002at\ue002comparing\ue002adolescent\ue002and\ue002young\ue002adult\ue002(AYA)\ue002Hematopoietic\ue002 Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) paediatric cancer survivors and a control group of healthy peers in terms of Health- Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) and frequency of posttraumatic\ue002stress\ue002symptoms\ue002(PTSS).\ue002The\ue002participants\ue002were\ue00232\ue002AYA\ue002HSCT\ue002survi- vors and 28 matched healthy peers. The survivors were, on average, 19.4 years old (SD = 3.8), with an average age of 8.1 years (SD = 4.3) at diagnosis, and with a mean time, since treatment was completed, of 8.5 years (SD = 3.2). The majority of survi- vors (78.1%) did not show clinical PTSS, with intrusion symptoms most frequently reported in those who had undergone autologous HSCT (F = 3.3; df = 2; p = 0.05) and relapse presence in their treatment associated with more PTSS avoidance symptoms (r = 0.4; p\ue002=\ue0020.002).\ue002Women\ue002reported\ue002more\ue002problems\ue002in\ue002the\ue002SF-\ue00236\ue002pain\ue002scale\ue002(t = 2.1; df = 31; p\ue002=\ue0020.04)\ue002than\ue002men.\ue002Additionally,\ue00287.5%\ue002of\ue002survivors\ue002fell\ue002below\ue002the\ue00225th\ue002per- centile\ue002in\ue002the\ue002SF-\ue00236\ue002general\ue002well-\ue002being\ue002scale,\ue002and\ue00270.8%\ue002had\ue002the\ue002same\ue002trend\ue002for\ue002the\ue002 SF-\ue00236\ue002fatigue\ue002scale.\ue002Survivors\ue002reported\ue002better\ue002emotional\ue002well-\ue002being\ue002(t\ue002=\ue0022.6,\ue002df = 27, p = 0.01) and fewer limitations than their healthy peers (t = 2.5, df = 27, p = 0.02), while they perceived a lower life satisfaction referring to the past (t\ue002=\ue002 122.8,\ue002df = 27, p = 0.009)

Compact groups from semi-analytical models of galaxy formation-III: Purity and completeness of Hickson-like catalogues

Many catalogues of isolated compact groups of galaxies (CGs) have been extracted using Hickson's criteria to identify isolated, dense systems of galaxies, with at least three or four galaxies concordant in magnitude and redshift. But is not clear to what extent the catalogues of CGs are complete and reliable, relative to 3D truly isolated, dense groups. Using five different semi-analytical models of galaxy formation (SAMs), we identify isolated dense groups in 3D real space, containing at least three galaxies. We then build mock redshift space galaxy catalogues and run a Hickson-like CG finder. We find that the Hickson-like algorithm in redshift space is poor at recovering 3D CGs of at least three galaxies, with a purity of ∼ 10 per cent and a completeness of ∼ 22 per cent. Among the ∼ 90 per cent of spurious systems, typically 60 per cent are dense structures that failed the 3D isolation criteria, while the remaining 40 per cent are chance alignments of galaxies along the line of sight, nearly all of which are within regular groups, with some variation with the SAM used for the analysis. In other words, while only 10 per cent of CGs are isolated dense groups, as intended, half are dense structures embedded within larger groups, and one-third are chance alignments within larger groups. The low completeness of the extracted CG sample is mainly due to the flux limits of the selection criteria. Our results suggest that a new observational algorithm to identify compact groups in redshift space is required to obtain dense isolated galaxy systems.Fil: Taverna, Maria Antonela. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Díaz Giménez, Eugenia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Zandivarez, Arnaldo Ariel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba. Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Mamon, G. A.. Sorbonne University; Franci

A Computational Study to Identify TP53 and SREBF2 as Regulation Mediators of miR-214 in Melanoma Progression

In the complex world of post-transcriptional regulation, miR-214 is known to control in vitro tumor cell move- ment and survival to anoikis, as well as in vivo malignant cell extravasation from blood vessels and lung metastasis formation. miR-214 has also been found to be highly expressed in human melanomas, and to directly and indirectly regulate several genes involved in tumor progression and in the establishment of dis- tant metastases (Penna et al., 2011). In this work, we exploit a computational pipeline integrating data from multiple online data repositories to identify the presence of transcriptional or post-transcriptional regulatory modules involving miR-214 and a set of 73 previously identified miR-214 regulated genes. We identified 27 putative regulatory modules involving miR-214, NFKB1, SREBPF2, miR-33a and 9 out of the 73 miR-214 modulated genes (ALCAM, POSTN, TFAP2A, ADAM9, NCAM1, SEMA3A, PVRL2, JAG1, EGFR1). As a pre- liminary experimental validation we focused on 9 out of the 27 identified regulatory modules that involve two main players, miR-33a and SREBF2. The results confirm the importance of the predictions obtained with the presented computational approach

