We report the results of the evaluation of the ``concentration-density'' relation of galaxies in the local universe, taking advantage of the very large and homogeneous data set available from the Las Campanas Redshift Survey (Shectman et al. 1996). This data set consists of galaxies inhabiting the entire range of galactic environments, from the sparsest field to the densest clusters, thus allowing us to study environmental variations without combining multiple data sets with inhomogeneous characteristics. Concentration is quantified by the automatically-measured concentration index $C$, which is a good measure of a galaxy's bulge-to-disk ratio. The environment of the sample galaxies is characterized both by the three-space local galaxy density and by membership in groups and clusters. We find that the distribution of C ...
We present maps of the cosmic large-scale structure around the twelve most distant galaxyclusters from the Massive ClusterSurvey (MACS) as traced by the projected surface density of galaxies on the cluster red sequence. Taken with the Suprime-Cam wide-field camera on the Subaru telescope, the images used in this study cover a 27x27 arcmin^2 area around each cluster, corresponding to 10 x 10 Mpc^2 at the median redshift of z = 0.55 of our sample. We directly detect satellite clusters and filaments extending over the full size of our imaging data in the majority of the clusters studied, supporting the picture of mass accretion via infall along filaments suggested by numerical simulations of the growth of clusters and the evolution of large-scale structure. A comparison of the ...
Using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the FIRST (Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty Centimeters) catalogs, we examined the optical environments around double-lobed radio sources. Previous studies have shown that multi-component radio sources exhibiting some degree of bending between components are likely to be found in galaxyclusters. Often this radio emission is associated with a cD-type galaxy at the center of a cluster. We cross-correlated the SDSS with the FIRST catalog and measured the richness of the cluster environments surrounding both bent and straight multi-component sources. This led to the discovery and classification of a large number of galaxyclusters out to a redshift of z ~ 0.5. We divided our sample into smaller subgroups based on their optical and radio properties. We find that FR I radio ...
We investigate the extent to which the pure magnification effect of gravitational lensing can be extracted from galaxyclustering statistics, by a nulling method which aims to eliminate terms arising from the intrinsic clustering of galaxies. The aim is to leave statistics which are free from the uncertainties of galaxy bias. We find that nulling can be done effectively, leaving data which are relatively insensitive to uncertainties in galaxy bias and its evolution, leading to cosmological parameter estimation which is effectively unbiased. This advantage comes at the expense of increased statistical errors, which are in some cases large, but it offers a robust alternative analysis method to cosmic shear for cosmological imaging surveys designed for weak lensing studies, or to full modelling of the clustering signal ...
The Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect gives a measure of the thermal energy and electron pressure in groups and clusters of galaxies. In the near future SZ surveys will map hundreds of systems, shedding light on the pressure distribution in the systems. The thermal energy is related to the total mass of a system of galaxies, but it is only a projection that is observed through the SZ effect. A model for the 3D distribution of pressure is needed to link the SZ signal to the total mass of the system. In this work we construct an empirical model for the 2D and 3D SZ profile, and compare it to a set of realistic high resolution SPH simulations of galaxyclusters and groups, and to a stacked SZ profile for massive clusters derived from WMAP data. Furthermore, we combine observed temperature profiles with dark matter potentials to yield an additional ...
Modified gravity theories may provide an alternative to dark energy to explain cosmic acceleration. We argue that the observational program developed to test dark energy needs to be augmented to capture new tests of gravity on astrophysical scales. Several distinct signatures of gravity theories exist outside the linear regime, especially owing to the screening mechanism that operates inside halos like the Milky Way to ensure that gravity tests in the solar system are satisfied. This opens up several decades in length scale and new classes of galaxies at low-redshift that can be exploited by surveys. While theoretical work on models of gravity is in the early stages, we can already identify new regimes which cosmological surveys could target to test gravity. These include: 1. A small scale component that focuses on the interior and vicinity of galaxy and cluster halos. 2. ...
Globular clusters are found usually in galaxies and they are an excellent tracer of dark matter. Long ago it was suggested that there may exist intracluster globular clusters (IGCs) bound to a galaxycluster rather than to any single galaxy. Here we present a map showing the large scale distribution of globular clusters over the entire Virgo cluster. It shows that IGCs are found out to 5 million light years from the Virgo center, and that they are concentrated in several substructures much larger than galaxies. These objects might have been mostly stripped off from low-mass dwarf galaxies.
We derive stellar masses, ages, and star formation histories (SFHs) of massive early-type galaxies in the z = 1.237 RDCS1252.9-2927 cluster and compare them with those measured in a similarly mass-selected sample of field contemporaries drawn from the Great Observatories Origin Deep Survey South Field. Robust estimates of these parameters are obtained by comparing a large grid of composite stellar population models with 8-9 band photometry in the rest-frame near-ultraviolet, optical, and IR, thus sampling the entire relevant domain of emission of the different stellar populations. Additionally, we present new, deep U-band photometry of both fields, giving access to the critical far-ultraviolet rest frame, in order to empirically constrain the dependence of the most recent star formation processes on the environment. We also analyze the morphological properties of both samples to examine the dependence of their scaling ...
We create realistic, full-sky, half-arcminute resolution simulations of the microwave sky matched to the most recent astrophysical observations. The primary purpose of these simulations is to test the data reduction pipeline for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) experiment; however, we have widened the frequency coverage beyond the ACT bands and utilized the easily accessible HEALPix map format to make these simulations applicable to other current and near future microwave background experiments. Some of the novel features of these simulations are that the radio and infrared galaxy populations are correlated with the galaxycluster and group populations, the primordial microwave background is lensed by the dark matter structure in the simulation via a ray-tracing code, the contribution to the thermal and kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) signals from galaxyclusters, ...
Numerical simulations show that box-shaped bulges of edge-on galaxies are not bulges: they are bars seen side-on. Therefore, the two components that are seen in edge-on Sb galaxies such as NGC 4565 are a disk and a bar. But face-on SBb galaxies always show a disk, a bar, and a (pseudo)bulge. Where is the (pseudo)bulge in NGC 4565? We use archival Hubble Space Telescope H-band images and Spitzer Space Telescope 3.6 #mu#m wavelength images, both calibrated to Two Micron All Sky Survey K_s band, to penetrate the prominent dust lane in NGC 4565. We find a high surface brightness, central stellar component that is clearly distinct from the boxy bar and from the disk. Its brightness profile is a Sersic function with index n = 1.55 #+-# 0.07 along the major axis and 1.33 #+-# 0.12 along the minor axis. Therefore, it is a pseudobulge. It is much less luminous than the boxy bar, so the true pseudobulge-to-total ...
In this model, without dark matter, the flat rotation curves of galaxies and the mass-to-light ratios of clusters of galaxies are described quantitatively. The hypothesis is that the agent of gravitational...Full Text Available
Recent wide-field imaging observations of the X-ray luminous cluster RDCSJ1252.9-2927 at z=1.24 uncovered several galaxy groups that appear to be embedded in filamentary structure extending from the cluster core. We make a spectroscopic study of the galaxies in these groups using GMOS on Gemini-South and FORS2 on VLT with the aim of determining if these galaxies are physically associated to the cluster. We find that three groups contain galaxies at the cluster redshift and that they are probably bound to the cluster. This is the first confirmation of filamentary structure as traced by galaxy groups at z>1. We then use several spectral features in the FORS2 spectra to determine the star formation histories of group galaxies. We find a population of ...
We outline to the community the value of a Magellanic Clouds Survey that consists of three components: I) a complete-area, high resolution, multi-band UV-near-IR broadband survey; II) a narrowband survey in 7 key nebular filters to cover a statistically significant sample of representative HII regions and a large-area, contiguous survey of the diffuse, warm ISM; and III) a comprehensive FUV spectroscopic survey of 1300 early-type stars. The science areas enabled by such a dataset are as follows: A) assessment of massive star feedback in both HII regions and the diffuse, warm ISM; B) completion of a comprehensive study of the 30 Doradus giant extragalactic HII region (GEHR); C) development and quantitative parameterization of stellar clustering properties; D) extensive FUV studies of early-type stellar atmospheres and their energy distributions; and E) similarly ...
Seeing convolved two-dimensional de Vaucouleurs profiles have been fitted to digital images of the brightest elliptical galaxies in two nearby groups of galaxies and three clusters of galaxies with redshifts in the range 0.06 to 0.15. The digital images were created by scanning electronographic plates obtained by the use of several versions of the RGO electronographic camera. The linear relation between effective surface brightness #mu#/sub e/ and the logarithm of the effective radius r/sub e/, first discovered by Kormendy to be valid for nearby elliptical galaxies, is found to be equally valid for the largest and brightest galaxies in rich clusters of galaxies. The apparent universal nature of that relation indicates that the same type of processes might have been involved during the formation of all ellipticals from cD ...
Observations of redshift-space distortions in spectroscopic galaxysurveys offer an attractive method for measuring the build-up of cosmological structure, which depends both on the expansion rate of the Universe and our theory of gravity. Galaxies occupy dark matter halos, whose redshift space clustering has a complex dependence on bias that cannot be inferred from the behavior of matter. We identify two distinct corrections on quasilinear scales (~ 30-80 Mpc/h): the non-linear mapping between real and redshift space positions, and the non-linear suppression of power in the velocity divergence field. We model the first non-perturbatively using the scale-dependent Gaussian streaming model, which we show is accurate at the 10 (s>25) Mpc/h for the monopole (quadrupole) halo correlation functions. We use perturbation theory to predict the real space pairwise halo velocity statistics. Our fully analytic ...
We examine the star clusters in the irregular galaxy NGC 4449. We use a near-infrared spectrum and broad-band images taken with the HST to place a limit of 8--15 Myrs on the age of the bright central ojbect in NGC 4449. Its luminosity and size suggest that it is comparable to young super star clusters. However, there is a peculiar nucleated-bar structure at the center of this star cluster, and we suggest that this structure is debris from the interaction that has produced the counter-rotating gas systems and extended gas streamers in the galaxy. From the images we identify 60 other candidate compact star clusters in NGC 4449. Fourteen of these could be background elliptical galaxies or old globular star clusters. Of the star clusters, three, in addition to the central object, are potentially super ...
A new era for the field of Galactic structure is about to be opened with the advent of wide-area digital sky surveys. In this article, the author reviews the status and prospects for research for 3 new ground-based surveys: the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), the Deep Near-Infrared Survey of the Southern Sky (DENIS) and the Two Micron AU Sky Survey (2MASS). These surveys will permit detailed studies of Galactic structure and stellar populations in the Galaxy with unprecedented detail. Extracting the information, however, will be challenging.
We present the results of an isophotal shape analysis of three samples of galaxies in the Coma cluster. Quantitative morphology, together with structural and photometric parameters, is given for each galaxy. Special emphasis has been placed on the detailed classification of early-type galaxies. The three samples are: i) a sample of 97 early-type galaxies brighter than m_B = 17.00 falling within one degree from the center of the Coma cluster; these galaxies were observed with CCD cameras, mostly in good to excellent resolution conditions; ii) a magnitude complete sample of 107 galaxies of all morphological types down to m_B = 17.00 falling in a circular region of 50 arcmin diameter, slightly offcentered to the North-West of the cluster center; the images for this and the next sample come from ...
Observational work on quasars, galaxies, and stars is summarized. Theoretical studies covering stars and stellar evolution, galaxies, clusters and cosmology, high energy astrophysics the solar system and the Sun are described. (ESA)
We examine star clusters in the irregular, starburst galaxy NGC 1569 from HST images. In addition to the two known super star clusters, we identify 45 other clusters that are compact but resolved. Integrated UVI colors of the clusters span a large range, and suggest that ages range from 3 Myrs to 1 Gyr. However, most of the clusters were formed at the tail end of the recent starburst. Numerous clusters in addition to the know super star clusters are similar in luminosity to a small globular cluster. We examined the radial surface brightness of four of the clusters. Their half-light radii and core radii are in the range observed in present-day globular clusters. Therefore, conditions that produced the recent starburst have also been those necessary for ...
Peculiar velocities induce apparent line of sight displacements of galaxies in redshift space, distorting the pattern of clustering in the radial versus transverse directions. On large scales, the amplitude of the distortion yields a measure of the dimensionless linear growth rate \\ff of fluctuations, which is related to the cosmological density \\Omega and the linear bias factor b in linearly biassed standard cosmology by \\ff \\approx \\Omega^{0.6} /b. To make the maximum statistical use of the data in a wide angle redshift survey, and for the greatest accuracy, the spherical character of the distortion needs to be treated properly, rather than in the simpler plane parallel approximation. In the linear regime, the redshift space correlation function is described by a spherical distortion operator acting on the true correlation function. It is pointed out here that there exists an operator, which is essentially the ...
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) started a new phase in August 2008, with new instrumentation and new surveys focused on Galactic structure and chemical evolution, measurements of the baryon oscillation feature in the clustering of galaxies and the quasar Ly{alpha} forest, and a radial velocity search for planets around {approx}8000 stars. This paper describes the first data release of SDSS-III (and the eighth counting from the beginning of the SDSS). The release includes 5-band imaging of roughly 5200 deg{sup 2} in the Southern Galactic Cap, bringing the total footprint of the SDSS imaging to 14,555 deg{sup 2}, or over a third of the Celestial Sphere. All the imaging data have been reprocessed with an improved sky-subtraction algorithm and a final, self-consistent recalibration and flat-field determination. This release also includes all data from the second phase of the Sloan Extension for Galactic ...
star evolution, globular cluster structure and evolution, massive stars, supernova remnants, reflection nebulae, interstellar dust, structure of the ISM, ...
These include, but are not limited to: stellar winds and outflows, post-main- sequence stellar evolution, binary/multiple star evolution, globular cluster structure ...
These include, but are not limited to: stellar winds and outflows, post-main- sequence stellar evolution, binary/multiple star evolution, globular cluster structure ...
We study the redshift evolution of galaxy pair fractions and merger rates for different types of galaxies using kinematic pairs selected from the DEEP2 Redshift Survey. Parameterizing the evolution of the pair fraction as (1+z)^{m}, we find that the companion rate increases mildly with redshift with m = 0.41+-0.20 for all galaxies with -21 < M_B^{e} < -19. Blue galaxies show slightly faster evolution in the blue companion rate with m = 1.27+-0.35 while red galaxies have had fewer red companions in the past as evidenced by the negative slope m = -0.92+-0.59. We find that at low redshift the pair fraction within the red sequence exceeds that of the blue cloud, indicating a higher merger probability among red galaxies compared to that among the blue galaxies. With further assumptions on the merger time scale and the ...
Large optical surveys provide an unprecedented census of galaxies in the local Universe, forming an invaluable framework into which more detailed studies of objects can be placed. But how useful are optical surveys for understanding the co-evolution of black holes and galaxies, given their limited wavelength coverage, selection criteria, and depth? In this conference paper I present work-in-progress comparing optical and mid-IR diagnostics of three "unusual" low redshift populations (luminous Seyferts, dusty Balmer-strong AGN, ULIRGs) with a set of ordinary star-forming galaxies from the SDSS. I address the questions: How well do the mid-infrared and optical diagnostics of star formation and AGN strength agree? To what extent do optical surveys allow us to include extreme, dusty, morphologically disturbed galaxies in our "complete" census of ...
