GIARPS (GIAno \& haRPS) is a project devoted to have on the same focal station of the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) both high resolution spectrographs, HARPS-N (VIS) and GIANO-B (NIR), working ...simultaneously. This could be considered the first and unique worldwide instrument providing cross-dispersed echelle spectroscopy at a resolution of 50,000 in the NIR range and 115,000 in the VIS and over in a wide spectral range (\(0.383 - 2.45\ \mu\)m) in a single exposure. The science case is very broad, given the versatility of such an instrument and its large wavelength range. A number of outstanding science cases encompassing mainly extra-solar planet science starting from rocky planets search and hot Jupiters to atmosphere characterization can be considered. Furthermore both instruments can measure high precision radial velocities by means the simultaneous thorium technique (HARPS-N) and absorbing cell technique (GIANO-B) in a single exposure. Other science cases are also possible. GIARPS, as a brand new observing mode of the TNG started after the moving of GIANO-A (fiber fed spectrograph) from Nasmyth-A to Nasmyth-B where it was re-born as GIANO-B (no more fiber feed spectrograph). The official Commissioning finished on March 2017 and then it was offered to the community. Despite the work is not finished yet. In this paper we describe the preliminary scientific results obtained with GIANO-B and GIARPS observing mode with data taken during commissioning and first open time observations.
LOCNES (LOw-Cost NIR Extended Solar telescope) is a solar telescope installed at the TNG (Telescopio Nazionale Galileo). It feeds the light of the Sun into the NIR spectrograph GIANO-B through a 40-m ...patch of optical fibers. LOCNES has been designed to obtain high signal-to-noise ratio spectra of the Sun as a star with an accurate wavelength calibration through molecular-band cells. This is an entirely new area of investigation that will provide timely results to improve the search of telluric planets with NIR spectrographs such as iSHELL, CARMENES, and GIANO-B. We will extract several disc-integrated activity indicators and average magnetic field measurements for the Sun in the NIR. Eventually, they will be correlated with both the RV of the Sun-as-a -star and the resolved images of the solar disc in visible and NIR. Such an approach will allow for a better understanding of the origin of activity-induced RV variations in the two spectral domains and will help in improving the techniques for their corrections. In this paper, we outline the science drivers for the LOCNES project and its first commissioning results.
ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a decrease in tourism activity. This has caused huge losses to the tourism industry, so different approaches have been devised for economic reactivation. ...This article aims to provide a novel strategy for mass molecular monitoring of clinically healthy individuals, and also including potentially asymptomatic carriers of SARS-CoV-2, who traveled to a tourist resort The monitoring consisted of collecting individual saliva samples (n=120) and conforming groups of 10 samples, thus setting 12 individual pools, which were analyzed by qRT-PCR. Obtained data showed that all the samples analyzed were negative, thus confirming that no individuals were infected with SARS-CoV-2 before and during the travel. The proposed molecular protocol allowed the analysis of massive saliva samples and detect individual infected persons (negative or positive). protocol for evaluate massive event, thus promoting the economic activation of the tourism industry.
Context. Stellar activity is currently challenging the detection of young planets via the radial velocity (RV) technique. Aims. We attempt to definitively discriminate the nature of the RV variations ...for the young active K5 star BD+20 1790, for which visible (VIS) RV measurements show divergent results on the existence of a substellar companion. Methods. We compare VIS data with high precision RVs in the near infrared (NIR) range by using the GIANO - B and IGRINS spectrographs. In addition, we present for the first time simultaneous VIS-NIR observations obtained with GIARPS (GIANO - B and HARPS - N) at Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG). Orbital RVs are achromatic, so the RV amplitude does not change at different wavelengths, while stellar activity induces wavelength-dependent RV variations, which are significantly reduced in the NIR range with respect to the VIS. Results. The NIR radial velocity measurements from GIANO - B and IGRINS show an average amplitude of about one quarter with respect to previously published VIS data, as expected when the RV jitter is due to stellar activity. Coeval multi-band photometry surprisingly shows larger amplitudes in the NIR range, explainable with a mixture of cool and hot spots in the same active region. Conclusions. In this work, the claimed massive planet around BD+20 1790 is ruled out by our data. We exploited the crucial role of multi- wavelength spectroscopy when observing young active stars: thanks to facilities like GIARPS that provide simultaneous observations, this method can reach its maximum potential.
