A young stellar cluster within the RCW41 HII region: deep NIR photometry and Optical/NIR polarimetry

The RCW41 star-forming region is embedded within the Vela Molecular Ridge, hosting a massive stellar cluster surrounded by a conspicuous HII region. Understanding the role of interstellar magnetic fields and studying the newborn stellar population is crucial to build a consistent picture of the physical processes acting on this kind of environment. We have carried out a detailed study of the interstellar polarization toward RCW41, with data from an optical and near-infrared polarimetric survey. Additionally, deep near-infrared images from the NTT 3.5m telescope have been used to study the photometric properties of the embedded young stellar cluster, revealing several YSO's candidates. By using a set of pre-main sequence isochrones, a mean cluster age in the range 2.5 - 5.0 million years was determined, and evidence of sequential star formation were revealed. An abrupt decrease in R-band polarization degree is noticed toward the central ionized area, probably due to low grain alignment efficiency caused by the turbulent environment and/or weak intensity of magnetic fields. The distortion of magnetic field lines exhibit a dual behavior, with the mean orientation outside the area approximately following the borders of the star-forming region, and directed radially toward the cluster inside the ionized area, in agreement with simulations of expanding HII regions. The spectral dependence of polarization allowed a meaningful determination of the total-to-selective extinction ratio by fittings of the Serkowski relation. Furthermore, a large rotation of polarization angle as a function of wavelength is detected toward several embedded stars.Comment: Accepted for publication at The Astrophysical Journa

Técnicas de libertação miofascial no tratamento da dor lombar inespecífica: uma revisão da literatura

Projeto de Graduação apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Licenciado em FisioterapiaIntrodução: A dor lombar é das dores mais frequentes e prevalentes no ser humano, sendo um dos problemas de saúde mais dispendiosos a nível mundial. O tratamento da dor lombar pode ser realizado através de diversos métodos. As técnicas de libertação miofascial são uma das opções terapêuticas disponíveis. Objetivo: verificar a efetividade da terapia miofascial no alívio da dor lombar. Metolodogia: A pesquisa foi realizada nas bases de dados PubMed/Medline, SciELO. Esta revisão foi realizada apenas com estudos randomizados controlados (RCTs). Resultados: Os artigos existentes mostram que existem resultados positivos com a libertação miofascial no alívio da dor lombar estando ou não associado a outro método de tratamento. Conclusão: O tratamento com a terapia miofascial demonstra ter resultados efectivos no alívio da dor, mobilidade dos tecidos e órgãos adjacentes à região lombar. Esta terapia pode também ser aplicada como terapia coadjuvante ou de forma isolada.Introduction: Low back pain (LBP) is one of pains most frequent and prevalent in the human being and is one of the most costly health problems worldwide. The treatment of LBP can be accomplished through several methods. Myofascial release techniques are one of the therapeutic choices available. Objective: To verify the effectiveness of myofascial therapy in the relief of LBP. Methods: Research was performed on the electronic databases PubMed/Medline, SciELO. This review was performed using only randomized control trials (RCTs). Results: The available literature shows that there are positive results with myofascial release in relieving LBP whether or not associated with other treatment methods. Conclusions: Treatment with myofascial therapy has shown to have effective results in relieving pain, mobility of tissues and organs adjacent to the lumbar region. This therapy can also be applied as adjuvant therapy or by itself.N/

How to test the "quantumness" of a quantum computer?

We discuss whether, to what extent and how a quantum computing device can be evaluated and simulated using classical tools.Comment: Submitted 12.10.201

SOAR optical and near-infrared spectroscopic survey of newly discovered massive stars in the periphery of Galactic Massive star clusters I - NGC3603

In this work, we present a spectroscopic study of very massive stars found outside the center of the massive stellar cluster NGC3603. From the analysis of SOAR spectroscopic data and related optical-NIR photometry, we confirm the existence of several very massive stars in the periphery of NGC 3603. The first group of objects (MTT58, WR42e and RFS7) is compound by three new Galactic exemplars of the OIf*/WN type, all of them with probable initial masses well above 100 Msun and estimated ages of about 1 Myr. Based on Goodman blue-optical spectrum of MTT68, we can confirm the previous finding in the NIR of the only other Galactic exemplar (besides HD93129A) of the O2If* type known to date. Based on its position relative to a set of theoretical isochrons in a Hertzprung-Russel diagram, we concluded that the new O2If* star could be one of the most massive (150 Msun) and luminous (Mv=-7.3) O-star in the Galaxy. Also, another remarkable result is the discovery of a new O2V star (MTT31) that is the first exemplar of the class so far identified in the Milk Way. From its position in the Hertzprung-Russel diagram it is found that this new star probably had an initial mass of 80 Msun, as well as an absolute magnitude Mv=-6.0 corresponding to a luminosity similar to other known O2V stars in the LMC. We also communicate the discovery of a new Galactic O3.5If* star (RFS8) which case is quite intriguing. Indeed, It is located far to the south of the NGC 3603 center, in apparent isolation at a large radial projected linear distance of 62 pc. Its derived luminosity is similar to that of the other O3.5If* (Sh18) found in the NGC 3603's innermost region. The fact that a such high mass star is observed far isolated in the field led us to speculate that perhaps it could have been expelled from the innermost parts of the complex by a close fly-by dynamical encounter with a very massive hard binary system.Comment: 36 pages, 9 figures and 5 tables. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

Applications of nonvariational finite element methods to Monge--Amp\`ere type equations

The goal of this work is to illustrate the application of the nonvariational finite element method to a specific Monge--Amp\`ere type nonlinear partial differential equation. The equation we consider is that of prescribed Gauss curvature.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, tech repor

Toroidal qubits: naturally-decoupled quiet artificial atoms

The requirements of quantum computations impose high demands on the level of qubit protection from perturbations; in particular, from those produced by the environment. Here we propose a superconducting flux qubit design that is naturally protected from ambient noise. This decoupling is due to the qubit interacting with the electromagnetic field only through its toroidal moment, which provides an unusual qubit-field interaction

State-dependent photon blockade via quantum-reservoir engineering

An arbitrary initial state of an optical or microwave field in a lossy driven nonlinear cavity can be changed, in the steady-state limit, into a partially incoherent superposition of only the vacuum and the single-photon states. This effect is known as single-photon blockade, which is usually analyzed for a Kerr-type nonlinear cavity parametrically driven by a single-photon process assuming single-photon loss mechanisms. We study photon blockade engineering via a squeezed reservoir, i.e., a quantum reservoir, where only two-photon absorption is allowed. Namely, we analyze a lossy nonlinear cavity parametrically driven by a two-photon process and allowing two-photon loss mechanisms, as described by the master equation derived for a two-photon absorbing reservoir. The nonlinear cavity engineering can be realized by a linear cavity with a tunable two-level system via the Jaynes-Cummings interaction in the dispersive limit. We show that by tuning properly the frequencies of the driving field and the two-level system, the steady state of the cavity field can be the single-photon Fock state or a partially incoherent superposition of several Fock states with photon numbers, e.g., (0,2), (1,3), (0,1,2), or (0,2,4). We observe that an arbitrary initial coherent or incoherent superposition of Fock states with an even (odd) number of photons can be changed into a partially incoherent superposition of a few Fock states of the same photon-number parity. A general solution for an arbitrary initial state is a weighted mixture of the above two solutions with even and odd photon numbers, where the weights are given by the probabilities of measuring the even and odd numbers of photons of the initial cavity field, respectively. Thus, in contrast to the standard photon blockade, we prove that the steady state in the engineered photon blockade, can depend on its initial state.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figures, 1 tabl