Quark Masses and Renormalization Constants from Quark Propagator and 3-point Functions

We have computed the light and strange quark masses and the renormalization constants of the quark bilinear operators, by studying the large-p^2 behaviour of the lattice quark propagator and 3-point functions. The calculation is non-perturbatively improved, at O(a), in the chiral limit. The method used to compute the quark masses has never been applied so far, and it does not require an explicit determination of the quark mass renormalization constant.Comment: LATTICE99 (Improvement and Renormalization) - 3 pages, 2 figure

The StEllar Counterparts of COmpact high velocity clouds (SECCO) survey. II. Sensitivity of the survey and an Atlas of Synthetic Dwarf Galaxies

SECCO is a survey devoted to the search for stellar counterparts within Ultra Compact High Velocity Clouds. In this contribution we present the results of a set of simulations aimed at the quantitative estimate of the sensitivity of the survey as a function of the total luminosity, size and distance of the stellar systems we are looking for. For all our synthetic galaxies we assumed an exponential surface brightness profile and an old and metal-poor population. The synthetic galaxies are simulated both on the images and on the photometric catalogs, taking into account all the observational effects. In the fields where the available observational material is of the top quality we detect synthetic galaxies as >=5 sigma over-densities of resolved stars down to muV,h=30.0 mag/arcsec2, for D<=1.5 Mpc, and down to muV,h~29.5 mag/arcsec2, for D<=2.5 Mpc. In the field with the worst observational material of the whole survey we detect synthetic galaxies with muV,h<=28.8 mag/arcsec2 out to D<=1.0 Mpc, and those with muV,h<=27.5 mag/arcsec2 out to D<=2.5 Mpc. Dwarf galaxies with MV=-10, with sizes in the range spanned by known dwarfs, are detected by visual inspection of the images up to D=5 Mpc independently of the image quality. In the best quality images dwarfs are partially resolved into stars up to D=3.0 Mpc, and completely unresolved at D=5 Mpc. As an independent test of the sensitivity of our images to low surface brightness galaxies we report on the detection of several dwarf spheroidal galaxies probably located in the Virgo cluster with MV<=-8.0 and muV,h<=26.8 mag/arcsec2. The nature of the previously discovered SECCO 1 stellar system, also likely located in the Virgo cluster, is re-discussed in comparison with these dwarfs. While specific for the SECCO survey, our study may also provide general guidelines for detection of faint stellar systems with 8m class telescopes.Comment: accepted for publication on A&

Inferior turbinate osteoma: a rare cause of nasal obstruction

Osteoma of the nose is a rare and benign tumor that develop slowly. We present an unusula and rare case

The low fertility trap hypothesis: Forces that may lead to further postponement and fewer births in Europe

This paper starts from the assessment that there is no good theory in the social sciences that would tell us whether fertility in low-fertility countries is likely to recover in the future, stay around its current level or continue to fall. This question is key to the discussion whether or not governments should take action aimed at influencing the fertility rate. To enhance the scholarly discussion in this field, the paper introduces a clearly defined hypothesis which describes plausible self-reinforcing mechanisms that would result, if unchecked, in a continued decrease of the number of births in the countries affected. This hypothesis has three components: a demographic one based on the negative population growth momentum, i.e., the fact that fewer potential mothers in the future will result in fewer births; a sociological one based on the assumption that ideal family size for the younger cohorts is declining as a consequence of the lower actual fertility they see in previous cohorts; and an economic one based on the first part of Easterlin\u2019s (1980) relative income hypothesis, namely, that fertility results from the combination of aspirations and expected income, and assuming that aspirations of young adults are on an increasing trajectory while the expected income for the younger cohorts declines, partly as a consequence of population ageing induced by low fertility. All three factors would work towards a downward spiral in births in the future. If there is reason to assume that such mechanisms will indeed be at work, then this should strengthen the motivation of governments to take immediate action (possibly through policies addressing the tempo effect) in order to still escape from the expected trap