Since 2012, thanks to the installation of the high resolution echelle spectrograph in the optical range HARPS-N, the Italian telescope TNG (La Palma) became one of the key facilities for the study of ...the extrasolar planets. In 2014 TNG also offered GIANO to the scientific community, providing a near-infrared (NIR) cross-dispersed echelle spectroscopy covering 0.97 - 2.45 micron at a resolution of 50,000. GIANO, although designed for direct light-feed from the telescope at the Nasmyth-B focus, was provisionally mounted on the rotating building and connected via fibers to only available interface at the Nasmyth-A focal plane. The synergy between these two instruments is particularly appealing for a wide range of science cases, especially for the search for exoplanets around young and active stars and the characterisation of their atmosphere. Through the funding scheme "WOW" (a Way to Others Worlds), the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) proposed to position GIANO at the focal station for which it was originally designed and the simultaneous use of these spectrographs with the aim to achieve high-resolution spectroscopy in a wide wavelength range (0.383-2.45 micron) obtained in a single exposure, giving rise to the project called GIARPS (GIANO-B & HARPS-N). Because of its characteristics GIARPS can be considered the first and unique worldwide instrument providing not only high resolution in a large wavelength band, but also a high precision radial velocity measurement both in the visible and in the NIR arm, since in the next future GIANO-B will be equipped with gas absorption cells.
In Mexico, beef for human consumption comes from federal-inspection type (TIF, tipo inspección federal) or non-TIF slaughterhouses. The latter do not comply with all national quality and hygiene ...standards established by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER, Secretaría de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural), while TIF beef is certified by the National Service of Health, Safety, and Food Quality (SENASICA, Servicio Nacional de Sanidad, Inocuidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria), which reports to SADER. In this work the presence of Salmonella spp. was analyzed in TIF and non-TIF beef commercialized in supermarkets, as well as non-TIF beef commercialized in local butchers in Tepic, Nayarit (Mexico). Salmonella spp. was detected using qPCR, and the results indicate its presence in the three types of beef analyzed. Although a smaller proportion of contaminated samples and a lower degree of contamination were detected in it, TIF beef is not free from the presence of this pathogen and thus cannot be considered an innocuous product.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a decrease in tourism activity. This has caused huge losses to the tourism industry, so different approaches have been devised for economic reactivation. This article ...aims to provide a novel strategy for mass molecular monitoring of clinically healthy individuals, and also including potentially asymptomatic carriers of SARS-CoV-2, who traveled to a tourist resort The monitoring consisted of collecting individual saliva samples (n=120) and conforming groups of 10 samples, thus setting 12 individual pools, which were analyzed by qRT-PCR. Obtained data showed that all the samples analyzed were negative, thus confirming that no individuals were infected with SARS-CoV-2 before and during the travel. The proposed molecular protocol allowed the analysis of massive saliva samples and detect individual infected persons (negative or positive). protocol for evaluate massive event, thus promoting the economic activation of the tourism industry.
Son of X-Shooter (SOXS) will be a high-efficiency spectrograph with a mean
Resolution-Slit product of $\sim 4500$ over the entire band capable of
simultaneously observing the complete spectral range ...350-2000 nm. It consists
of three scientific arms (the UV-VIS Spectrograph, the NIR Spectrograph, and
the Acquisition Camera) connected by the Common Path system to the NTT, and the
Calibration Unit. The Common Path is the backbone of the instrument and the
interface to the NTT Nasmyth focus flange. The instrument project went through
the Final Design Review in 2018 and is currently in Assembly Integration and
test (AIT) Phase. This paper outlines the observing modes of SOXS and the
efficiency of each subsystem and the laboratory test plan to evaluate it.