A new mini-open technique of arthroscopically assisted Latarjet

Background: The aim is to describe a new arthroscopically assisted Latarjet technique. Methods: We evaluated the clinical and radiological findings of 60 patients with chronic recurrent anterior gleno-humeral instability who underwent, between September 2013 and November 2014, an arthroscopically-assisted Latarjet procedure with double round endobutton fixation. Inclusion criteria were: chronic anterior recurrent instability, Instability Severity Index Score (ISIS) greater than three points, a glenoid bone defect > 15% or a Hill Sachs lesion with concomitant glenoid bone defect > 10%. During surgery the joint capsule and the anterior glenoid labrum were detached. Two drill tunnels perpendicular to the neck of the glenoid were made through a guide. An accessible pilot hole through the glenoid was created to allows the passage of guidewires for coracoid guidance and final fixation onto the anterior glenoid. Through a restricted deltopectoral access a coracoid osteotomy was made. Finally, the graft was prepared, inserted and secured using half-stitches. Results: The mean follow-up was 32.5 months (range 24\u201332 months). At a mean follow-up, 56 of the 60 subjects claimed a stable shoulder without postoperative complaints, two (3.3%) had an anterior dislocation after new traumatic injury, and two (3.3%) complained of subjective instability. At the latest follow-up, four subjects complained of painful recurrent anterior instability during abduction-external rotation with apprehension. At 1 year, the graft had migrated in one patient (1.7%) and judged not healed and high positioned in another patient (1.7%). Moreover, a glenoid bony gain of 26.3% was recorded. At the latest follow-up, three patients had grade 1 according to Samilson and Prieto classification asymptomatic degenerative changes. Nerve injuries and infections were not detected. None of the 60 patients underwent revision surgery. Healing rate of the graft was 96.7%. Conclusions: This technique of arthroscopically assisted Latarjet combines mini-open and arthroscopic approach for improving the precision of the bony tunnels in the glenoid and coracoid placement, minimizing any potential risk of neurologic complications. It can be an option in subjects with anterior gleno-humeral instability and glenoid bone defect. Further studies should be performed to confirm our preliminary results

Second-line high-dose chemotherapy in patients with mediastinal and retroperitoneal primary non-seminomatous germ cell tumors: the EBMT experience

Background: Results of second-line chemotherapy in patients with extragonadal non-seminomatous germ cell tumor (NSGCT) appear inferior to results in testicular NSGCT. Patients with retroperitoneal NSGCT achieve a comparable long-term survival rate of 30%, but the salvage rates of patients with mediastinal primary are less than 10%. We conducted a retrospective analysis on patients with mediastinal and retroperitoneal NSGCT treated with second-line high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) registered with the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT). Patients and methods: Between 1987 and 1999, 59 registered patients with retroperitoneal (n=37) and mediastinal (n=22) primary NSGCT, median age 28 years (range 18-60), were treated with second-line HDCT. All had received cisplatin-containing chemotherapy as first-line treatment. Results: Toxic death occurred in three cases (5%). With a median follow-up of 58 months (range 14-114), 18/59 patients (30%) continue to be disease-free. Of three patients who had a disease recurrence after HDCT, one patient achieved a disease-free status with further chemotherapy and surgery. In total, 19 patients (32%) are currently disease-free. Sixteen of 37 patients (43%) with retroperitoneal NSGCT, and three of 22 patients (14%) with mediastinal NSGCT are currently alive and disease-free. Conclusions: Second-line HDCT might represent a possible option for patients with retroperitoneal primary NSGCT. New salvage strategies are needed for patients with mediastinal NSGC

Proteomic analysis of Parietaria judaica pollen and allergen profiling by an immunoproteomic approach

Parietaria judaica pollen is a common cause of airway allergic disease in the Mediterranean area. Proteome analysis of mature Parietaria judaica pollen by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and mass spectrometry has established the first reference proteome map of this weed. Proteins involved in a variety of cellular functions as well as the occurrence of allergens were detected. By using 2-DE and immunoblotting with sera from Parietaria judaica allergic patients we obtained a more detailed characterization of Parietaria judaica allergen profil