We adapt the Jain-Taylor (2003) shear-ratio geometric lensing method to measure the dark energy equation of state, w = pv/?v and its time derivative from dark matter haloes in cosmologies with arbitrary spatial curvature. The full shear-ratio covariance matrix is calculated for lensed sources, including the intervening large-scale structure and photometric redshift errors as additional sources of noise, and a maximum likelihood method for applying the test is presented. Decomposing the lensing matter distribution into dark matter haloes we calculate the parameter covariance matrix for an arbitrary experiment. Combining with the expected results from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) we design an optimal survey for probing dark energy. This shows that a targeted survey imaging 60 of the largest clusters in a hemisphere with five-band optical photometric redshifts to a median galaxy depth of zm = 0.9 ...
We have discovered seven type Ia cluster supernovae (SNe) in the course of the Wise Observatory Optical Transients Search in the fields of galaxyclusters with redshifts between z=0.06 and z=0.2. Two of these events, SN 1998fc in Abell 403 (z=0.10) and SN 2001al in Abell 2122/4 (z = 0.066), have no obvious hosts. Both events appear projected on the halos of the central cD galaxies, but have velocity offsets of 750-2000 km/s relative to those galaxies, suggesting they are not bound to them. We use deep Keck imaging of the locations of the two SNe to put upper limits on the luminosities of possible dwarf hosts, M_R > -14 mag for SN 1998fc and M_R > -11.8 mag for SN 2001al. The fractions of the cluster luminosities in dwarf galaxies fainter than our limits are less than 3 x 10^-3 and 3 x 10^-4, respectively. Thus, 2/7 of the SNe would be ...
A morphological survey of barred galaxies is made to investigate the frequency of occurrence, nature, and size distributions of bars, lenses, inner and outer rings, and global spiral structure. The 121 brightest available barred galaxies are examined on Sky Survey copy plates, and on deeper and larger-scale plates, with the following main results.1. Lenses and inner rings are components of major importance in barred galaxies, occurring, respectively, in 54% of SBO--SBa, and 76% of SBab--SBc galaxies. Few early-type galaxies have rings; almost no late-type ones have lenses.2. There is an intimate connection between bars and lenses: in 17 of 20 galaxies with both components, the bar exactly fills the lens in one dimension.3. We suggest that lenses originate as bars, through an unknown process which makes some bars evolve ...
A sample of 41 radio-galaxies with 13.0<=msub(corr)<=15.5 has been analyzed to test the angular redshift anisotropy discovered on Sc I galaxies by Rubin, Rubin and Ford (1973). The sample does not present their anisotropy but contains an even more curious distribution of radial velocities which suggests that the Rubin-Ford effect results from an anomalous redshift of light when it travels through clusters of galaxies. (Auth.).
A bulge-disk decomposition is made for 737 spiral and lenticular galaxies drawn from a Sloan Digital Sky Surveygalaxy sample for which morphological types are estimated. We carry out the bulge-disk decomposition using the growth curve fitting method. It is found that bulge properties, effective radius, effective surface brightness, and also absolute magnitude, change systematically with the morphological sequence; from early to late types, the size becomes somewhat larger, and surface brightness and luminosity fainter. In contrast, disks are nearly universal, their properties remaining similar among disk galaxies irrespective of detailed morphologies from S0 to Sc. While these tendencies were often discussed in previous studies, the present study confirms them based on a large homogeneous magnitude-limited field galaxy sample with morphological types estimated. The systematic ...
We present constraints on theoretical models of Type Ia SNe using spatially resolved ASCA X-ray spectroscopy of four galaxyclusters: Abell 496, Abell 2199, Abell 3571 & Perseus. All four clusters have central Fe abundance enhancements and an ensemble of abundance ratios are used to show that most of the Fe in the central regions of the clusters comes from SN Ia. At the center of each cluster, simultaneous analysis of spectra from all ASCA instruments shows that the Ni to Fe abundance ratio (normalized by the solar ratio) is ~ 4. We use the Ni/Fe ratio as a discriminator between SN Ia explosion models: the Ni/Fe ratio of ejecta from the "Convective Deflagration" model W7 is consistent with the observations, while those of "delayed detonation" models are not consistent at the 90% confidence level.
The red sequence is an important feature of galaxyclusters and plays a crucial role in optical cluster detection. Measurement of the slope and scatter of the red sequence are affected both by selection of red sequence galaxies and measurement errors. In this paper, we describe a new error corrected Gaussian Mixture Model for red sequence galaxy identification. Using this technique, we can remove the effects of measurement error and extract unbiased information about the intrinsic properties of the red sequence. We use this method to select red sequence galaxies in each of the 13,823 clusters in the maxBCG catalog, and measure the red sequence ridgeline location and scatter of each. These measurements provide precise constraints on the variation of the average red galaxy populations in the observed frame with redshift. ...
AIM:Learn more about the origin of shells and dust in early type galaxies. METHOD: V-I colours of shells and underlying galaxies are derived, using HST Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) data. A galaxy model is made locally in wedges and subtracted to determine shell profiles and colours. We applied Voronoi binning to our data to get smoothed colour maps of the galaxies. Comparison with N-body simulations from the literature gives more insight to the origin of the shell features. Shell positions and dust characteristics are inferred from model galaxy subtracted images. RESULT: The ACS images reveal shells well within the effective radius in some galaxies (at 1.7 kpc in the case of NGC 5982). In some cases, strong nuclear dust patches prevent detection of inner shells. Most shells have colours which are similar to the underlying ...
XMM-Newton EPIC observations reveal the population of X-ray sources of the bright Local Group spiral galaxy M 31, a low-star-formation-rate galaxy like the Milky Way, down to a 0.2-4.5 keV luminosity of 4.4E34 erg/s. With the help of X-ray hardness ratios and optical and radio information different source classes can be distinguished. The survey detected 856 sources in an area of 1.24 square degrees. Sources within M 31 are 44 supernova remnants (SNR) and candidates, 18 super-soft sources (SSS), 16 X-ray binaries (XRBs) and candidates, as well as 37 globular cluster sources (GlC) and candidates, i.e. most likely low mass XRBs within the GlC. 567 hard sources may either be XRBs or Crab-like SNRs in M 31 or background AGN. 22 sources are new SNR candidates in M 31 based on X-ray selection criteria. Time variability information can be used to improve the source classification. Two GlC sources show type I ...
Dark matter particles form halos that contribute the major part of the mass of galaxyclusters. The formation of these cosmological structures have been investigated both observationally and in numerical simulations, which have confirmed the existence of a universal mass profile. However, the dynamic behaviour of dark matter in halos is not as well understood. We have used observations of 16 equilibrated galaxyclusters to show that the random velocities of dark matter particles are larger on average along the radial direction than along the tangential, and that the magnitude of this velocity anisotropy is radially varying. Our measurement implies that the collective behaviour of dark matter particles is fundamentally different from that of normal particles and the radial variation of the anisotropy velocity agrees with the predictions of numerical simulation.
We investigate the thermodynamic and chemical structure of the intracluster medium (ICM) across a statistical sample of 20 galaxyclusters analysed with the Chandra X-ray satellite. In particular, we focus on the scaling properties of the gas density, metallicity and entropy and the comparison between clusters with and without cool cores (CCs). We find marked differences between the two categories except for the gas metallicity, which declines strongly with radius for all clusters (Z ~ r^{-0.31}), outside ~0.02 r500. The scaling of gas entropy is non-self-similar and we find clear evidence of bimodality in the distribution of logarithmic slopes of the entropy profiles. With only one exception, the steeper sloped entropy profiles are found in CC clusters whereas the flatter slope population are all non-CC clusters. We explore the role of thermal conduction in ...
Constraints on the original Cardassian model and the modified polytropic Cardassian model are examined from the latest derived 397 Type Ia supernova (SNe Ia) data, the size of baryonic acoustic oscillation peak from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), the position of first acoustic peak of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (CMB) from the five years Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), the x-ray gas mass fractions in clusters of galaxies, and the observational H(z) data. In the original Cardassian model with these combined data set, we find $\\Omega_{m0}=0.271^{+0.014}_{-0.014}, n=0.035^{+0.049}_{-0.049}$ at $1 \\sigma$ confidence level. And in the modified polytropic Cardassian model, we find that $\\Omega_{m0}=0.271^{+0.014}_{-0.015}$, $n=-0.091^{+0.331}_{-1.908}$ and $\\beta=0.824^{+0.750}_{-0.622}$ within $1\\sigma$ confidence level. According to these observations, the acceleration of the universe ...
Core radii and central surface brightnesses of bulges and elliptical galaxies are measured using CCD photometry obtained with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (scale = 0''.22 pixel"-"1; seeing = 0''.45--1''.0 FWHM). The correlations between core parameters are derived and compared for ellipticals, bulges, dwarf spheroidal galaxies, dwarf irregular galaxies, and globular clusters. The results are as follows. 1. Ihe data confirm the existence of well-defined correlations between the core parameters of elliptical galaxies. More luminous ellipticals have larger core radii r/sub c/ and lower central surface brightnesses #mu#/sub 0v/. Galaxies with larger core radii have larger central velocity dispersions. The small, bright core of M32 is normal for a galaxy of M/sub B/ = -15.2. Radio ellipticals and brightest cluster ...
We investigate the environmental dependence of stellar population properties of galaxies in the local universe. Physical quantities related to the stellar content of galaxies are derived from a spectral synthesis method applied to a volume-limited sample containing about 50 thousand galaxies (0.05 < z < 0.1; M_r < -20.5), extracted from the Data Release 2 of the SDSS. Mean stellar ages, mean stellar metallicities and stellar masses are obtained from this method and used to characterise the stellar populations of galaxies. The environment is defined by the projected local galaxy density estimated from a nearest neighbour approach. We recover the star formation--density relation in terms of the mean light-weighted stellar age, which is strongly correlated with star formation parameters derived from Halpha. We find that the age--density relation is distinct when we divide ...
Mining Time Series data has a tremendous growth of interest in today's world. To provide an indication various implementations are studied and summarized to identify the different problems in existing applications. Clustering time series is a trouble that has applications in an extensive assortment of fields and has recently attracted a large amount of research. Time series data are frequently large and may contain outliers. In addition, time series are a special type of data set where elements have a temporal ordering. Therefore clustering of such data stream is an important issue in the data mining process. Numerous techniques and clustering algorithms have been proposed earlier to assist clustering of time series data streams. The clustering algorithms and its effectiveness on various applications are compared to develop a new method to solve the existing problem. This paper ...
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We use direct N-body simulations to investigate the evolution of star clusters with large size-scales with the particular goal of understanding the so-called extended clusters observed in various Local Group galaxies, including M31 and NGC6822. The N-body models incorporate a stellar mass function, stellar evolution and the tidal field of a host galaxy. We find that extended clusters can arise naturally within a weak tidal field provided that the tidal radius is filled at the start of the evolution. Differences in the initial tidal filling-factor can produce marked differences in the subsequent evolution of clusters and the size-scales that would be observed. These differences are more marked than any produced by internal evolution processes linked to the properties of cluster binary stars or the action of an intermediate-mass black hole, ...
From the COMBO-17 digital sky survey data, 1,231 faint blue galaxies with photometric redshifts of 0.1galaxies, in the conditions that the photometric redshifts are obtained respectively by using only optical data and by using both optical and near-infrared data. The results indicate that there are 183 galaxies whose photometric redshifts derived from both optical and infrared data are greater than 1.2, that the rms error of the derived photometric redshifts is 0.046, and that to increase the photometric SNR is also helpful for discriminating those misjudged low-redshift galaxies by using only the optical data. We have studied a...
This paper presents new images and spectroscopy of NGC 34 (Mrk 938) obtained with the du Pont 2.5-m and Baade 6.5-m telescopes at Las Campanas, plus photometry of an HST archival V image. This Mv = -21.6 galaxy has often been classified as a Seyfert 2, yet recently published infrared spectra suggest a dominant central starburst. We find that the galaxy features a single nucleus, a main spheroid containing a blue central disk, and tidal tails indicative of two former disk galaxies. These galaxies appear to have completed merging. The remnant shows three clear optical signs that the merger was gas-rich ("wet") and accompanied by a starburst: (1) It sports a rich system of young star clusters, of which 87 have absolute magnitudes -10.0 > Mv > -15.4. Five clusters with available spectra have ages in the range 0.1-1.0 Gyr, photometric masses between 2x10^6 and ...
We present ultraviolet through far-infrared (FIR) surface brightness profiles for the 75 galaxies in the Spitzer Infrared Nearby GalaxiesSurvey (SINGS). The imagery used to measure the profiles includes Galaxy Evolution Explorer UV data, optical images from Kitt Peak National Observatory, Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, and Sloan Digital Sky Survey, near-IR data from Two Micron All Sky Survey, and mid- and FIR images from Spitzer. Along with the radial profiles, we also provide multi-wavelength asymptotic magnitudes and several nonparametric indicators of galaxy morphology: the concentration index (C 42), the asymmetry (A), the Gini coefficient (G), and the normalized second-order moment of the brightest 20% of the galaxy's flux (M-bar20). In this paper, the first of a series, we describe the technical aspects ...
The paper reviews the main observational data on pulsars, both the individual characteristics of pulsars and the properties they possess as members of the Galaxy. Consideration is then given to pulsar ages and to pulsar initial periods. An attempt is made to clarify the 'true' ages of pulsars.
UBVI CCD photometry of NGC 2353 is obtained as part of the "Sejong Open clusterSurvey" (SOS). Using the photometric membership criteria we selelct probable members of the cluster. We derive the reddening and distance to the cluster, i.e. E(B-V) = 0.10 +/- 0.02 mag and 1.17 +/- 0.04 kpc, respectively. We find that the projected distribution of the probable members on the sky is elliptical in shape rather than circular. The age of the cluster is estimated to be log(age)=8.1 +/- 0.1, older than what was found in previous studies. The minimum value of binary fraction is estimated to be about 48 +/- 5 percent from a Gaussian function fit to the distribution of the distance moduli of the photometric members. Finally, we also obtain the luminosity function and the initial mass function (IMF). The slope of the IMF is Gamma = -1.3 +/- 0.2.
The second list of objects in the Second Biurakan Spectral Sky Survey of the region centered on alpha 09h50m, delta +55 deg 00 arcmin is given. The list contains data on 110 objects and galaxies of a peculiar physical nature and 24 blue stars. The observations were made with the 40-52 arcsec Schmidt telescope of the Biurakan Astrophysical Observatory with a set of three objective prisms using Kodak IIIaJ and IIIaF emulsions sensitized in nitrogen. The area is found to contain 20 quasar candidates and four Seyfert galaxies, 27 blue stellar objects, 24 galaxies with an appreciable ultraviolet continuum, and 39 emission galaxies without appreciable ultraviolet radiation. The surface brightness of the quasars and Seyferts on the considered area down to the limiting magnitude 19.5 M is more than 1.5 per square degree with allowance for the already known quasars. The surface density of ...
The diffuse background light in the Coma cluster is measured using isodensity tracings of B, G, V, and R photographic plates taken with the Palomar 1.2-m Schmidt telescope. The isodensity contours are calibrated using the star profile derived by Kormendy (1973). Between 4 and 14 arc min from the center, the surface brightness of the diffuse light decreases from approximately 26 to approximately 28 G magnitudes arc sec"-"2. The total magnitude in this annulus is G = 11.22, which is approximately 45 percent of the light in galaxies alone, or approximately 30 percent of the total. This does little to alleviate the ''missing mass'' problem. The isodensity contours and the equivalent profile of the diffuse light closely parallel the distribution of light in galaxies, implying no strong mass segregation. However, the background light appears to be bluer than the galaxies. This is consistent with the ...
