The inferior caval vein draining into the left atrial cavity : a rare case

The inferior vena cava (IVC) draining into the left atrium (LA) is exceedingly rare in the setting of the usual atrial arrangement (situs solitus). This article describes a patient with this unique anomaly, and its repair.peer-reviewe

Polarization and light curve variability: the "patchy shell" model

Recent advances in early detection and detailed monitoring of GRB afterglows have revealed variability in some afterglow light curves. One of the leading models for this behavior is the patchy shell model. This model attributes the variability to random angular fluctuations in the relativistic jet energy. These an-axisymmetric fluctuations should also impose variations in the degree and angle of polarization that are correlated to the light curve variability. In this letter we present a solution of the light curve and polarization resulting from a given spectrum of energy fluctuations. We compare light curves produced using this solution to the variable light curve of GRB 021004 and we show that the main features in both the light curve and the polarization fluctuations are very well reproduced by this model. We use our results to draw constraints on the characteristics of the energy fluctuations that might have been present in GRB 021004.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, Final version to appear in ApJ

Energy Injection Episodes in Gamma Ray Bursts: The Light Curves and Polarization Properties of GRB 021004

Several GRB afterglow light curves deviate strongly from the power law decay observed in most bursts. We show that these variations can be accounted for by including refreshed shocks in the standard fireball model previously used to interpret the overall afterglow behavior. As an example we consider GRB 021004 that exhibited strong light curve variations and has a reasonably well time-resolved polarimetry. We show that the light curves in the R-band, X-rays and in the radio can be accounted for by four energy injection episodes in addition to the initial event. The polarization variations are shown to be a consequence of the injections.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. To appear in ApJ

Boson-fermion model beyond mean-field approximation

A model of hybridized bosons and fermions is studied beyond the mean field approximation. The divergent boson self-energy at zero temperature makes the Cooper pairing of fermions impossible.The frequency and momentum dependence of the self- energy and the condensation temperature $T_{c}$ of initially localized bosons are calculated analytically. The value of the boson condensation temperature $T_{c}$ is below $1K$ which rules out the boson-fermion model with the initially localized bosons as a phenomenological explanation of high-temperature superconductivity. The intra-cell density-density fermion-boson interaction dominates in the fermion self-energy. The model represents a normal metal with strongly damped bosonic excitations. The latter play the role of normal impurities.Comment: 16 pages, Latex, 5 figures available upon reques