Transdet: a matched-filter based algorithm for transit detection - application to simulated COROT light curves

We present a matched-filter based algorithm for transit detection and its application to simulated COROT light curves. This algorithm stems from the work by Bord\'e, Rouan & L\'eger (2003). We describe the different steps we intend to take to discriminate between planets and stellar companions using the three photometric bands provided by COROT. These steps include the search for secondary transits, the search for ellipsoidal variability, and the study of transit chromaticity. We also discuss the performance of this approach in the context of blind tests organized inside the COROT exoplanet consortium.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, in Transiting Extrasolar Planets Workshop, meeting held in Heidelberg, 25-28 September 200

Can neutral and ionized PAHs be carriers of the UV extinction bump and the diffuse interstellar bands?

Up to now, no laboratory-based study has investigated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) species as potential carriers of both the diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) and the 2175 A UV bump. We examined the proposed correlation between these two features by applying experimental and theoretical techniques on two specific medium-sized/large PAHs (dibenzorubicene C30H14 and hexabenzocoronene C42H18) in their neutral and cationic states. It was already shown that mixtures of sufficiently large, neutral PAHs can partly or even completely account for the UV bump. We investigated how the absorption bands are altered upon ionization of these molecules by interstellar UV photons. The experimental studies presented here were realized by performing matrix isolation spectroscopy with subsequent far-UV irradiation. The main effects were found to be a broadening of the absorption bands in the UV combined with slight red shifts. The position of the complete pi - pi* absorption structure around 217.5 nm, however, remains more or less unchanged which could explain the observed position invariance of the interstellar bump for different lines of sight. This favors the assignment of this feature to the interstellar PAH population. As far as the DIBs are concerned, neither our investigations nor the laboratory studies carried out by other research groups support a possible connection with this class of molecules. Instead, there are reasonable arguments that neutral and singly ionized cationic PAHs cannot be made responsible for the DIBs.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl

Validation of the French Version of the "Patterns of Activity Measure" in Patients with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain.

Background. The "Patterns of Activity Measure" (POAM-P) is a self-administered questionnaire that assesses "avoidance", "pacing" and "overdoing" activity patterns in chronic pain patients. Objectives. To adapt the POAM-P to French ("POAM-P/F") and test its validity and reliability in Chronic Musculo-Skeletal Pain patients (CMSP). Methods. We followed the recommended procedure for translation of questionnaires. Five hundred and ninety five inpatients, admitted to a tertiary rehab center in the French-speaking part of Switzerland for chronic pain after orthopedic trauma, were included (sex ratio M/F = 4.36, mean age 43 ± 12). Face, content and criterion validities, internal consistency and reliability were assessed. Data included: TAMPA Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK), Chronic Pain Coping Inventory (CPCI), Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Results. Face and content validities were checked during the translation process. Correlations between POAM-P/F-avoidance and TSK, POAM-P/F-pacing and CPCI-pacing, POAM-P/F-overdoing and CPCI-task persistence were highly significant (r > 0.3, p < 10(-2)). The three subscales demonstrated excellent homogeneity (Cronbach's alpha coefficients > 0.8) and test-retest reliability (Intraclass Correlation Coefficients > 0.8). They correlated very differently with the other scales. Discussion and Conclusion. The three POAM-P/F subscales clearly assess different behaviors in CMSP. The POAM-P/F is a suitable questionnaire for classifying French speaking CMSP into avoiders, pacers or overdoers

The optical spectrum of a large isolated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon: hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene, C42H18

The first optical spectrum of an isolated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon large enough to survive the photophysical conditions of the interstellar medium is reported. Vibronic bands of the first electronic transition of the all benzenoid polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene were observed in the 4080-4530 Angstrom range by resonant 2-color 2-photon ionization spectroscopy. The strongest feature at 4264 Angstrom is estimated to have an oscillator strength of f=1.4x10^-3, placing an upper limit on the interstellar abundance of this polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon at 4x10^12 cm^-2, accounting for a maximum of ~0.02% of interstellar carbon. This study opens up the possibility to rigorously test neutral polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as carriers of the diffuse interstellar bands in the near future.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure. Fixed a typo on the frequency of the 'b' ban

The bend stiffness of S-DNA

We formulate and solve a two-state model for the elasticity of nicked, double-stranded DNA that borrows features from both the Worm Like Chain and the Bragg--Zimm model. Our model is computationally simple, and gives an excellent fit to recent experimental data through the entire overstretching transition. The fit gives the first value for the bending stiffness of the overstretched state as about 10 nm*kbt, a value quite different from either B-form or single-stranded DNA.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur

Visible photodissociation spectroscopy of PAH cations and derivatives in the PIRENEA experiment