We present the results of Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) imaging of a sample of 19 high-mass passively evolving galaxies with 1.2 < z < 2, taken primarily from the Gemini Deep Deep Survey (GDDS). Around 80% of galaxies in our GDDS sample have spectra dominated by stars with ages #approx#>1 Gyr. Our rest-frame R-band images show that most of these objects have compact regular morphologies which follow the classical R "1"/"4 law. These galaxies scatter along a tight sequence in the size versus surface brightness parameter space which defines the Kormendy relation. Around one-third (3/10) of the massive red objects in the GDDS sample are extraordinarily compact, with effective radii under 1 kpc. Our NICMOS observations allow the detection of such systems more robustly than is possible with optical (rest-frame UV) data, and while similar systems have been seen at z ...
NGC 1407 is the central elliptical in a nearby evolved galaxy group apparently destined to become a cluster core. We use the kinematics of globular clusters to probe the dynamics and mass profile of the group's center, out to 60 kpc (~10 R_eff) -- the most extended data set to date around an early-type galaxy. This sample consists of 172 GC velocities, most of them newly obtained using Keck/DEIMOS, with a few additional objects identified as DGTOs or as IGCs. We find weak rotation in the GC system's outer parts, with the metal-poor and metal-rich GCs misaligned. The RMS velocity profile declines rapidly to a radius of ~20 kpc, and then becomes flat or rising to ~60 kpc. There is evidence that the GC orbits have a tangential bias that is strongest for the metal-poor GCs -- possibly contradicting theoretical expectations. We construct cosmologically-motivated galaxy+dark halo ...
Globular clusters are quite compact (size {proportional_to}10 pc) objects distributed spherically around the galaxy. They contain about 10{sup 5}-10{sup 6} mostly old stars. The number of millisecond pulsars in typical globular cluster is expected to be large (of the order of 100). We investigate the possible mechanism of production of high energy gamma-rays in those objects. Part of the wind energy of pulsars (energy conversion factor) is converted into relativistic leptons. Those leptons can upscatter in inverse Compton process low energy starlight and CMB photons and produce gamma-rays. MAGIC is an Imaging Atmospheric Cerenkov Telescopes located at Canary island of La Palma. We present results and discussion of the MAGIC observations of globular cluster M13.
We present a study of 66 barred, early-type (S0-Sb) disk galaxies, focused on the disk surface brightness profile outside the bar region and the nature of Freeman Type I and II profiles, their origins, and their possible relation to disk truncations. This paper discusses the data and their reduction, outlines our classification system, and presents $R$-band profiles and classifications for all galaxies in the sample. The profiles are derived from a variety of different sources, including the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Data Release 5). For about half of the galaxies, we have profiles derived from more than one telescope; this allows us to check the stability and repeatability of our profile extraction and classification. The vast majority of the profiles are reliable down to levels of mu_R ~ 27 mag arcsec^-2; in exceptional cases, we can trace profiles down to mu_R > 28. We can typically follow disk ...
We study the stellar and dust properties of a well-defined sample of local elliptical galaxies to investigate the relationship between host galaxy properties and nuclear activity. We select a complete sample of 45 ellipticals from the Palomar spectroscopic survey of nearby galaxies, which includes 20 low-luminosity active galactic nuclei classified as LINERs and 25 inactive galaxies. Using a stellar population synthesis method, we compare the derived stellar population properties of the LINER versus the inactive subsamples. We also study the dust and stellar surface brightness distributions of the central regions of these galaxies using high-resolution images obtained with the {\\it Hubble Space Telescope}. Relative to the inactive subsample, ellipticals hosting LINERs share similar total optical and near-infrared luminosity, central stellar velocity ...
The vertical profiles of disc galaxies are built by the material trapped around stable periodic orbits, which form their "skeletons". According to this, the knowledge of the stability of the main families of periodic orbits in appropriate 3D models, can predict possible morphologies for edge-on disc galaxies. In a pilot survey we compare the orbital structures which lead to the appearance of "peanuts" and "X"-like features with the edge-on profiles of three disc galaxies (IC 2531, NGC 4013 and UGC 2048). The subtraction from the images of a model representing the axisymmetric component of the galaxies reveals the contribution of the non-axisymmetric terms. We find a direct correspondence between the orbital profiles of 3D bars in models and the observed main morphological features of the residuals. We also apply a simple unsharp masking technique in order to study the sharpest ...
We investigate the sky distribution of z ~ 6 Lyman break galaxies selected as i'-dropouts having i' - z' > 1.45 down to z' < 26.5 in the Subaru Deep Field (SDF). We discover 37 i'-dropouts clustered in a projected comoving 21.6 x 21.6 Mpc^2 region at z = 6, showing a local density excess. Carrying out follow-up spectroscopy, we identify four of them as Lyman-alpha emitters at z = 5.92, 6.01, 6.03 and 6.03 (spread over a distance of 46.6 Mpc). The number density of the cluster itself in SDF is ~ 2.2 x 10^{-7} Mpc^{-3}, smaller than those of protoclusters (i.e., forming galaxyclusters) at z ~ 2-5.7. Also, the structure shows ~4-21 times larger galaxy number density than those of z ~ 6 galaxies in a general field. It has a mass of M ~ 1.5^{+1.8}_{-0.5} x 10^{15}M_sun, comparable to those of z ~ 0-5 protoclusters. Since the contamination ...
UBVRI CCD surface photometry and color gradients are presented for 10 central dominant galaxies (CDGs), comprising gE, D, and cD morphological types and covering the range of Bautz-Morgan cluster types. The mean magnitude of the color gradients to a radius of 20 kpc is in agreement with those found in recent CCD studies of bright ellipticals in Virgo. The size of the gradients are consistent with N-body model predictions in which these galaxies are formed or enhanced by merger events. Parameters such as ellipticity, position angle of the major axis, and deviation from ellipticity for eight single-nucleus CDGs are also given. All galaxies show large changes in ellipticity and position angle with radius, and can be considered similar to Kormendy's T3 class of galaxies, in which tidal effects on isophotal structure are very probable. Three out of eight single-nucleus CDGs, NGC 1399, ...
The third list of objects in the Second Byurakan Spectral Sky Survey is presented. The list contains 94 objects and 12 blue stars. The data given include the equatorial coordinates to within a minute of arc for the epoch 1950, the angular dimensions in seconds of arc, and visual estimates of the blue apparent magnitude B. The objects are described, giving their morphological and spectral features and approximate values of the red shifts of the galaxies. The distribution of the objects in the survey region, which is centered on right ascension 08h00m, declination +59 deg 00 arcmin, with respect to their types is given. Six close binary systems are found among the selected galaxies.
We performed a spectroscopic galaxysurvey, complete to $m_{F814W}\\leq20.3$ ($L_B>0.15L_B^{\\star}$ at z=0.3), within 100x100'' of the quasar Q1127-145 ($z_{em}=1.18$). The VLT/UVES quasar spectrum contains three $z_{abs}<0.33$ MgII absorption systems. We obtained eight new galaxy redshifts, adding to the four previously known, and galaxy star formation rates (SFRs) and metallicities were computed where possible. A strong MgII system [$W_r(2796)=1.8$A], which is a known damped Ly$\\alpha$ absorber (DLA), had three previously identified galaxies; we found two additional galaxies associated with this system. These five galaxies form a group with diverse properties, such as a luminosity range of $0.04\\leq L_B\\leq0.63 L_B^{\\star}$, an impact parameter range of $17\\leq D \\leq 241$ kpc and velocity dispersion of $\\sigma$=115 km/s. The ...
Context. Study of open clusters is important not only for learning properties of these objects but also for understanding the process of formation and evolution of stars and the Milky Way. Aims. The paper contains determination of the global (geometrical and physical) characteristics of a large sample of Galactic open clusters from homogeneous near-infrared photometric data and analysis of mutual relations between those characteristics. Methods. The near-infrared JHK photometric data from the 2-Micron All Sky Survey were used to determine new coordinates of the centres, angular sizes and radial density profiles of 849 open clusters in the MilkyWay. Additionally, for 754 of these clusters age, reddening, distance and linear sizes were also derived. The sample contains 140 open clusters which have not been studied before. Results. The analysed sample contains open ...
We present results of the search for Cepheids in the galaxy IC1613 carried out as a sub-project of the OGLE-II microlensing survey. 138 Cepheids were found in the 14.2x14.2 arcmin region in the center of the galaxy. We present light curves, VI photometry and basic data for all these objects, as well as color-magnitude diagram of the observed field. The Period--Luminosity (PL) diagrams for IC1613 fundamental mode Cepheids for VI and interstellar extinction insensitive index W_I are constructed. Comparison of PL relations in metal poor galaxy IC1613 ([Fe/H]~-1.0 dex) with relations in metal richer Magellanic Clouds allows us to study dependence of Cepheid PL relations on metallicity in the wide range of metallicities covered by these three galaxies. The slopes of PL relations in IC1613 are identical as in the Magellanic Clouds. The comparison of brightness of Cepheids with the ...
We provide a quantitative assessment of the probability distribution function of the concentration parameter of galaxyclusters. We do so by using the probability distribution function of halo formation times, calculated by means of the excursion set formalism, and a formation redshift-concentration scaling derived from results of N-body simulations. Our results suggest that the observed high concentrations of several clusters are quite unlikely in the standard Lambda CDM cosmological model, but that due to various inherent uncertainties, the statistical range of the predicted distribution may be significantly wider than commonly acknowledged. In addition, the probability distribution function of the Einstein radius of A1689 is evaluated, confirming that the observed value of ~45" +/- 5" is very improbable in the currently favoured cosmological model. If, however, a variance of ~20% in the theoretically predicted value of ...
We present high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations of the degree and direction of polarisation imprinted on the CMB by the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect in the the line of sight to massive galaxyclusters. We focus on two contributions which contribute most of the induced CMB polarisation in addition to the intrinsic CMB quadrupole: the radiation quadrupole seen by electrons due to their own velocity in the plane normal to the line of sight, and the radiation quadrupole due to the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect, which is generated by a previous scattering elsewhere in the cores of the local and nearby clusters. We show that inside the virial radius of a massive cluster, this latter effect, although being second order in the optical depth, can reach the level of the former effect. These two effects can, respectively, constrain the projected tangential velocity and inner density profile of the gas, if ...
We present the results of a search for Extreme Ultraviolet emission in A4059, a cluster with an X-ray emitting cluster gas. Our analysis of Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) Deep Survey observations of this cluster shows that it is associated with diffuse EUV emission. Outside the central 2 arcmin radius the entire EUV emission detected is explained by the low energy tail of the X-ray emitting gas. Within the central 2 arcmin region of the cluster we find a deficit of EUV emission compared to that expected from the X-ray gas. This flux deficit is discussed in the context of the cluster's cooling flow. The results derived for A4059 are compared to EUVE results obtained for other clusters such as Coma, Virgo, A1795, and A2199. As part of the study we have carried out a detailed investigation of the stability of the EUVE Deep ...
Abstract We address the fundamental question of matching the rest-frame K-band luminosity function (LF) of galaxies over the Hubble time using semi-analytic models after modification of the stellar population modelling. We include the Maraston evolutionary synthesis models, which feature a higher contribution by the thermally pulsating asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) stellar phase, into three different semi-analytic models, namely the De Lucia and Blaizot version of the Munich model, morgana and the Menci model. We leave all other input physics and parameters unchanged. We find that the modification of the stellar population emission can solve the mismatch between models and the observed rest-frame K-band luminosity from the brightest galaxies derived from UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey d...
Observations of anisotropies in the brightness temperature of the 21 cm line of neutral hydrogen from the period before reionization would shed light on the dawn of the first stars and galaxies. In this paper, we use large-scale semi-numerical simulations to analyse the imprint on the 21 cm signal of spatial fluctuations in the Lyman-alpha flux arising from the clustering of the first galaxies. We show that an experiment like the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) can probe this signal at the onset of reionization giving us important information about the UV emission spectra of the first stars and characterizing their host galaxies. SKA-pathfinders with ~ 10% of the full collecting area should be capable of making a statistical detection of the 21 cm power spectrum at redshifts $z\\lesssim 20$. We then show that the SKA should be able to measure the three dimensional power spectrum as a function of the angle ...
We aim to obtain a consistent description of non-thermal emissions from Abell 2256 and to give a prediction for a gamma-ray emission from this galaxycluster. Assuming that a radio relic illuminates a localization of an ongoing merger, and that both radio and non-thermal part of hard X-ray emission are due to electron component of cosmic rays filling the relic, we derived from radio and hard X-ray properties of the relic in A2256 the magnetic field strength and number densities for relativistic electrons and protons. Due to the interpretation of the radio relic as a structure formed just where a shock front is, we discuss a gamma-ray emission at the cluster periphery. The estimated strength of the magnetic field in the relic is equal to 0.05 \\muG, while the amplitude of the electron number density varies from 3 x 10^{-4} to 3 x 10^{-5} cm^{-3} (respectively for the relic thickness of 50 to 500 kpc). We got a substantial ...
We propose a method to determine the cosmic mass density Omega from redshift-space distortions induced by large-scale flows in the presence of nonlinear clustering. Nonlinear structures in redshift space such as fingers of God can contaminate distortions from linear flows on scales as large as several times the small-scale pairwise velocity dispersion sigma_v. Following Peacock & Dodds (1994), we work in the Fourier domain and propose a model to describe the anisotropy in the redshift-space power spectrum; tests with high-resolution numerical data demonstrate that the model is robust for both mass and biased galaxy halos on translinear scales and above. On the basis of this model, we propose an estimator of the linear growth parameter beta = Omega^0.6/b, where b measures bias, derived from sampling functions which are tuned to eliminate distortions from nonlinear clustering. The measure is tested on the numerical data ...
We report Sr, Pd and Ag abundances for a sample of metal-poor field giants and analyze a larger sample of Y, Zr, and Ba abundances. The [Y/Zr] and [Pd/Ag] abundance ratios are similar to those measured for the r-process-rich stars CS 22892-052 and CS 31082-001. The [Pd/Ag] ratio is larger than predicted from the solar-system r-process abundances. The constant[Y/Zr] and [Sr/Y] values in the field stars places strong limits on the contributions of the weak s-process and the main s-process to the light neutron-capture elements. Stars in the globular cluster M 15 possess lower [Y/Zr] values than the field stars. There is a large dispersion in [Y/Ba]. Because the r-process is responsible for the production of the heavy elements in the early Galaxy, these dispersions require varying light-to-heavy ratios in r-process yields.
Sixty-seven unresolved objects with flat blue spectra that had no apparent features on the plates of the Case Low-Dispersion Northern Sky Survey have been observed at higher dispersion and to shorter wavelengths in order to determine their nature. The following classifications are proposed: 20 low-redshift QSOs (z greater than 1.7), two Seyfert 2 galaxies, 23 stars, and two variable objects. The spectra obtained for the remaining 20 objects were flat with no obvious features, but noisy, and these will need further observation. 5 references.
We discuss the estimation of galaxy correlation properties in several volume limited samples, in different sky regions, obtained from the Fourth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The small scale properties are characterized through the determination of the nearest neighbor probability distribution. By using a very conservative statistical analysis, in the range of scales [0.5,~30] Mpc/h we detect power-law correlations in the conditional density in redshift space, with an exponent \\gamma=1.0 \\pm 0.1. This behavior is stable in all different samples we considered thus it does not depend on galaxy luminosity. In the range of scales [~30,~100] Mpc/h we find evidences for systematic unaveraged fluctuations and we discuss in detail the problems induced by finite volume effects on the determination of the conditional density. We conclude that in such range of scales there is an evidence for a smaller power-law index ...