Convalescent plasma is frequently administered to patients with Covid-19 and has been reported, largely on the basis of observational data, to improve clinical outcomes. Minimal data are available ...from adequately powered randomized, controlled trials.
We randomly assigned hospitalized adult patients with severe Covid-19 pneumonia in a 2:1 ratio to receive convalescent plasma or placebo. The primary outcome was the patient's clinical status 30 days after the intervention, as measured on a six-point ordinal scale ranging from total recovery to death.
A total of 228 patients were assigned to receive convalescent plasma and 105 to receive placebo. The median time from the onset of symptoms to enrollment in the trial was 8 days (interquartile range, 5 to 10), and hypoxemia was the most frequent severity criterion for enrollment. The infused convalescent plasma had a median titer of 1:3200 of total SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (interquartile range, 1:800 to 1:3200). No patients were lost to follow-up. At day 30 day, no significant difference was noted between the convalescent plasma group and the placebo group in the distribution of clinical outcomes according to the ordinal scale (odds ratio, 0.83; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.52 to 1.35; P = 0.46). Overall mortality was 10.96% in the convalescent plasma group and 11.43% in the placebo group, for a risk difference of -0.46 percentage points (95% CI, -7.8 to 6.8). Total SARS-CoV-2 antibody titers tended to be higher in the convalescent plasma group at day 2 after the intervention. Adverse events and serious adverse events were similar in the two groups.
No significant differences were observed in clinical status or overall mortality between patients treated with convalescent plasma and those who received placebo. (PlasmAr ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04383535.).
Objective
To assess potential associations among serum cytokines and microRNA (miR) levels with ultrasound (US) findings suggestive of urate deposits in chronic asymptomatic hyperuricemia and gout.
...Methods
All participants underwent musculoskeletal US and measurements of serum interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β), IL‐2, IL‐4, IL‐5, IL‐6, IL‐8, IL‐10, IL‐12, IL‐13, interferon‐γ, tumor necrosis factor, monocyte chemoattractant protein 1, and epithelial neutrophil–activating peptide 78, as well as miR‐146a, miR‐155, and miR‐223 levels.
Results
Thirty individuals with asymptomatic hyperuricemia, 31 normouricemic controls, and 30 patients with gout were included. The frequency of synovitis and double contour sign using US was similar between asymptomatic hyperuricemia (67% and 27%, respectively) and patients with gout (77% and 27%, respectively), and each had a higher frequency than controls (45% and 0%, respectively). Serum IL‐6 and IL‐8 levels were similar between patients with asymptomatic hyperuricemia (mean ± SD 69.7 ± 73.4 and 18.5 ± 25.6 pg/ml, respectively) and gout (mean ± SD 75.8 ± 47.6 and 24.4 ± 31.7 pg/ml, respectively), and higher than controls (mean ± SD 28.2 ± 17.6 and 7.4 ± 6.0 pg/ml, respectively). A similar distribution was observed for miR‐155 levels in asymptomatic hyperuricemia, patients with gout, and controls (mean ± SD 0.22 ± 0.18, 0.20 ± 0.14, and 0.08 ± 0.04, respectively). Associations between morphostructural abnormalities suggestive of urate deposits (regardless of clinical diagnosis) and serum markers were assessed. Subjects with urate deposits had higher IL‐6 (257.2 versus 47.0 pg/ml; P = 0.005), IL‐8 (73.2 versus 12.0 pg/ml; P = 0.026), and miR‐155 (0.21 versus 0.16; P = 0.015) levels than those without deposition findings.
Conclusion
In individuals with chronic asymptomatic hyperuricemia, the presence of synovitis and double contour sign by US may represent a subclinical manifestation of monosodium urate crystal nucleation, capable of triggering inflammatory pathways (IL‐6 and IL‐8) and mechanisms of intercellular communication (miR‐155), similar to what is observed in patients with gout.
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