| 1. |
- Castro-González, A., et al.
(author)
-
The K2-OjOS Project*New and revisited planets and candidates in K2 campaigns 5, 16, & 18
- 2022
-
In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 509:1, s. 1075-1095
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present the first results of K2-OjOS, a collaborative project between professional and amateur astronomers primarily aimed to detect, characterize, and validate new extrasolar planets. For this work, 10 amateur astronomers looked for planetary signals by visually inspecting the 20 427 light curves of K2 campaign 18 (C18). They found 42 planet candidates, of which 18 are new detections and 24 had been detected in the overlapping C5 by previous works. We used archival photometric and spectroscopic observations, as well as new high-spatial resolution images in order to carry out a complete analysis of the candidates found, including a homogeneous characterization of the host stars, transit modelling, search for transit timing variations and statistical validation. As a result, we report four new planets (K2-355 b, K2-356 b, K2-357 b, and K2-358 b) and 14 planet candidates. Besides, we refine the transit ephemeris of the previously published planets and candidates by modelling C5, C16 (when available) and C18 photometric data jointly, largely improving the period and mid-transit time precision. Regarding individual systems, we highlight the new planet K2-356 b and candidate EPIC 211537087.02 being near a 2:1 period commensurability, the detection of significant TTVs in the bright star K2-184 (V = 10.35), the location of K2-103 b inside the habitable zone according to optimistic models, the detection of a new single transit in the known system K2-274, and the disposition reassignment of K2-120 b, which we consider as a planet candidate as the origin of the signal cannot be ascertained.
|
|
| 2. |
- Ceppatelli, Matteo, et al.
(author)
-
High-Pressure and High-Temperature Chemistry of Phosphorus and Nitrogen: Synthesis and Characterization of α- and γ-P3N5
- 2022
-
In: Inorganic Chemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0020-1669 .- 1520-510X. ; 61:31, s. 12165-12180
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The direct chemical reactivity between phosphorus and nitrogen was induced under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions (9.1 GPa and 2000-2500 K), generated by a laser-heated diamond anvil cell and studied by synchrotron X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and DFT calculations. alpha-P3N5 and gamma-P3N5 were identified as reaction products. The structural parameters and vibrational frequencies of gamma-P3N5 were characterized as a function of pressure during room-temperature compression and decompression to ambient conditions, determining the equation of state of the material up to 32.6 GPa and providing insight about the lattice dynamics of the unit cell during compression, which essentially proceeds through the rotation of the PN5 square pyramids and the distortion of the PN4 tetrahedra. Although the identification of alpha-P3N5 demonstrates for the first time the direct synthesis of this compound from the elements, its detection in the outer regions of the laser-heated area suggests alpha-P3N5 as an intermediate step in the progressive nitridation of phosphorus toward the formation of gamma-P3N5 with increasing coordination number of P by N from 4 to 5. No evidence of a higher-pressure phase transition was observed, excluding the existence of predicted structures containing octahedrally hexacoordinated P atoms in the investigated pressure range.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Perez-Recio, Sandra, et al.
(author)
-
Identification of Recent Tuberculosis Exposure Using QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus, a Multicenter Study
- 2021
-
In: Microbiology Spectrum. - : American Society for Microbiology. - 2165-0497. ; 9:3
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We investigated whether the difference of antigen tube 2 (TB2) minus antigen tube 1 (TB1) (TB22TB1) of the QuantiFERON-TB gold plus test, which has been postulated as a surrogate for the CD81 T-cell response, could be useful in identifying recent tuberculosis (TB) exposure. We looked at the interferon gamma (IFN-g) responses and differences in TB2 and TB1 tubes for 686 adults with QFT-plus positive test results. These results were compared among groups with high (368 TB contacts), low (229 patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases [IMID]), and indeterminate (89 asylum seekers or people from abroad [ASPFA]) risks of recent TB exposure. A TB2-TB1 value.0.6 IU.ml(-1) was deemed to indicate a true difference between tubes. In the whole cohort, 13.6%, 10.9%, and 11.2% of cases had a TB2>TB1 result in the contact, IMID, and ASPFA groups, respectively (P = 0.591). The adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for an association between a TB2-TB1 result of >0.6 IU.ml(-1) and risk of recent exposure versus contacts were 0.71 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.31 to 1.61) for the IMID group and 0.86 (95% CI, 0.49 to 1.52) for the ASPFA group. In TB contact subgroups, 11.4%, 15.4%, and 17.7% with close, frequent, and sporadic contact had a TB2>TB1 result (P = 0.362). The aORs versus the close subgroup were 1.29 (95% CI, 0.63 to 2.62) for the frequent subgroup and 1.55 (95% CI, 0.67 to 3.60) for the sporadic subgroup. A TB2-TB1 difference of.0.6 IU.ml(-1) was not associated with increased risk of recent TB exposure, which puts into question the clinical potential as a proxy marker for recently acquired TB infection. IMPORTANCE Contact tuberculosis tracing is essential to identify recently infected people, who therefore merit preventive treatment. However, there are no diagnostic tests that can determine whether the infection is a result of a recent exposure or not. It has been suggested that by using the QuantiFERON-TB gold plus, an interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) release assay, a difference in IFN-gamma production between the two antigen tubes (TB2 minus TB1) of.0.6 IU.ml(-1) could serve as a proxy marker for recent infection. In this large multinational study, infected individuals could not be classified according to the risk of recent exposure based on differences in IFN- g in TB1 and TB2 tubes that were higher than 0.6 IU.ml(-1). QuantiFERON-TB gold plus is not able to distinguish between recent and remotely acquired tuberculosis infection, and it should not be used for that purpose in contact tuberculosis tracing.
|
|