We present the 24 #mu#m rest-frame luminosity function (LF) of star-forming galaxies in the redshift range 0.0 #<=# z #<=# 0.6 constructed from 4047 spectroscopic redshifts from the AGN and Galaxy Evolution Survey of 24 #mu#m selected sources in the Booetes field of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey. This sample provides the best available combination of large area (9 deg"2), depth, and statistically complete spectroscopic observations, allowing us to probe the evolution of the 24 #mu#m LF of galaxies at low and intermediate redshifts while minimizing the effects of cosmic variance. In order to use the observed 24 #mu#m luminosity as a tracer for star formation, active galactic nuclei (AGNs) that could contribute significantly at 24 #mu#m are identified and excluded from our star-forming galaxy sample based on their mid-IR spectral energy distributions or ...
After two decades of direct dynamical simulation of large-scale structure in the universe, it is safe to say the subject is now mature. Still, there are parts of the problem that are less well developed than others. In general, the collisionless dynamics of the dark matter component is better understood than the collisional gas dynamics of the baryonic component. In situations where the gas dynamics is relatively simple, such as the Lyman-$\\alpha$ forest and the intracluster medium in X-ray clusters, our ability to reproduce observational data has evolved rapidly, and the interpretive and predictive power of such experiments should now be taken seriously. A comparison of twelve gas dynamic codes to the problem of forming a single X-ray cluster shows that numerical inaccuracies are modest (typically below ten percent), leaving missing physics as the main source for large systematic differences between theory and observation. ...
We have used the SINFONI integral field spectrograph to map the near-infrared K-band emission lines of molecular and ionised hydrogen in the central regions of two cool core galaxyclusters, Abell 2597 and Sersic 159-03. Gas is detected out to 20 kpc from the nuclei of the brightest clustergalaxies and found to be distributed in clumps and filaments around it. The ionised and molecular gas phases trace each other closely in extent and dynamical state. Both gas phases show signs of interaction with the active nucleus. Within the nuclear regions the kinetic luminosity of this gas is found to be somewhat smaller than the current radio luminosity. Outside the nuclear region the gas has a low velocity dispersion and shows smooth velocity gradients. There is no strong correlation between the intensity of the molecular and ionised gas emission and either the radio or X-ray emission. The molecular gas in Abell ...
If high-redshift QSOs are ejected from the nuclei of low-redshift galaxies, as some have claimed, a large portion of their redshift must be intrinsic (non-Doppler). If these intrinsic components have preferred values, redshifts will tend to cluster around these preferred values and produce peaks in the redshift distribution. Doppler ejection and Hubble flow components will broaden each peak. Because ejection velocities are randomly directed and Hubble flow components are always positive, in this model all peaks are expected to show an asymmetry, extending further out in the red wing. If peaks are present showing this predicted asymmetry, it can lead directly to an estimate of quasar distances. Using two quasar samples, one with high redshifts and one with low, it is shown here that not only do all peaks in these two redshift distributions occur at previously predicted preferred values, they also all show the predicted extra extension in the red ...
The Galactic Exoplanet Survey Telescope (GEST) will observe a 2 square degree field in the Galactic bulge to search for extra-solar planets using a gravitational lensing technique. This gravitational lensing technique is the only method employing currently available technology that can detect Earth-mass planets at high signal-to-noise, and can measure the frequency of terrestrial planets as a function of Galactic position. GEST's sensitivity extends down to the mass of Mars, and it can detect hundreds of terrestrial planets with semi-major axes ranging from 0.7 AU to infinity. GEST will be the first truly comprehensive survey of the Galaxy for planets like those in our own Solar System.
We present new results from BRAVA, a large-scale radial velocity survey of the Galactic bulge, using M giant stars selected from the Two Micron All Sky Survey catalog as targets for the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory 4 m Hydra multi-object spectrograph. The purpose of this survey is to construct a new generation of self-consistent bar models that conform to these observations. We report the dynamics for fields at the edge of the Galactic bulge at latitudes b = -8 deg. and compare to the dynamics at b = -4 deg. We find that the rotation curve V(r) is the same at b = -8 deg. as at b = -4 deg. That is, the Galactic boxy bulge rotates cylindrically, as do boxy bulges of other galaxies. The summed line-of-sight velocity distribution at b = -8 deg. is Gaussian, and the binned longitude-velocity plot shows no evidence for either a (disk) population with cold dynamics or for a (classical bulge) ...
We present physical properties of two submillimeter selected gravitationally lensed sources, identified in the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey. These submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) have flux densities > 100 mJy at 500 um, but are not visible in existing optical imaging. We fit light profiles to each component of the lensing systems in Spitzer IRAC 3.6 and 4.5 um data and successfully disentangle the foreground lens from the background source in each case, providing important constraints on the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of the background SMG at rest-frame optical-near-infrared wavelengths. The SED fits show that these two SMGs have high dust obscuration with Av ~4 to 5 and star formation rates of ~100 M_sun/yr. They have low gas fractions and low dynamical masses compared to 850 um selected galaxies.
New surface photometry of all known elliptical galaxies in the Virgo cluster is combined with published data to derive composite profiles of brightness, ellipticity, position angle, isophote shape, and color over large radius ranges. These provide enough leverage to show that Sersic log I #propor to# r "1"/"n functions fit the brightness profiles I(r) of nearly all ellipticals remarkably well over large dynamic ranges. Therefore, we can confidently identify departures from these profiles that are diagnostic of galaxy formation. Two kinds of departures are seen at small radii. All 10 of our ellipticals with total absolute magnitudes M_V_T #<=# -21.66 have cuspy cores-"missing light"-at small radii. Cores are well known and naturally scoured by binary black holes (BHs) formed in dissipationless ("dry") mergers. All 17 ellipticals with -21.54 #<=# M_V_T #<=# -15.53 do not have cores. We find a new distinct component ...
For purposes of designing targeted cataclysmic variable (CV) detection surveys and interpreting results of other projects with many CV detections such as the ChaMPlane Survey, we have created a model of the CV distribution in the Galaxy. It is modeled as a warped, flared exponential disk with a gaussian vertical distribution. Extinction is based on a detailed Galactic dust and gas model. A luminosity function for CVs is also incorporated, based on a smoothed version of published data. We calculate predicted field detection rates as a function of the limiting magnitude expected for the detecting system (i.e. WIYN/Hydra or NOAO 4m/Mosaic). Monte-Carlo techniques are used to assess statistical fluctuations in these rates. We have created maps of the expected CV distribution for the full non-bulge Galactic plane (20Survey and future CV ...
We present metallicity estimates for seven open clusters based on spectrophotometric indices from moderate-resolution spectroscopy. Observations of field giants of known metallicity provide a correlation between the spectroscopic indices and the metallicity of open cluster giants. We use \\chi^2 analysis to fit the relation of spectrophotometric indices to metallicity in field giants. The resulting function allows an estimate of the target-cluster giants' metallicities with an error in the method of \\pm0.08 dex. We derive the following metallicities for the seven open clusters: NGC 1245, [m/H]=-0.14\\pm0.04; NGC 2099, [m/H]=+0.05\\pm0.05; NGC 2324, [m/H]=-0.06\\pm0.04; NGC 2539, [m/H]=-0.04\\pm0.03; NGC 2682 (M67), [m/H]=-0.05\\pm0.02; NGC 6705, [m/H]=+0.14\\pm0.08; NGC 6819, [m/H]=-0.07\\pm0.12. These metallicity estimates will be useful in planning future extra-solar planet transit searches since ...
We present an abundance analysis based on high-resolution spectra of 10 stars selected to span the full range in metallicity in the Ursa Minor (UMi) dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy. We find that [Fe/H] for the sample stars ranges from -1.35 to -3.10 dex. Combining our sample with previously published work for a total of 16 luminous UMi giants, we establish the trends of abundance ratios [X/Fe] as functions of [Fe/H] for 15 elements. In key cases, particularly for the #alpha#-elements, these trends resemble those for stars in the outer part of the Galactic halo, especially at the lowest metallicities probed. The neutron-capture elements show an r-process distribution over the full range of Fe metallicity reached in this dSph galaxy. This suggests that the duration of star formation in the UMi dSph was shorter than in other dSph galaxies. The derived ages for a larger sample of UMi stars with more uncertain metallicities also ...
Non-axisymmetric forces are presented for 107 spiral galaxies using the 2 Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) images. We apply both Cartesian integration and a polar grid integration utilizing a limited number of azimuthal Fourier components of density. We found that bar strength is independent of the method used to evaluate the gravitational potential. However, the polar method is more suitable for weak and noisy images. Bar strength was found to be sensitive to the Hubble-type dependent scale height of the disk, which has been ignored in the previous studies. On the other hand, the method is rather insensitive to the vertical model of the disk, as long as a same vertical dispersion is assumed, or to the boxy/peanut shaped structure, studied in terms of non-constant vertical scale height along the disk. In the near-IR most galaxies in our sample show non-axisymmetric forces in some level, and 40 percent of them have bars in a ...
The spectral properties of Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) offer a means to isolate pure samples displaying either dominant Ly-alpha in absorption or Ly-alpha in emission using broadband information alone. We present criteria developed using a large z ~ 3 LBG spectroscopic sample from the literature that enables large numbers of each spectral type to be gathered in photometric data, providing good statistics for multiple applications. In addition, we find that the truncated faint, blue-end tail of z ~ 3 LBG population overlaps and leads directly into an expected Ly-alpha emitter (LAE) population. As a result, we present simple criteria to cleanly select large numbers of z ~ 3 LAEs in deep broadband surveys. We present the spectroscopic results of 32 r' <~ 25.5 LBGs and r' <~ 27.0 LAEs at z ~ 3 pre-selected in the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey that confirm these criteria.
In order to investigate nonlinear gravitational galaxyclustering, three different quantitative analyses were carried out: two-point correlation functions, {xi}(r); fractal dimensions, D{sub q}; and f(N) statistics. The relation between the exponent {gamma} of the correlation function ({xi}(r) {proportional to} r{sup -{gamma}}) and the fractal dimensions, D{sub q}, was derived with the help of the probability distribution function, f(N), for finding N galaxies within a volume V. The methods were applied to analyze the results of N-body simulations with power law initial density fluctuations ( {delta}{sub k} {sup 2} {proportional to} k{sup n}, n = 1, 0, -1 and -2). These analyses show that the exponent, {gamma}, of the power law {xi}(r) is approximately 2 in the nonlinear regime for models with n = 1 and 0. For models with n = -1 and -2, the correlation functions comprise two parts of the intermediate and small scales in the ...
The Westerbork Northern Sky Survey (WENSS) and the NRAO/VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) were used to determine an upper limit to the diffuse radio flux from the nearby cluster Abell 2199. For the entire cluster, this limit is <3.25 Jy at 327 MHz from WENSS; for the inner 15' radius, the limit is <168 mJy at 1.4 GHz. These limits are used to constrain the cluster magnetic field by requiring that the radio flux be consistent with the hard X-ray (HXR) flux observed by BeppoSAX, assuming that the observed HXR excess is due to inverse Compton (IC) scattering of cosmic microwave background photons by relativistic electrons in the intracluster gas. We find that the magnetic field must be very weak (<0.073 uG) in order to avoid producing an observable radio halo. We also consider the possibility that the HXR excess is due to nonthermal bremsstrahlung (NTB) by a population of suprathermal ...
We present results from a large volume simulation of Hydrogen reionization. We combine 3d radiative transfer calculations and an N-body simulation, describing structure formation in the IGM, to detail the growth of HII regions around high redshift galaxies. Our simulation tracks 1024^3 dark matter particles, in a box of side length 65.6 Mpc/h. This large volume allows us to accurately characterize the size distribution of HII regions throughout most of the reionization process. At the same time, our simulation resolves many of the small galaxies likely responsible for reionization. It confirms a picture anticipated by analytic models: HII regions grow collectively around highly-clustered sources, and have a well-defined characteristic size, evolving from a sub-Mpc scale at the beginning of reionization to R>10 Mpc towards the end. We present a detailed statistical description of our results, and compare them with a ...
Hot gas trapped in a dark matter halo will produce a decrement in the surface brightness of the microwave background, the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect. While massive clusters produce the strongest central SZ decrements, we point out that a local galaxy halo, specifically the halo of M31, may be one of the brightest integrated SZ sources in the sky. For various realistic gas distributions consistent with current X-ray limits, we show that the integrated SZ decrement from M31 will be comparable to decrements already detected in more distant sources, provided its halo contains an appreciable quantity of hot gas. A measurement of this decrement would provide direct information on the mass, spatial distribution and thermodynamic state of hot gas in a low-mass halo, and could place important constraints on current models of galaxy formation. Detecting such an extended (~ 10 degree), low-amplitude signal will be challenging, but ...
In a first paper (Forni & Aghanim 1999), we developed several statistical discriminators to test the non-gaussian nature of a signal. These tests are based on the study of the coefficients in a wavelet decomposition basis. In this paper, we apply them in a cosmological context, to the study of the nature of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies. The latter represent the superposition of primary anisotropy imprints of the initial density perturbations and secondary ones due to photon interactions after recombination. In an inflationary scenario (standard Cold Dark Matter) with gaussian distributed fluctuations, we study the statistical signature of the secondary effects. More specifically, we investigate the dominant effects arising from the Compton scattering of CMB photons in ionised regions of the Universe: the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect of galaxyclusters and the effects of a spatially inhomogeneous re-ionisation of the ...
We consider the evolution of binary systems formed by a Supermassive Black Hole (SMBH) residing in the center of a galaxy or a globular cluster and a star in its immediate vicinity. The star is assumed to fill its Roche lobe, and the SMBH accretes primarily the matter of this star. The evolution of such a system is mainly determined by the same processes as for an ordinary binary. The main differences are that the donor star is irradiated by hard radiation emitted during accretion onto the SMBH; in a detached system, nearly all the donor wind is captured by the black hole, which strongly affects the evolution of the semi-major axis; it is not possible for companions of the most massive SMBHs to fill their Roche lobes, since the corresponding orbital separations are smaller than the radius ...
While feedback is important in theoretical models, we do not really know if it works in reality. Feedback from jets appears to be sufficient to keep the cooling flows in clusters from cooling too much and it may be sufficient to regulate black hole growth in dominant clustergalaxies. Only about 10% of all quasars, however, have powerful radio jets, so jet-related feedback cannot be generic. The outflows could potentially be a more common form of AGN feedback, but measuring mass and energy outflow rates is a challenging task, the main unknown being the location and geometry of the absorbing medium. Using a novel technique, we made first such measurement in NGC 4051 using XMM data and found the mass and energy outflow rates to be 4 to 5 orders of magnitude below those required for efficient feedback. To test whether the outflow velocity in NGC 4051 is unusually low, we compared the ratio of outflow velocity to escape ...
In a recent survey of the stellar populations of LINERS and LINER/HII Transition Objects (TOs) we identified a numerous class of nuclei which stand out because of their conspicuous 10^8-9 yr populations. These objects were called ``Young-TOs'', since they all have TO-like emission line ratios. In this paper we investigate the radial variations of spectral properties in Low Luminosity AGN. Our analysis is based on high S/N, 3500-5500 A, long-slit spectra for 47 galaxies. The data probe distances of typically up to 850 pc from the nucleus with a resolution of ~ 100 pc and S/N ~ 30. Stellar population gradients are mapped by the radial profiles of absorption line equivalent widths and colours along the slit. These variations are further analyzed by means of a decomposition of each spectrum in terms of template galaxies representative of very young (<= 10^7 yr), intermediate age (10^8-9 yr) and old (10^10 yr) populations. ...