Observations of one young and three middle-aged γ\gamma-ray pulsars with the Gran Telescopio Canarias

We used the 10.4m Gran Telescopio Canarias to search for the optical counterparts to four isolated $\gamma$-ray pulsars, all detected in the X-rays by either \xmm\ or \chan\ but not yet in the optical. Three of them are middle-aged pulsars -- PSR\, J1846+0919 (0.36 Myr), PSR\, J2055+2539 (1.2 Myr), PSR\, J2043+2740 (1.2 Myr) -- and one, PSR\, J1907+0602, is a young pulsar (19.5 kyr). For both PSR\, J1907+0602 and PSR\, J2055+2539 we found one object close to the pulsar position. However, in both cases such an object cannot be a viable candidate counterpart to the pulsar. For PSR\, J1907+0602, because it would imply an anomalously red spectrum for the pulsar and for PSR\, J2055+2539 because the pulsar would be unrealistically bright ($r'=20.34\pm0.04$) for the assumed distance and interstellar extinction. For PSR\, J1846+0919, we found no object sufficiently close to the expected position to claim a possible association, whereas for PSR\, J2043+2740 we confirm our previous findings that the object nearest to the pulsar position is an unrelated field star. We used our brightness limits ($g' \approx 27$), the first obtained with a large-aperture telescope for both PSR\, J1846+0919 and PSR\, J2055+2539, to constrain the optical emission properties of these pulsars and investigate the presence of spectral turnovers at low energies in their multi-wavelength spectra.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, accpted for publication in MNRA

A candidate optical counterpart to the middle-aged gamma-ray pulsar PSR J1741-2054

We carried out deep optical observations of the middle-aged $\gamma$-ray pulsar PSR J1741-2054 with the Very Large Telescope (VLT). We identified two objects, of magnitudes $m_v=23.10\pm0.05$ and $m_v=25.32\pm0.08$, at positions consistent with the very accurate Chandra coordinates of the pulsar, the faintest of which is more likely to be its counterpart. From the VLT images we also detected the known bow-shock nebula around PSR J1741-2054. The nebula is displaced by \sim 0\farcs9 (at the $3\sigma$ confidence level) with respect to its position measured in archival data, showing that the shock propagates in the interstellar medium consistently with the pulsar proper motion. Finally, we could not find evidence of large-scale extended optical emission associated with the pulsar wind nebula detected by Chandra, down to a surface brightness limit of $\sim 28.1$ magnitudes arcsec$^{-2}$. Future observations are needed to confirm the optical identification of PSR J1741-2054 and characterise the spectrum of its counterpart.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, Astrophysical Journal, in pres

Superoxide reductase from Giardia intestinalis: structural characterization of the first sor from a eukaryotic organism shows an iron centre that is highly sensitive to photoreduction

Superoxide reductase (SOR), which is commonly found in prokaryotic organisms, affords protection from oxidative stress by reducing the superoxide anion to hydrogen peroxide. The reaction is catalyzed at the iron centre, which is highly conserved among the prokaryotic SORs structurally characterized to date. Reported here is the first structure of an SOR from a eukaryotic organism, the protozoan parasite Giardia intestinalis (GiSOR), which was solved at 2.0 Å resolution. By collecting several diffraction data sets at 100 K from the same flash-cooled protein crystal using synchrotron X-ray radiation, photoreduction of the iron centre was observed. Reduction was monitored using an online UV-visible microspectrophotometer, following the decay of the 647 nm absorption band characteristic of the iron site in the glutamate-bound, oxidized state. Similarly to other 1Fe-SORs structurally characterized to date, the enzyme displays a tetrameric quaternary-structure arrangement. As a distinctive feature, the N-terminal loop of the protein, containing the characteristic EKHxP motif, revealed an unusually high flexibility regardless of the iron redox state. At variance with previous evidence collected by X-ray crystallography and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of prokaryotic SORs, iron reduction did not lead to dissociation of glutamate from the catalytic metal or other structural changes; however, the glutamate ligand underwent X-ray-induced chemical changes, revealing high sensitivity of the GiSOR active site to X-ray radiation damage