The electronic spectra of gas-phase cationic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), trapped in the Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance cell of the PIRENEA experiment, have been measured by multiphoton dissociation spectroscopy in the 430-480 nm spectral range using the radiation of a mid-band optical parametric oscillator laser. We present here the spectra recorded for different species of increasing size, namely the pyrene cation (C16H10+), the 1-methylpyrene cation (CH3-C16H9+), the coronene cation (C24H12+), and its dehydrogenated derivative C24H10+. The experimental results are interpreted with the help of time-dependent density functional theory calculations and analysed using spectral information on the same species obtained from matrix isolation spectroscopy data. A kinetic Monte Carlo code has also been used, in the case of pyrene and coronene cations, to estimate the absorption cross-sections of the measured electronic transitions. Gas-phase spectra of highly reactive species such as dehydrogenated PAH cations are reported for the first time

Preliminary results on the nutritional evaluation of omega-3-HUFA-enriched <i>Artemia</i> nauplii for larvae of the sea bass, <i>Dicentrarchus labrax</i>

Freshly hatched San Pablo Bay and Great Salt Lake Artemia nauplii (omega-3-HUFA-poor) and enriched meta-nauplii (omega-3-HUFA-enriched)were compared to reference Artemia nauplii (omega-3-HUFA-rich) as a food source for the larvae of the sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax. Significant differences in survival and biomass production between the treatments could be attributed to the omega-3-HUFA content of the food. A delayed mortality in fish larvae fed the Great Salt Lake Artemia is suspected to be caused by a high level of alpha-BHC in this Artemia source. Growth was not significantly different between the treatments, most probably due to the large variation in growth rate within the treatments, as well as the low number of surviving fish in some treatments

Soliton Instabilities and Vortex Streets Formation in a Polariton Quantum Fluid

Exciton-polaritons have been shown to be an optimal system in order to investigate the properties of bosonic quantum fluids. We report here on the observation of dark solitons in the wake of engineered circular obstacles and their decay into streets of quantized vortices. Our experiments provide a time-resolved access to the polariton phase and density, which allows for a quantitative study of instabilities of freely evolving polaritons. The decay of solitons is quantified and identified as an effect of disorder-induced transverse perturbations in the dissipative polariton gas

Prewetting transition on a weakly disordered substrate : evidence for a creeping film dynamics

We present the first microscopic images of the prewetting transition of a liquid film on a solid surface. Pictures of the local coverage map of a helium film on a cesium metal surface are taken while the temperature is raised through the transition. The film edge is found to advance at constant temperature by successive avalanches in a creep motion with a macroscopic correlation length. The creep velocity varies strongly in a narrow temperature range. The retreat motion is obtained only at much lower temperature, conforming to the strong hysteresis observed for prewetting transition on a disordered surface. Prewetting transition on such disordered surfaces appears to give rise to dynamical phenomena similar to what is observed for domain wall motions in 2D magnets.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Euro.Phys.Let

The self-assessment INTERMED predicts healthcare and social costs of orthopaedic trauma patients with persistent impairments.

To use the self-assessment INTERMED questionnaire to determine the relationship between biopsychosocial complexity and healthcare and social costs of patients after orthopaedic trauma. Secondary prospective analysis based on the validation study cohort of the self-assessment INTERMED questionnaire. Inpatients orthopaedic rehabilitation with vocational aspects. In total, 136 patients with chronic pain and impairments were included in this study: mean (SD) age, 42.6 (10.7) years; 116 men, with moderate pain intensity (51/100); suffering from upper (n = 55), lower-limb (n = 51) or spine (n = 30) pain after orthopaedic trauma; with minor or moderate injury severity (severe injury for 25). Biopsychosocial complexity, assessed with the self-assessment INTERMED questionnaire, and other confounding variables collected prospectively during rehabilitation. Outcome measures (healthcare costs, loss of wage costs and time for fitness-to-work) were collected through insurance files after case settlements. Linear multiple regression models adjusted for age, gender, pain, trauma severity, education and employment contract were performed to measure the influence of biopsychosocial complexity on the three outcome variables. High-cost patients were older (+3.6 years) and more anxious (9.0 vs 7.3 points at HADS-A), came later to rehabilitation (+105 days), and showed higher biopsychosocial complexity (+3.2 points). After adjustment, biopsychosocial complexity was significantly associated with healthcare (ß = 0.02; P = 0.003; exp &lt;sup&gt;ß&lt;/sup&gt; = 1.02) and social costs (ß = 0.03; P = 0.006, exp &lt;sup&gt;ß&lt;/sup&gt; = 1.03) and duration before fitness-to-work (ß = 0.04; P &lt; 0.001, exp &lt;sup&gt;ß&lt;/sup&gt; = 1.04). Biopsychosocial complexity assessed with the self-assessment INTERMED questionnaire is associated with higher healthcare and social costs