We study the expected properties of starbursts in order to provide the point of reference for interpretation of high-z galaxysurveys and of very metal-poor galaxies. We concentrate mainly on the UV characteristics such as the ionizing spectra, the UV continuum, the Ly alpha and HeII 1640 A line and two-photon continuum emission. We use evolutionary synthesis models covering metallicities from Pop III to solar and a wide range of IMFs. We also combine the synthetic SEDs with the CLOUDY photoionization code for more accurate predictions of nebular emission, and to study possible departures from case B assumed in the synthesis models. The ionizing fluxes, UV continuum properties, and predicted Ly alpha and HeII 1640 A line strengths are presented for synthesis models covering a wider range of parameter space than our earlier calculations. Strong departures from case B predictions are obtained for Ly alpha and two-photon ...
We have obtained UBVRI images with the Kitt Peak and Cerro Tololo 4-m telescopes and Mosaic cameras of seven dwarfs in (or near) the Local Group, all of which have known evidence of recent star formation: IC10, NGC 6822, WLM, Sextans B, Sextans A, Pegasus,and Phoenix. We construct color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of these systems, as well as neighboring regions that can be used to evaluate the degree of foreground contamination by stars in the Milky Way. Inter-comparison of these CMDs with those of M31, M33, the LMC, and the SMC permits us to determine improved reddening values for a typical OB star found within these galaxies. All of the CMDs reveal a strong or modest number of blue supergiants. All but Pegasus and Phoenix also show the clear presence of red supergiants in the CMD, although IC10 appears to be deficient in these objects given its large WR population. The bright stars of intermediate color in the CMD are badly contaminated by foreground stars ...
Diffuse {gamma}-ray emission produced by the interaction of cosmic-ray particles with matter and radiation in the Galaxy can be used to probe the distribution of cosmic rays and their sources in different regions of the Galaxy. With its large field of view and long observation time, the Milagro Gamma Ray Observatory is an ideal instrument for surveying large regions of the Northern Hemisphere sky and for detecting diffuse {gamma}-ray emission at very high energies. Here, the spatial distribution and the flux of the diffuse {gamma}-ray emission in the TeV energy range with a median energy of 15 TeV for Galactic longitudes between 30{sup o} and 110{sup o} and between 136{sup o} and 216{sup o} and for Galactic latitudes between -10{sup o} and 10{sup o} are determined. The measured fluxes are consistent with predictions of the GALPROP model everywhere except for the Cygnus region (l {element_of} [65{sup o}, 85{sup o}]). For the ...
Very large databases are required to store massive amounts of data that are continuously inserted and queried. Analyzing huge data sets and extracting valuable pattern in many applications are interesting for researchers. We can identify two main groups of techniques for huge data bases mining. One group refers to streaming data and applies mining techniques whereas second group attempts to solve this problem directly with efficient algorithms. Recently many researchers have focused on data stream as an efficient strategy against huge data base mining instead of mining on entire data base. The main problem in data stream mining means evolving data is more difficult to detect in this techniques therefore unsupervised methods should be applied. However, clustering techniques can lead us to discover hidden information. In this survey, we try to clarify: first, the different problem definitions related to data stream clustering ...
The possibility of radio galaxies being random sample of otherwise normal elliptical galaxies is tested. Starting with the observed optical luminosity functions for elliptical galaxies, it is shown that the probability of an elliptical forming a radio source is a continuous, increasing function of optical luminosity, precisely proportional to square of the optical luminosity of the galaxy. Once the probability function is fixed, the luminosity function of normal elliptical galaxies is used as input for Monte Carlo simulations that reproduce the distribution of radio galaxies in the radio-optical luminosity plane. Our results show that radio galaxies are luminosity biased, but otherwise random sample of elliptical galaxies. This unified view of radio and non-radio ellipticals also explains the well known difference of 0.5 ...
Wolf-Rayet stars (WRs) are evolved massive stars, and the relative number of WC-type and WN-type WRs should vary with metallicity, providing a sensitive test of stellar evolutionary theory. The observed WC/WN ratio is much higher than that predicted by theory in some galaxies but this could be due to observational incompleteness for WN-types, which have weaker lines. Previous studies of M33's WR content show a galactocentric gradient in the relative numbers of WCs and WNs, but only small regions have been surveyed with sufficient sensitivity to detect all of the WNs. Here we present a sensitive survey for WRs covering all of M33, finding 55 new WRs, mostly of WN type. Our spectroscopy also improves the spectral types of many previously known WRs, establishing in one case that the star is actually a background quasar. The total number of spectroscopically confirmed WRs in M33 is 206, a number we argue is complete to ...
We examine the accretion properties in a sample of 42 hard (3-60keV) X-ray selected nearby broad-line AGNs. The energy range in the sample is harder than that usually used in the similar previous studies. These AGNs are mainly complied from the RXTE All Sky Survey (XSS), and complemented by the released INTEGRAL AGN catalog. The black hole masses, bolometric luminosities of AGN, and Eddington ratios are derived from their optical spectra in terms of the broad H$\\beta$ emission line. The tight correlation between the hard X-ray (3-20keV) and bolometric/line luminosity is well identified in our sample. Also identified is a strong inverse Baldwin relationship of the H$\\beta$ emission line. In addition, all these hard X-ray AGNs are biased toward luminous objects with high Eddington ratio (mostly between 0.01 to 0.1) and low column density ($<10^{22} \\mathrm{cm^{-2}}$), which is most likely due to the selection effect of the surveys. The hard ...
Two geochemical surveys were conducted in 1992 and 2000 respectively in the Yimeng Uplift of the Ordos Basin, China. The earlier survey grid had 1 x 5km spacing and the later survey grid had 0.5 x 0.5km spacing. The acid-extractable hydrocarbons of both surveys show similar geochemical trends. However, the anomalies obtained with traditional statistical methods do not correlate with existing oil/gas fields. This study reveals two problems in the data and their processing. The first one is interference caused by the variation of soil composition. We applied a wavelet-analysis-based method to eliminate this interference in the data of the later survey. The second is that micro-seepage anomalies did not identify existing oil/gas fields and seepage anomalies related with faults had not been previously recognized. We modified the logic multiplication cluster analysis ...
We propose to use alternative cosmic tracers to measure the dark energy equation of state and the matter content of the Universe [w(z) & Omega_m]. Our proposed method consists of two components: (a) tracing the Hubble relation using HII galaxies which can be detected up to very large redshifts, z~4, as an alternative to supernovae type Ia, and (b) measuring the clustering pattern of X-ray selected AGN at a median redshift of z~1. Each component of the method can in itself provide interesting constraints on the cosmological parameters, especially under our anticipation that we will reduce the corresponding random and systematic errors significantly. However, by joining their likelihood functions we will be able to put stringent cosmological constraints and break the known degeneracies between the dark energy equation of state (whether it is constant or variable) and the matter content of the universe and provide a powerful and alternative ...
We propose to use alternative cosmic tracers to measure the dark energy equation of state and the matter content of the Universe [w(z) & \\Omega_m]. Our proposed method consists of two components: (a) tracing the Hubble relation using HII-like starburst galaxies, as an alternative to SNIa, which can be detected up to very large redshifts, z~4, and (b) measuring the clustering pattern of X-ray selected AGN at a median redshift of ~1. Each component of the method can in itself provide interesting constraints on the cosmological parameters, especially under our anticipation that we will reduce the corresponding random and systematic errors significantly. However, by joining their likelihood functions we will be able to put stringent cosmological constraints and break the known degeneracies between the dark energy equation of state (whether it is constant or variable) and the matter content of the universe and provide a powerful and alternative ...
The measurement of q{sub o} is extremely important for understanding the quantity of matter in our universe. The measurement of q{sub o} using supernovae of type Ia as standard candles is appealing because it requires less modeling than other methods using galaxies. The challenge with using supernovae to measure q{sub o} is in finding enough of them. In order to find supernovas, we have constructed a very popular f/1 camera for the 3.9m Anglo-Australian Telescope. The camera uses reducing optics that put a 17 in. {times} 17 in. field on a 1024 {times} 1024 pixel Thomson CCD. Using this system, we image to 23rd magnitude in five minutes. We have developed a software package that uses image subtraction to find supernovae that are approximately magnitude 22.4 or brighter in these images. One field can be processed every 6.6 minutes on a relatively unloaded VAX 6000-6510. We estimate that this system should find one supernova in every 105--139 images (about two nights ...
If gamma-ray bursts originate in galaxies at cosmological distances, the host galaxy should be detected if a burst error box is searched deep enough; are the host galaxies present? We present and implement a statistical methodology which evaluates whether the observed galaxy detections in a burst's error box are consistent with the presence of the host galaxy, or whether all the detections can be attributed to unrelated background galaxies. This methodology requires the model-dependent distribution of host galaxy fluxes. While our methodology was derived for galaxies in burst error boxes, it can be applied to other candidate host objects (e.g., active galaxies) and to other types of error boxes. As examples, we apply this methodology to two published studies of burst error boxes. We find that the ...
Problem statement: Clustering has a number of techniques that have been developed in statistics, pattern recognition, data mining, and other fields. Subspace clustering enumerates clusters of objects in all subspaces of a dataset. It tends to produce many over lapping clusters. Approach: Subspace clustering and projected clustering are research areas for clustering in high dimensional spaces. In this research we experiment three clustering oriented algorithms, PROCLUS, P3C and STATPC. Results: In general, PROCLUS performs better in terms of time of calculation and produced the least number of un-clustered data while STATPC outperforms PROCLUS and P3C in the accuracy of both cluster points and relevant attributes found. Conclusions/Recommendations: In this study, we analyze in ...
An account is given of the existence of kinematic subsystems in elliptical galaxies, in conjunction with discussions of the application of statistical tests to determine whether ellipticals are triaxial, and of the modified Faber-Jackson relation for elliptical galaxies. Recent data obtained by Kormendy (1988) and Dressler and Richstone (1988) on the kinematics of the M31, M32, and NGC 4594 central regions indicate both very steep rotation curves and peaked velocity dispersion profiles. If elliptical galaxies are triaxial, and if it is common for them to have accreted other galaxies during their evolution, then both a source of fuel for an active nucleus and a mechanism for getting that fuel from outside the galaxy into its center is available. 61 refs.
In this work, we report for the first time on the analysis of genetic diversity within a set of 36 Tunisian Opuntia ficus indica (L.) Mill. ecotypes using RAPD markers.Random decamer primers were screened to assess their ability to detect polymorphisms in this plant crop. Thirty-nine RAPD markers were revealed and used to survey the genetic diversity at the DNA level and to establish relationships.Consequently, considerable genetic diversity was detected and the UPGMA analysis permitted the discrimination of all the genotypes and enabled their sorting into thirteen groups. The accession `R Sbiba inerme' was significantly divergent from all tested genotypes. In addition, as shown by the clustering the tested genotypes did not significantly diverge, though originating from different localiti...
The authors report an effort to determine the basis for the altered migration of seven inherited albumin variants detected by one-dimensional electrophoresis in population surveys involving tribal Amerindians and Japanese children. An amino acid substitution has thus far been determined for four of the variants. The randomness in the albumin polypeptide of these and the other sixteen independently ascertained amino acid substitutions of albumin and proalbumin thus far established was analyzed; the clustering of eight of these at two positions in the six-amino acid propeptide sequence seems noteworthy. By comparison with other proteins studied by electrophoresis, albumin exhibits average variability. It is a paradox that individuals who, for genetic reasons, lack albumin exhibit no obvious ill effects; yet, electrophoretic variants of albumin are no more numerous than are variants of proteins, the absence of which results in severe disease.
The BL Lacertae object PKS 1413+135 is associated with a disk dominated galaxy which heavily absorbs the BL Lac nucleus at optical and X-ray wavelengths. It has been argued whether this galaxy is actually the host galaxy of PKS 1413+135 or whether the BL Lac is a background QSO, gravitationally lensed by the apparent host galaxy. We have obtained deep high resolution H-band images of this unusual BL Lac object using the UKIRT IRCAM3. Our observations show that the BL Lac nucleus is centered within < 0.05 arcsec of the galaxy. Based on this result we assess the probability for the lensing scenario and come to the conclusion that the disk galaxy is indeed the host of PKS 1413+135. The galaxy shows peanut-shaped isophotes, suggesting the presence of a central bar which is a common feature of AGN
believe the system is similar to the face-on spiral and companion known as M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy. Tomorrow's picture: Sleeping Beauty < Archive | Index | Search | Calendar |...
Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Whirlpool Galaxy Deep Field Credit & Copyright: Jon Christensen Explanation: Follow the handle...
to be similar to the system of face-on spiral and small companion known as M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy. Tomorrow's picture: Beta Pic < | Archive | Index | Search | Calendar | RSS |...
on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy Credit & Copyright: Todd Boroson (NOAO), AURA, NOAO, NSF Explanation: The...
In the next decade Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) will be used to test theories predicting changes in the Dark Energy equation of state with time. Ultimately this requires a dedicated space mission like JDEM. SNe Ia are mature cosmological probes --- their limitations are well characterized, and a path to improvement is clear. Dominant systematic errors include photometric calibration, selection effects, reddening, and population-dependent differences. Building on past lessons, well-controlled new surveys are poised to make strides in these areas: the Palomar Transient Factory, Skymapper, La Silla QUEST, Pan-STARRS, the Dark Energy Survey, LSST, and JDEM. They will obviate historical calibrations and selection biases, and allow comparisons via large subsamples. Some systematics follow from our ignorance of SN Ia progenitors, which there is hope of determining with SN Ia rate studies from 0
This report summarizes the results and activities funded by this three-year award. The principal goal of this project was to determine the thermal conductivity in clusters of galaxies. Intracluster plasmas possess chaotic magnetic fields. Since charged particles are constrained to move primarily along magnetic field lines, the topology of intracluster magnetic fields slows particle diffusion relative to the non-magnetized case, thereby reducing the thermal conductivity. Our first approach to this problem was to employ the static-magnetic-field approximation. In reality, intracluster magnetic field lines are constantly moving, since they are advected by turbulent intracluster motions. The turbulent velocities, however, are much smaller than the rapid speeds of thermal electrons, which make the dominant contribution to the thermal conductivity. In the static-field approximation, one neglects turbulent motions of field lines, and calculates the ...
Weak lensing measurements are entering a precision era to statistically map the distribution of matter in the universe. The most common measurement has been of the variance of the projected surface density of matter, which corresponds to the induced correlation in alignments of background galaxies. This measurement of the fluctuations is insensitive to the total mass content, like using waves on the ocean to measure its depths. But when the depth is shallow as happens near a beach, waves become skewed. Similarly, a measurement of skewness in the projected matter distribution directly measures the total matter content of the universe. While skewness has already been convincingly detected, its constraint on cosmology is still weak. We address optimal analyses for the CFHT Legacy Survey in the presence of noise. We show that a compensated Gaussian filter with a width of 2.5 arc minutes optimizes the cosmological constraint, yielding $\\Delta ...