A study of rainfall in the Roman area in the years 1951--2000

The daily rainfall data collected in the second half of the last century at 31 climatic stations in Lazio, Italy, have been subjected to statistical analysis in order to describe the pluviometric regime of the whole area on a multi-decadal time scale. The stations, for their geographical distribution within the region under study, are apt to represent different climatic zones, namely, a coastal, a rural, a suburban and an urban zone. The data have been treated both as time series and as geographicalstatisticalv ariates with the double aim, first, to verify if in the area under study any changes in the yearly precipitation rate, frequency and its distribution over different classes of rain intensity, have occurred in the last 50 years; second, to evidence a possible correlation between the intensity of precipitation and any of some environmental variables such as altitude, distance from the coastline and distance from the urban site. As for the first issue, it can be concluded that the precipitations over the Roman area in the period 1951–2000 show no significant trend; in particular, no trend is visible in any of the single classes of rain intensity, both absolute and percentile-based, considering either their frequency or their percent contribution to the total. As for the second issue, significant correlations have been found in the spatial distribution of rainfall with any of the relevant environmental variables mentioned above. The results of the analysis also show that in the urban area a less amount of rain seem to fall than in the surroundings zones, a result that seems rather anomalous in consideration of the several known factors that favour the intensification of the rainfall in the city with respect to its surroundings. A detailed statistical characterization of all the single 31 stations over the whole period is also given via a separate study of the durations of droughts and of the statistics of rainy days, using best fits based on the Weibull probability distribution

Effectiveness of communicative and educative strategies in chronic low back pain patients: A systematic review

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of communicative and educative strategies on 1) patient's low back pain awareness/knowledge, 2) maladaptive behavior modification and 3) compliance with exercise in patients with chronic low back pain. Methods: A systematic review was conducted. Searches were performed on 13 databases. Only randomized controlled trials enrolling patients 65 18 years of age were included. Risk of bias was assessed with the Cochrane Collaboration's tool and interrater agreement between authors for full-texts selection was evaluated with Cohen's Kappa. No meta-analysis was performed and qualitative analysis was conducted. Results: 24 randomized controlled trials which intervention included communicative and educative strategies were selected. Most of the studies were judged as low risk of bias and Cohen's Kappa was excellent ( = 0.822). Interventions addressed were cognitive behavioral therapy as unique treatment or combined with other treatments (multimodal interventions), coaching, mindfulness, pain science education, self-management, graded activity and graded exposure. Conclusions, practice implication: Patient's low back pain awareness/knowledge is still a grey area of literature. Pain science education, graded exposure and multimodal interventions are the most effective for behavior modification and compliance with exercise with benefits also in the long-term, while self-management, graded activity and coaching provide only short-term or no benefits

The distance to the LMC cluster Reticulum from the K-band Period-Luminosity-Metallicity relation of RR Lyrae stars

We present new and accurate Near-Infrared J and Ks-band data of the Large Magellanic Cloud cluster Reticulum. Data were collected with SOFI available at NTT and covering an area of approximately (5 x 5) arcmin^2 around the center of the cluster. Current data allowed us to derive accurate mean K-band magnitudes for 21 fundamental and 9 first overtone RR Lyrae stars. On the basis of the semi-empirical K-band Period-Luminosity-Metallicity relation we have recently derived, we find that the absolute distance to this cluster is 18.52 +- 0.005 (random) +- 0.117 (systematic). Note that the current error budget is dominated by systematic uncertainty affecting the absolute zero-point calibration and the metallicity scale.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures, ApJ accepted. Full resolution figure 1 on request ([email protected]