We report results from a 50 ks XMM-Newton observation of the dust-reddened broad-line quasar FTM 0830+3759 (z=0.413) selected from the FIRST/2MASS Red Quasar survey. For this AGN, a very short 9 ks Chandra exposure had suggested a feature-rich X-ray spectrum and HST images revealed a very disturbed host galaxy morphology. Contrary to classical, optically-selected quasars, the X-ray properties of red (i.e. with J-Ks> 1.7 and R-Ks> 4) broad line quasars are still quite unexplored, although there is a growing consensus that, due to moderate obscuration, these objects can offer a unique view of spectral components typically swamped by the AGN light in normal, blue quasars. The XMM-Newton observation discussed here has definitely confirmed the complexity of the X-ray spectrum revealing the presence of a cold (or mildly-ionized) absorber with Nh ~10^{22} cm^-2 along the line of sight to the nucleus and a Compton reflection component accompanied ...
I present here a review of past and present multi-disciplinary research of the Pittsburgh Computational AstroStatistics (PiCA) group. This group is dedicated to developing fast and efficient statistical algorithms for analysing huge astronomical data sources. I begin with a short review of multi-resolutional kd-trees which are the building blocks for many of our algorithms. For example, quick range queries and fast n-point correlation functions. I will present new results from the use of Mixture Models (Connolly et al. 2000) in density estimation of multi-color data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Specifically, the selection of quasars and the automated identification of X-ray sources. I will also present a brief overview of the False Discovery Rate (FDR) procedure (Miller et al. 2001a) and show how it has been used in the detection of ``Baryon Wiggles'' in the local galaxy power spectrum and source identification in radio data. ...
The mechanism proposed by Kormendy (1984) for the formation of counterrotating cores in elliptical galaxies is investigated using self-consistent numerical simulations of mergers between a high- and a low-luminosity elliptical galaxies. The conditions for a counterrotation to appear are determined, observational properties of the remnants are described, and the evolution of the structural and kinematic parameters of the larger galaxy is analyzed. It is shown that a counterrotation results only when the merging orbits are retrograde, due to a large change in the secondary spin during the merger. 36 refs.
In cluster-based routing protocol (CBRP), two-level hierarchical structure is successfully used to reduce over-flooding in wireless Ad Hoc networks. As it is vulnerable to a single point of failure, we propose a new adaptive distributed threshold scheme to replace the cluster head by a group of cluster heads within each cluster, called COUNCIL, and distribute the service of single cluster head to multiple cluster heads using (k,n) threshold secret sharing scheme. An Ad Hoc network formed by COUNCIL based clusters can work correctly when the number of compromised cluster heads is smaller than k. To implement this adaptive threshold scheme in wireless Ad Hoc Networks, membership of the clusters should be defined in an adaptive way. In this paper, we mainly discuss our algorithm for forming COUNCIL ...
We test the hypothesis that radio galaxies are a random subset of otherwise normal elliptical galaxies. Starting with the observed optical luminosity functions for elliptical galaxies, we show that the probability of an elliptical forming a radio source is a continuous, increasing function of optical luminosity, proportional to L squared. With this probability function and the luminosity function of normal elliptical galaxies as input to Monte Carlo simulations, we reproduce the observed distribution of radio galaxies in the radio-optical luminosity plane. Our results show that radio galaxies are a luminosity-biased but otherwise random sample of elliptical galaxies. This unified view of radio-loud and radio-quiet ellipticals also explains the well known difference of ~0.5 mag in average optical luminosity between FRI and FRII radio ...
We present large field HI-line emission maps obtained with the single-dish Green Bank Telescope centered on the dwarf irregular galaxies Sextans A, NGC 2366, and WLM. We do not detect the extended skirts of emission associated with the galaxies that were reported from Effelsberg observations (Huchtmeier et al. 1981). The ratio of HI at 10^19 atoms cm^-2 to optical extents of these galaxies are instead 2--3, which is normal for this type of galaxy. There is no evidence for a truncation in the HI distribution >/=10^19 atoms cm^-2.
The diameters d/sub r/ of inner ring structures in disk galaxies are used as geometric distance indicators to derive the distances of 453 spiral and lenticular galaxies, mainly in the distance interval 4<#delta#<63 Mpc. The diameters are weighted means from the catalogs to Kormendy, Pedreros and Madore, and the authors. The distances are calculated by means of the two- and three-parameter formulae of Paper II; the adopted mean distance moduli #mu#"0(r) have mean errors from all sources of 0.6--0.7 mag for the well-observed galaxies.
The characteristics and evolution of dwarf spheroidal galaxies (DSGs) are modeled on the basis of high-resolution CCD photometry obtained with the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope and reported by Kormendy (1986). The data and the results of core-parameter correlation studies are presented in extensive graphs and discussed. It is inferred that at least some DSGs are formed by the stripping of gas from dwarf spiral and irregular galaxies, although internal gas processes may also be important. The hypothesis that DSGs represent the faint end of the elliptical-galaxy sequence appears to be ruled out. 50 references.
Postulated impacts of large energy releases were examined in the light of existing technical information. The magnitudes of direct atmospheric modifications were estimated, and the ecological and economic implications of the modifications were explored. Energy releases from energy centers (10 to 40 power plants at a single site) and individual power plant clusters (1 to 4 power plants) were considered. In the atmosphere the energy will exist initially as increased temperature (sensible heat), moisture (latent heat), and air motion (kinetic energy). Addition of energy could result in increased cloudiness and fog, and changed precipitation patterns. A framework for economic analysis of the impacts of the postulated atmospheric modifications was established on the basis of costs and benefits. Willingness-to-pay was selected as the appropriate measure for valuing each impact. The primary and secondary atmospheric modifications may affect recreation, transportation, and ...
A brief survey is given of some recent results on doping of 4H- and 6H-SiC by ion implantation. The doses and energies used are between 10{sup 9} and 10{sup 15} cm{sup -2} and 100 keV and 5 MeV, respectively, and B and Al ions (p-type dopants) are predominantly studied. After low dose implantation ({<=}10{sup 10} cm{sup -2}) a strong compensation is observed in n-type samples and this holds irrespective of implantation temperature up to 600 C. However, at higher doses (10{sup 14}-10{sup 15} Al/cm{sup 2}) the rate of defect recombination (annihilation) increases substantially during hot implants ({>=}200 C), and in these samples one type of structural defect dominates after post-implant annealing at 1700-2000 C. The defect is identified as a dislocation loop composed of clustered interstitial atoms inserted on the basal plane in the hexagonal crystal structure. Finally, transient enhanced diffusion (TED) of ion-implanted boron in ...
Abstract: The clustered logrank test is a nonparametric method of significance testing for correlated survival data. Examples of its application include cluster randomized trials where groups of patients rather than individuals are randomized to either a treatment or a control intervention. We describe a SAS macro that implements the 2-sample clustered logrank test for data where the entire cluster is randomized to the same treatment group. We discuss the theory and applications behind this test as well as details of the SAS code.
This report describes the results from acoustic emission (AE) and ultrasonic monitoring of the Aespoe Pillar Stability Experiment (APSE) at SKB's Hard Rock Laboratory (HRL), Sweden. The APSE is being undertaken to demonstrate the current capability to predict spalling in a fractured rock mass using numerical modelling techniques, and to demonstrate the effect of backfill and confining pressure on the propagation of micro-cracks in rock adjacent to deposition holes within a repository. An ultrasonic acquisition system has provided acoustic emission and ultrasonic survey monitoring throughout the various phases of the experiment. Results from the entire data set are provided with this document so that they can be effectively compared to several numerical modelling studies, and to mechanical and thermal measurements conducted around the pillar volume, in an 'integrated analysis' performed by SKB staff. This document provides an in-depth ...
Spectral line intensity data are presented for ionized hydrogen regions in the giant spiral galaxy M101. The influence of interstellar extinction is assessed and electron temperatures of the gas clouds are derived.
We investigate the formation and evolution of dwarf galaxies in a high resolution, hydrodynamical cosmological simulation of a Milky Way sized halo and its environment. Our simulation includes gas cooling, star formation, supernova feedback, metal enrichment and UV heating. In total, 90 satellites and more than 400 isolated dwarf galaxies are formed in the simulation, allowing a systematic study of the internal and environmental processes that determine their evolution. We find that 95% of satellite galaxies are gas-free at z=0, and identify three mechanisms for gas loss: supernova feedback, tidal stripping, and photo-evaporation due to re-ionization. Gas-rich satellite galaxies are only found with total masses above ~ 5x10^9 solar masses. In contrast, for isolated dwarf galaxies, a total mass of ~ 10^9 solar masses constitutes a sharp transition; less massive ...
We present results of a study of large-scale neutral hydrogen (HI) gas in nearby radio galaxies. We find that the early-type host galaxies of different types of radio sources (compact, FR-I and FR-II) appear to contain fundamentally different large-scale HI properties: enormous regular rotating disks and rings are present around the host galaxies of a significant fraction of low power compact radio sources, while no large-scale HI is detected in low power, edge-darkened FR-I radio galaxies. Preliminary results of a study of nearby powerful, edge-brightened FR-II radio galaxies show that these systems generally contain significant amounts of large-scale HI, often distributed in tail- or bridge-like structures, indicative of a recent galaxy merger or collision. Our results suggest that different types of radio galaxies may have a different ...
on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy Credit: W. Keel (U. Alabama), 1.1-meter Hall Telescope, Lowell Observatory...
on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy Credit: 1.1 Meter Hall Telescope, Lowell Observatory, Bill Keel (U. Alabama)...
Clicking on the image will bring up the highest resolution version available. The Whirlpool Galaxy in Infrared Dust Credit: Infrared: NASA, ESA, M. Regan & B. Whitmore (STScI),...
believe the system is similar to the face-on spiral and companion known as M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy. Tomorrow's picture: plates known < | Archive | Index | Search | Calendar |...
on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy in Dust and Stars Credit: Credit: N. Scoville (Caltech), T. Rector (U....
on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy in Dust and Stars Credit: N. Scoville (Caltech), T. Rector ( (NOAO) et al.,...
The energy fed by active galactic nuclei to the surrounding diffuse baryons changes the latter's amount, temperature, and distribution; so in groups and in member galaxies it affects the X-ray luminosity and also the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. Here we compute how the latter is enhanced by the transient blastwave driven by a shining quasar, and is depressed when the equilibrium is recovered with a depleted density. We constrain such depressions and enhancements with the masses of relic black holes in galaxies and the X-ray luminosities in groups. We discuss how all these linked observables can tell the quasar contribution to the thermal history of the baryons pervading galaxies and groups.
A remarkably simple argument successfully accounts for the rate of star formation in different galaxies. The snag is that the timescale is uncomfortably short.
The mass distribution of the Sombrero Galaxy, NGC 4594, is calculated in order to investigate the suspicion that the rotational velocity of the galactic gas does not measure the circular velocity in the galaxy. It is shown that the H II rotation velocities are much less than circular in the central 35 arcsec of the galaxy, and that the suspicion is correct. Thus, the H II rotation velocities cannot be used to measure the mass distribution. The absorption-line rotation curve is used to derive the mass distribution, and it is found that the M/L ratio is nearly constant. It is concluded that the visible matter is self-gravitating at least in the central 180 arcsec. 44 references.
Surface photometry of bulges and elliptical galaxies is reviewed. The properties of cores and nuclei as revealed by improvements in seeing and the use of CCDs are examined, and newly discovered structural details such as dust, shells, and dynamical subsystems which show the importance of accretion events in galactic evolution are addressed. Improved constraints on galaxy formation resulting from better measurements of parameter scaling laws are discussed, and accurate measurements of departures from elliptical isophotes and of color gradients obtained with CCDs are considered.
The Thomsen and Frandsen (1983) cosmological test employing the observed correlation between elliptical galaxy surface brightness and scale size in order to avoid problems due to dynamical evolution is presently extended to make use of arbitrary galaxy samples. The explicit dependence on stellar evolution is also demonstrated. On the assumption that this evolution is calculable, an equation for the deceleration parameter entirely in terms of observables is derived. The test is applied to two available samples. 25 references.
Dwarf galaxies are generally faint. To derive their age and metallicity distributions, it is critical to optimize the use of any collected photon. Koleva et al., using full spectrum fitting, have found strong population gradients in some dwarf elliptical galaxies. Here, we show that the population profiles derived with this method are consistent and more precise than those obtained with spectrophotometric indices. This allows studying fainter objects in less telescope time.
Gas and stars in spiral galaxies are modelled with the DUAL code, using hydrodynamic and N-body techniques. The simulations reveal morphological differences mirroring the dual morphologies seen in B and K' band observations of many spiral galaxies. In particular, the gaseous images are more flocculent with lower pitch angles than the stellar images, and the stellar arm-interarm contrast correlates with the degree of morphological decoupling.
Recent observations of the evolutionary properties of paired and interacting galaxies are reviewed, with special emphasis on their global emission properties and star formation rates. Data at several wavelengths provide strong confirmation of the hypothesis, proposed originally by Larson and Tinsley, that interactions trigger global bursts of star formation in galaxies. The nature and properties of the starbursts, and their overall role in galactic evolution are also discussed.
The hypothesis that the blue stragglers in the dwarf spheroidal galaxie have a collisional origin is considered. If all of the dark matter in these galaxies is in the form of low-mass stars and the binary frequency is [approx equal] 50%, then it is quite possible that [approx equal] 10% to 20% of their blue stragglers have been produced by physical stellar collisions.
BackgroundThe search for cluster structure in microarray datasets is a base problem for the so-called "-omic sciences". A difficult problem in clustering is how to handle data with...Full Text Available
The individuality of production devices should be taken into account when statistical models are designed for parallelized devices. In the present work, a new clustering method, referred to as NC-spectral clustering, is proposed for discriminating the individuality of production devices. The key idea is to classify samples according to the differences of the correlation among measured variables, since the individuality of production devices is expressed by the correlation. In the proposed NC-spectral clustering, the nearest correlation (NC) method and spectral clustering are integrated. The NC method generates the weighted graph that expresses the correlation-based similarities between samples, and the constructed graph is partitioned by spectral clustering. A new statistical process monit...
The dynamics of a cluster-type system formed by constant total number of molecules, M, is studied when clusters change their sizes by nearest-size transitions (the Szilard model) with time-dependent boundary conditions and non-zero initial cluster size distribution. We compare these results to those reported previously, when non-stationary cluster size distribution was considered under the condition that only monomers are present in the system at the initial moment t=0, and describe the effect of arbitrary pre-existing clusters on the time evolution of the interacting clusters with different sizes, n. The average group size problem is also solved, and the process of relaxation in the system is studied. authors)
This paper discusses the results of the absorption-line spectroscopy carried out with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on the prototypical Sa galaxy NGC 4594 (the Sombrero galaxy). Two conclusions were derived concerning this galaxy. First, at the values of r less than 10 arcsec, there is a well-defined nuclear disk of stars which is not obviously connected to the main disk at larger radii. Second, the mass-to-light ratio, M/L(V), of the galaxy rises abruptly at r values less than 1 arcsec to values of M/L(V) greater than 50, which is at least 10 times as large as the mass-to-light ratios at r values above 2 arcsec. This implies the presence of a central dark mass of a magnitude between 10 to the 8.5th and 10 to the 9.5th solar masses. 54 references.
We study the relation between size and star formation activity in a complete sample of 225 massive (M_* > 5 x 10"1"0 M _s_u_n) galaxies at 1.5 < z < 2.5, selected from the FIREWORKS UV-IR catalog of the CDFS. Based on stellar population synthesis model fits to the observed rest-frame UV-NIR spectral energy distributions, and independent MIPS 24 #mu#m observations, 65% of the galaxies are actively forming stars, while 35% are quiescent. Using sizes derived from two-dimensional surface brightness profile fits to high-resolution (FWHM_P_S_F #approx# 0.''45) ground-based ISAAC data, we confirm and improve the significance of the relation between star formation activity and compactness found in previous studies, using a large, complete mass-limited sample. At z #approx# 2, massive quiescent galaxies are significantly smaller than massive star-forming galaxies, and a median factor of 0.34 #+-# 0.02 ...
Inner ring structures are observed in about one quarter of all lenticular or spiral galaxies. Statistics of the relative frequencies of the pure ring (r) and broken ring (rs) varieties in the Second Reference Catalogue (RC2) among the different families (A, AB, B) of lenticular (L) and spiral (S) galaxies at different stages (T) along the revised Hubble sequence are presented; selection effects dependent on classification weight, apparent diameter and axis ratio are discussed. Comparisons of ring diameters D/sub r/ listed in the (First) Reference Catalogue (RC1) with independent measurements of 43 barred systems by Kormendy show good systematic agreement with a standard deviation sigma_1_2(D/sub r/) = 0'.10 and individual relative mean errors sigma(D/sub r/)/ < D/sub r/ > approx. = 5%. Axis ratios are also in good agreement with sigma_1_2(b/a) = 0.06. Comparisons of axis ratios of rings and parent galaxies show ...
Photometric and kinematic observations of the peculiar S0 galaxy IC 4767, the X-galaxy, are presented. At various intensities the bulge of this galaxy looks like a normal spheroidal system with elliptical isophotes, a well-defined rectangle, and a peanut-shaped or X-shaped structure with components aligned at oblique angles to the major axis. The observations reveal a rapidly rotating inner disk of gas and dust which is nearly aligned with the major axis. The presence of gaseous emission alone suggests an accretion event. The stars in the outer regions of the X-component are rotating nearly as rapidly as the gas in the main disk, indicating that they are in relatively circular orbits. The five most prominent peanut-shaped bulges all have several nearby companions, evidence that the peanut deformity is due to interaction between galaxies. An analogy with the formation mechanism proposed for polar-ring ...
We study the evolution of the cold gas content of galaxies by splitting the interstellar medium into its atomic and molecular hydrogen components, using the galaxy formation model GALFORM in the LCDM framework. We calculate the molecular-to-atomic hydrogen mass ratio, H2/HI, in each galaxy using two different approaches; the pressure-based empirical relation of Blitz & Rosolowsky and the theoretical model of Krumholz, McKeee & Tumlinson, and apply them to consistently calculate the star formation rates of galaxies. We find that the model based on the Blitz & Rosolowsky law predicts an HI mass function, CO(1-0) luminosity function, correlations between the H2/HI ratio and stellar and cold gas mass, and infrared-CO luminosity relation in good agreement with local and high redshift observations. The HI mass function evolves weakly with redshift, with the number density of high mass ...
BackgroundGhana has not conducted a national tuberculin survey or tuberculosis prevalence survey since the establishment of the National Tuberculosis Control Programme. The primary...Full Text Available
This paper describes the approach taken to the XML Mining track at INEX 2008 by a group at the Queensland University of Technology. We introduce the K-tree clustering algorithm in an Information Retrieval context by adapting it for document clustering. Many large scale problems exist in document clustering. K-tree scales well with large inputs due to its low complexity. It offers promising results both in terms of efficiency and quality. Document classification was completed using Support Vector Machines.
{The determination of cluster masses is a complex problem that would be aided by information about the cluster shape and orientation (along the line-of-sight).} {It is in this context, that we have developed a scheme for identifying the intrinsic morphology and inclination of a cluster, by looking for the signature of the true cluster characteristics in the inter-comparison of the different deprojected emissivity profiles (that all project to the same X-ray brightness distribution) and by using SZe data when available.} {We deproject the cluster X-ray surface brightness profile under the assumptions of four different geometry and inclination configurations for the observed system; these 4 configurations correspond to four extreme geometry+inclination scenarios. The deprojection in question is performed by the non-parametric algorithm DOPING. The formalism is tested with model ...
Name U.S. Geological Survey A Helicopter-Borne Magnetic Survey over Dixie Valley Geothermal Field, Nevada: A Web Site for Distribution of Data by U. S. Geological Survey &...
In this paper we have investigated the performance of PSO Particle Swarm Optimization based clustering on few real world data sets and one artificial data set. The performances are measured by two metric namely quantization error and inter-cluster distance. The K means clustering algorithm is first implemented for all data sets, the results of which form the basis of comparison of PSO based approaches. We have explored different variants of PSO such as gbest, lbest ring, lbest vonneumann and Hybrid PSO for comparison purposes. The results reveal that PSO based clustering algorithms perform better compared to K means in all data sets.
We present ab-initio calculations of the electronic structure of small Fe clusters (1-9 atoms) on Ni(001), Ni(111), Cu(001) and Cu(111) surfaces. Our focus is on the spin moments and their dependence on cluster size and shape. We derive a simple quantitative rule that relates the moment of each Fe atom linearly to its coordination number. Thus, for an arbitrary Fe cluster the spin moment of the cluster and of the individual Fe atoms can be readily found if the positions of the atoms are known. (orig.)
The National Radiological Protection Board is to carry out a survey of doses received by patients from the diagnostic use of X-rays, beginning in June 1977, and carried out at over 100 National Health Service hospitals. Details are given of the reasons for carrying out the survey and the survey objectives. The survey working methods are discussed, together with methods of calculation of the genetically significant dose. The radiation doses will be measured by a thermoluminescent dosimeter developed specially for the survey. (U.K.).
Central velocity dispersions and rotation curves to radii of approx.5 kpc have been measured for 32 galaxies, mostly field S0's. Our rotation curves confirm the result of Kormendy and Illingworth that the bulges of S0 galaxies are in rapid rotation, with enough rotational kinetic energy to account for their flattenings. The V/sigma-ellipticity relation we find for S0 bulges is compared with similar data for elliptical galaxies from Davies et al. We conclude that (1) faint SO bluges and elliptical galaxies (M/sub B/ fainter than -20.5) are both consistent with oblate rotators with isotropic velocity dispersions (although in our sample, S0 bluges are flatter, on the average, than ellipticals) and (2) bright S0 bulges, -22.0
We present new theoretical predictions for the galaxy three-point correlation function (3PCF) using high-resolution dissipationless cosmological simulations of a flat {Lambda}CDM Universe which resolve galaxy-size halos and subhalos. We create realistic mock galaxy catalogs by assigning luminosities and colors to dark matter halos and subhalos, and we measure the reduced 3PCF as a function of luminosity and color in both real and redshift space. As galaxy luminosity and color are varied, we find small differences in the amplitude and shape dependence of the reduced 3PCF, at a level qualitatively consistent with recent measurements from the SDSS and 2dFGRS. We confirm that discrepancies between previous 3PCF measurements can be explained in part by differences in binning choices. We explore the degree to which a simple local bias model can fit the simulated 3PCF. The agreement between the model ...
Of the many ways of detecting high redshift galaxies, the selection of objects due to their redshifted Ly-alpha emission has become one of the most successful. But what types of galaxies are selected in this way? Until recently, Ly-alpha emitters were understood to be small star-forming galaxies, possible building-blocks of larger galaxies. But with increased number of observations of Ly-alpha emitters at lower redshifts, a new picture emerges. Ly-alpha emitters display strong evolution in their properties from higher to lower redshift. It has previously been shown that the fraction of ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) among the Ly-alpha emitters increases dramatically between redshift three and two. Here, the fraction of AGN among the LAEs is shown to follow a similar evolutionary path. We argue that Ly-alpha emitters are not a homogeneous class of objects, and that the ...
We construct a sample of low-redshift Ly-alpha emission-line selected sources from GALEX grism spectroscopy of nine deep fields to study the role of Ly-alpha emission in galaxy populations with cosmic time. Our final sample consists of 122 (142) sources selected in the redshift interval z=0.195-0.44 (z=0.65-1.25) from the FUV (NUV) channel. We classify the Ly-alpha sources as AGNs if high-ionization emission lines are present in their UV spectra and as galaxies otherwise. These classifications are broadly supported by comparisons with X-ray and optical spectroscopic observations. We classify additional sources as AGNs using line widths for our Ly-alpha emitter (LAE) analysis. Defining the GALEX LAE sample in the same way as high-redshift LAE samples, we show that LAEs constitute only about 5% of NUV-continuum selected galaxies at z~0.3. We also show that they are less common at z~0.3 than they are at z~3. We find that the ...
This is a study done in collaboration with Deidre Hunter at Lowell Observatory studying star formation in two luminous spiral galaxies NGC 801 and UGC 2885. We used ultra-deep H? images taken at the KPNO 2.1 m telescope. We compare these data to stellar images at various wavelengths and to HI maps to determine the extent of star formation activity into the outer disk in these galaxies and its relationship to the gas and older stars. TW is grateful for an REU internship during the summer of 2010 at Northern Arizona University, funded by NSF through grant AST-1004107.
A guide to practical astronomy. It introduces the reader to some basic (and some not-so-basic) astronomical concepts, and discusses the stars and their evolution, the planets, nebulae, and distant galaxies
... In a HEAO 1 study of active galaxies, principally Seyfert 1s, in the 2, 165 keV energy range, Rothschild et al. ... As discussed by Rothschild et al. ...
The analysis of images (of obtained in various ranges of the lengths of waves) of luminous objects in the Universe by means of a method of multilevel dynamic contrasting led author to the conclusions: a) the structures of all observable galaxies represents a complicated constructions which have the tendency to self-similarity and made of separate (basic) blocks, which are a coaxially tubular structures and a cartwheel-like structures; b) the majority of observable objects in the Universe are luminous butt-ends of almost invisible (of almost completely transparent) of filamentary formations which structures are seen only near to their luminous butt-ends; c) the result of analysis of images of cosmic objects show the structure of many pairs of cooperating galaxies point to opportunity of their formation at butt-ends generated in a place of break of the similar filament; d) the interacting galaxies (M 81 and M 82) show they ...
Evolution in Space Radio Telescopes Reveal Youngest Stellar Corpse Gas Clouds in Whirlpool Galaxy Yield Important Clues Supporting Theory on Spiral Arms Starbust-driven Winds...
An estimate for the number of ionizing photons per baryon as a function of redshift is computed based on the plausible extrapolation of the observed galaxy UV luminosity function and the latest results on the properties of the escape fraction of ionizing radiation. It is found that, if the escape fraction for low mass galaxies (Mtot<10^{11}Msun) is assumed to be negligibly small, as indicated by numerical simulations, then there are not enough ionizing photons to reionize the universe by z=6 for the cosmology favored by the WMAP 3rd year results, while the WMAP 1st year cosmology is marginally consistent with the reionization requirement. The escape fraction as a function of galaxy mass would have to be constant to within a factor of two for the whole mass range of galaxies for reionization to be possible within the WMAP 3rd year cosmology.
creating such active galactic nuclei as quasars. Strangely, the center of this fiery whirlpool is offset from the exact center of the galaxy - for a reason that for now remains an...
creating such active galactic nuclei as quasars. Strangely, the center of this fiery whirlpool is offset from the exact center of the galaxy - for a reason that for now remains an...
the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Supernovae in the Whirlpool Image Credit & Copyright: R Jay Gabany Explanation: Where do spiral galaxies keep...
Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) computer simulations are performed to determine the kinetics of SIA cluster 'clouds' in the vicinity of edge dislocations. The simulations include elastic interactions amongst SIA clusters, and between clusters and dislocations. Results of KMC simulations that describe the formation of 'SIA clouds' during neutron irradiation of bcc Fe and the corresponding evolution kinetics are presented, and the size and spatial distribution of SIA clusters in the cloud region are studied for a variety of neutron displacement damage dose levels. We then investigate the collective spatio-temporal dynamics of SIA clusters in the presence of internal elastic fields generated by static and mobile dislocations. The main features of the investigations are: (1) determination of the kinetics and spatial extent of defect clouds near static dislocations; (2) assessment of the ...
The spatial distribution of argon clusters in gas jet is tested using the Rayleigh scattering method. A pulsed laser is used to acquire the whole evolution of the cluster inside one event. The measured results at a fixed axial position show that the argon clusters grow in less than one millisecond after the nozzle is opened and the cluster size keeps constant during the whole open period of 20 ms. Further results show that the scattering signal along the radial direction is almost Gaussian-distributed and the full width half maximum (FWHM) increases almost linearly when the distance from nozzle increases. The scattering signal along the axial direction is Landau-distributed and the area near the nozzle is most effective for laser cluster interaction. (authors)
The size distributions of precipitated Ni clusters on the surface of a LaNi_5-based alloy immersed in alkaline solution (alkaline treatment) at 383 K for 0-110 min were precisely determined by combining superparamagnetic analysis and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations. The superparamagnetic analysis indicated that the diameters of the Ni clusters were smaller than #approx#25 nm in all samples, while their average values increased approximately from 5 to 9 nm with increasing alkaline treatment time. The spatial distribution of the Ni clusters was successively observed by TEM, which agreed fairly well with the estimated size distribution by superparamagnetic analysis. Therefore, estimation of the actual size distribution of Ni clusters by superparamagnetic analysis was proved to be feasible. Based on the above results, a precipitation process for Ni clusters by ...
We report electronic and magnetic structure of arsenic-doped manganese clusters from density-functional theory using generalized gradient approximation for the exchange-correlation energy. We find that arsenic stabilizes manganese clusters, though the ferromagnetic coupling between Mn atoms are found only in Mn$_2$As and Mn$_4$As clusters with magnetic moments 9 $\\mu_B$ and 17 $\\mu_B$, respectively. For all other sizes, $x=$ 3, 5-10, Mn$_x$As clusters show ferrimagnetic coupling. It is suggested that, if grown during the low temperature MBE, the giant magnetic moments due to ferromagnetic coupling in Mn$_2$As and Mn$_4$As clusters could play a role on the ferromagnetism and on the variation observed in the Curie temperature of Mn-doped III-V semiconductors.
With the advancement of technology and reduced storage costs, individuals and organizations are tending towards the usage of electronic media for storing textual information and documents. It is time consuming for readers to retrieve relevant information from unstructured document collection. It is easier and less time consuming to find documents from a large collection when the collection is ordered or classified by group or category. The problem of finding best such grouping is still there. This paper discusses the implementation of k-Means clustering algorithm for clustering unstructured text documents that we implemented, beginning with the representation of unstructured text and reaching the resulting set of clusters. Based on the analysis of resulting clusters for a sample set of documents, we have also proposed a technique to represent documents that can further improve the ...
By magnetron sputtering model steel films with specific properties can be prepared for purposive surveys. By changing the deposition parameters certain properties of these films can be influenced. For this thesis steel films with 18% Cr and 8% Ni have been prepared in order to study specific parameters on the corrosion resistance of bulk stainless steel. Chemical composition, microstructure, and surface morphology of these films have been characterized. In comparison to bulk steel sheets with the same chemical composition they have a smaller grain size and a ferritic structure. In contrast to bulk steel sheets they don`t contain any nonmetallic inclusions like Mn-sulfides. The influence of these structural differences on the corrosion resistance has been studied. For this purpose the electrochemical properties of the sputter-deposited steels have been compared with the properties of steel sheets with a similar chemical composition (DIN 1.4301, AISI 304) in neutral ...
High resolution imagery of the clumpy irregular galaxy Mkn 325 shows that some clumps have sizes approximately 300 pc while some may still be unresolved and approximately < 100 pc. In spite of dimensions comparable to - or even smaller than - those of the giant H II complex 30 Doradus, one clump has a star formation rate 100 times higher.
High resolution imagery of the clumpy irregular galaxy Mkn 325 shows that some clumps have sizes approximately 300 pc while some may still be unresolved and approximately < 100 pc. In spite of dimensions comparable to - or even smaller than - those of the giant H II complex 30 Doradus, one clump has a star formation rate 100 times higher. (author).
The contribution of pulsar accelerated nuclei to the cosmic rays inside the Galaxy is calculated assuming that a significant part of the pulsar rotational energy is lost on acceleration of iron nuclei extracted from the surface of the neutron star. Different models of the galactic pulsar population are discussed. It is shown that the best description of the observed cosmic ray spectrum and the mass composition between a few 10{sup 15} eV and a few 10{sup 18} eV is obtained for the model B of Lorimer et al. (1993)
This report summarizes the information gathered by CONCAVE in a 1993 survey of waste generation and disposal by the oil refineries in Western Europe. The survey covered the types of waste produced, their quantities, disposal routes and costs of disposal. The results are compared with those from a 1986 survey, but because of the increased numbers of refineries reporting, comparison is difficult. The survey revealed wide variations in disposal costs depending on waste type and local circumstances.
The properties and kinetics of x-ray stars in globular clusters are described. Locations, configurations, star evolution, massive close binary systems, various mechanisms, and the x-ray burster properties are included. (JFP)
Despite prolonged scientific efforts to unravel the hydration structures of ions in water, many open questions remain, in particular concerning the existences and structures of ion clusters in 1∶1...Full Text Available
The dependence of the rms radius of the deuteron cluster in /sup 6/Li on the relative d-..cap alpha.. momentum was investigated on the basis of the three-body wave function given by Rai, Lehman, and Ghovanlou.
We report the discovery of an active galactic nucleus (AGN) pair in the interacting galaxy system IRAS 20210+1121 at z = 0.056. An XMM-Newton observation reveals the presence of an obscured (N _H #approx# 5 x 10"2"3 cm"-"2), Seyfert-like (L _2_-_1_0_k_e_V = 4.7 x 10"4"2 erg s"-"1) nucleus in the northern galaxy, which lacks unambiguous optical AGN signatures. Our spectral analysis also provides strong evidence that the IR-luminous southern galaxy hosts a Type 2 quasar embedded in a bright starburst emission. In particular, the X-ray primary continuum from the nucleus appears totally depressed in the XMM-Newton band as expected in the case of a Compton-thick absorber, and only the emission produced by Compton scattering ('reflection') of the continuum from circumnuclear matter is seen. As such, IRAS 20210+1121 seems to provide an excellent opportunity to witness a key, early phase in the quasar evolution predicted by the ...
Cosmological hydrodynamical simulations as well as observations indicate that spiral galaxies are comprised of five different components: dark matter halo, stellar disc, stellar bulge, gaseous disc and gaseous halo. While the first four components have been extensively considered in numerical simulations of binary galaxy mergers, the effect of a hot gaseous halo has usually been neglected even though it can contain up to 80% of the total gas within the galaxy virial radius. We present a series of hydrodynamic simulations of major mergers of disc galaxies, that for the first time include a diffuse, rotating, hot gaseous halo. Through cooling and accretion, the hot halo can dissipate and refuel the cold gas disc before and after a merger. This cold gas can subsequently form stars, thus impacting the morphology and kinematics of the remnant. Simulations of isolated systems with total mass M~10^12Msun show ...
The traditional view that Ly-alpha emission and dust should be mutually exclusive has been questioned more and more often, notably the observations of Ly-alpha emission from ULIRGs seems to counter this view. In this paper we seek to address the reverse question: How large a fraction of Ly-alpha selected galaxies are ULIRGs? Using two samples of 24/25 Ly-alpha emitting galaxies at z = 0.3/2.3 we perform this test, also including results at z = 3.1, and find that whereas the ULIRG fraction at z = 3.1 is very small, it systematically increases towards lower redshifts. There is a hint that this evolution may be quite sudden and that it happens around a redshift of z ~ 2.5. Measuring the infrared luminosities of the Ly-alpha emitters, we find that they are in the normal to ULIRG range in the lower redshift sample, whereas the higher redshift galaxies all have luminosities in the ULIRG category. The Ly-alpha escape fractions for ...
The properties of the mass-metallicity relation among dwarf spheroidal galaxies are discussed in terms of a model which assumes that the internal chemical evolution of the dwarf spheroidals was promoted by supernova activity. The model can be used to explain the observed dwarf spheroidal mass-metallicity relation assuming the present mass of these systems M sub s is proportional to their initial masses M as M sub s varies according to a power-law index of exp 7/4. It is inferred from the power-law dependence of M on the proto-cloud radius that the most massive dwarf spheroids were formed from the densest clouds. The observed slope of the mass-metallicity relation for dwarf spheroidal galaxies is found to be significantly different from theoretical estimates of this slope for elliptical galaxies. It is suggested that the difference may imply that spheroidal dwarfs and elliptical galaxies had different ...
Dynamical friction, or the rate for a satellite to decay its orbit in a host galaxy halo, is often severely overestimated when applying the ChandraSekhar's formula without correcting for the tidal loss of the satellite and the adiabactic growth of the host galaxy potential over the Hubble time. As a satellite decays to the inner and denser region of the host galaxy, the high ambient density boosts the exchange of energy and angular momentum between the satellite and the host, but on the other hand shrinks the Roche lobe of the satellite by tides. Eventually the processes of orbital decay and tidal stripping hang up altogether once the satellite is light enough. These competing processes can be modeled analytically for a satellite if we parametrize the massloss history by an empirical formula. We also take into account the adiabatic contraction of orbits due to growth of the potential well of the host ...
We estimate binary compact object merger detection rates for LIGO, including the binaries formed in ellipticals long ago. Specifically, we convolve hundreds of model realizations of elliptical- and spiral-galaxy population syntheses with a model for elliptical- and spiral-galaxy star formation history as a function of redshift. Our results favor local merger rate densities of 4\\times 10^{-3} {Mpc}^{-3}{Myr}^{-1} for binary black holes (BH), 3\\times 10^{-2} {Mpc}^{-3}{Myr}^{-1} for binary neutron stars (NS), and 10^{-2} {Mpc}^{-3}{Myr}^{-1} for BH-NS binaries. Mergers in elliptical galaxies are a significant fraction of our total estimate for BH-BH and BH-NS detection rates; NS-NS detection rates are dominated by the contribution from spiral galaxies. Using only models that reproduce current observations of Galactic NS-NS binaries, we find slightly higher rates for NS-NS and largely similar ranges for ...
The solvation properties of a chlorine ion in small water clusters are investigated using state-of-the-art statistical mechanics. The simulations employ the polarizable water model developed recently by Dang [J. Chem. Phys. [bold 97], 2659 (1992)]. The ion--water interaction potentials are defined such that the successive binding energies for the ionic clusters, and the solvation enthalpy, bulk vertical binding energy, and structural properties of the aqueous solution agree with the best available results obtained from experiments. Simulated vertical electron binding energies of the ionic clusters Cl[sup [minus
Metalloid cluster compounds of group 14 of the general formulae EnRm with n > m (E = Si, Ge, Sn, Pb; R = ligand), where naked as well as ligand bound tetrel atoms are present, represent a novel class of cluster compounds in group 14 chemistry and can be seen as intermediates on the way to the elemental state. Therefore, interesting properties are expected for these compounds, which might complement results from nanotechnology. In this article, first results for germanium are discussed, together with novel build-up reactions on the way to novel materials based on metalloid cluster compounds. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT[image omitted
We report a study of the nonmetal-metal transition of free-standing Pd{sub N} clusters (2{<=}N{<=}21) carried out through two different theoretical approaches that are extensively employed in electronic structure calculations: a semi-empirical tight-binding (TB) model and an ab initio DFT pseudopotential model. The calculated critical size for the metallic transition decreases rapidly with the temperature and an oscillatory dependence with the cluster size is obtained, particularly in the DFT approach. The TB model describes the metallic behavior for cluster sizes beyond N{approx}12 well. Our obtained critical size at room temperature is of the order of the experimental estimation.
The structure of the low-lying levels of the [sup 91]Zr nucleus is discussed in a framework of the cluster-phonon coupling model. In order to describe simultaneously positive- and negative-parity states, octupole as well as quadrupole vibrations of the [sup 88]Sr core are allowed. The cluster states include two single protons coupled to a single neutron. The residual interaction among the cluster particles is assumed to be the modified surface [delta] interaction. Energy levels and electromagnetic properties are calculated and compared with the experimental data.
The Si-L X-ray emission spectrum of amorphous hydrogenated silicon (a-Si:H) is presented and discussed. For a qualitative interpretation of the measured spectra cluster calculations of pure Si clusters (SiSi4) and Si clusters with hydrogen (SiSi3H) have been performed using a simplified LCAO-X scheme. In general the level shifts caused by introduction of hydrogen are small compared with the valence band width.
In this paper we present the design, implementation, and experimental results of a system to mine and visualize event data using cluster computingbuilt upon an ATM network. Our approach is to build a system using light weight, modular software tools for data management, resource management, data analysis and visualization developed for local, campus and wide area clusters of workstations. (author)
We study by means of Quantum Monte Carlo simulations based on the Worm Algorithm the low temperature (down to T = 0.05 K) properties of parahydrogen clusters comprising up to 40 molecules. Three different intermolecular interactions are employed: the Silvera-Goldman, the Buck and the Lennard-Jones potential. Despite important discrepancies observed in the numerical estimates of energy and superfluid fraction, the mechanism by which clusters melt at low T is independent of the particular choice of the potential, whose only effect is to alter the temperature scale.
We study the dynamical evolution of globular clusters containing primordial binaries, including full single and binary stellar evolution using our Monte Carlo cluster evolution code updated with an adaptation of the single and binary stellar evolution codes SSE and BSE from Hurley et al. We describe the modifications that we have made to the code. We present several test calculations and comparisons with existing studies to illustrate the validity of the code. We show that our code finds very good agreement with direct N-body simulations including primordial binaries and stellar evolution. We find significant differences in the evolution of the global properties of the simulated clusters using stellar evolution compared with simulations without any stellar evolution. In particular, we find that the mass loss from the stellar evolution acts as a significant energy production channel simply by reducing the total gravitational ...
In this contribution we compare the electron scattering processes observed in pure O_2 clusters and mixed clusters like O_2/Ne, O_2/Ar and O_2/N_2. The overlap and positions of the potential curves of O_2 states show the different possible electron attachment processes and also explain the formation of O_2 in clusters. (author).
Surveys were conducted in one urban and two rural regions of the United Republic of Cameroon to estimate the annual incidence of paralytic poliomyelitis. Three different survey methods were used: a...Full Text Available
In this report, I surveyed the cognitive radio technique in wireless networks. Researched several kinds of cognitive techniques about their advantages and disadvantages.
Programs & Services Technical Resources Land Use Soils Water Snow Survey & Water Supply Water Management Water Quality Watersheds Wetlands Air Plants & Animals Energy Climate...
Nest locations of breeding birds are often spatially clustered. This tendency to nest together has generally been related to a patchy distribution of nesting habitat in landscape studies, but behavioral studies of species with clustered breeding patterns draw attention to the importance of social and biotic factors. Indeed, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the breeding system of many territorial, migrant birds may be semi-colonial. The reasons for, and extent of, spatial clustering in their breeding systems are not well understood. Our goal was to tease apart the influence of habitat availability and social drivers of clustered breeding in a neotropical migrant species, the hooded warbler (Wilsonia citrina). To test alternative hypotheses related to clustered habitat or conspecifi...
The authors describe the application of an approximate fuzzy C-means (AFCM) clustering algorithm as a data dimension reduction approach to medical magnetic resonance images (MRI). Image data consisted of one T1-weighted, two T2-weighted, and one T2*-weighted (magnetic susceptibility) image for each cranial study and a matrix of 10 images generated from 10 combinations of TE and TR for each body lymphoma study. All images were obtained with a 1.5 Tesla imaging system (GE Signa). Analyses were performed on over 100 MR image sets with a variety of pathologies. The cluster analysis was operated in an unsupervised mode and computational overhead was minimized by utilizing a table look-up approach without adversely affecting accuracy. Image data were first segmented into 2 coarse clusters, each of which was then subdivided into 16 fine clusters. The final tissue classifications were presented as color-coded ...
We address the deviations of the scaling relations of elliptical galaxies from the expectations based on the virial theorem and homology, including the "tilt" of the "fundamental plane" and the steep decline of density with mass. We show that such tilts result from dissipative major mergers once the gas fraction available for dissipation declines with progenitor mass, and derive the scaling properties of the progenitors. We use hydrodynamical simulations to quantify the effects of major mergers with different gas fractions on the structural properties of galaxies. The tilts are driven by the differential shrinkage of the effective stellar radius as a function of dissipation in the merger, while the correlated smaller enhancements in internal velocity and stellar mass keep the slope of the velocity-stellar mass relation near V \\pr M_*^{1/4}. The progenitors match a straightforward model of disc formation in LCDM haloes. Their total to stellar ...
Using the Galaxy as an example, we study the effect of Formula Not Shown force on the rotational curves of gas and plasma in galaxies. Acceptable model for the galactic magnetic field and plausible physical parameters are used to fit the flat rotational curve for gas and plasma based on the observed baryonic (visible) matter distribution and Formula Not Shown force term in the static MHD equation of motion. We also study the effects of varied strength of the magnetic field, its pitch angle and length scale on the rotational curves. We show that Formula Not Shown force does not play an important role on the plasma dynamics in the intermediate range of distances 6?12?kpc from the centre, whilst the effect is sizable for larger r (r?15?kpc), where it is the most crucial.
The study of extragalactic planetary nebulae (EPN) is a rapidly expanding field. The advent of powerful new instrumentation such as the PN spectrograph has led to an avalanche of new EPN discoveries both within and between galaxies. We now have thousands of EPN detections in a heterogeneous selection of nearby galaxies and their local environments, dwarfing the combined galactic detection efforts of the last century. Key scientific motivations driving this rapid growth in EPN research and discovery have been the use of the PNLF as a standard candle, as dynamical tracers of their host galaxies and dark matter and as probes of Galactic evolution. This is coupled with the basic utility of PN as laboratories of nebula physics and the consequent comparison with theory where population differences, abundance variations and star formation history within and between stellar systems informs both stellar and galactic evolution. Here ...
This report presents the preliminary findings of the first phase of the Environmental Survey of the US Department of Energy's (DOE) National Institute for Petroleum and Energy Research (NIPER), conducted February 29 through March 4, 1988. The Survey is being conducted by an interdisciplinary team of environmental specialists, led and managed by the Office of Environment, Safety and Health's Office of Environmental Audit. Team members are being provided by private contractors. The objective of the Survey is to identify environmental problems and areas of environmental risk associated with NIPER. The Survey covers all environmental media and all areas of environmental regulation. It is being performed in accordance with the DOE Environmental Survey Manual. The on-site phase of the Survey involves the review of existing site environmental data, ...
Boxy and peanut-shaped bulges are seen in about half of edge-on disc galaxies. Comparisons of the photometry and major-axis gas and stellar kinematics of these bulges to simulations of bar formation and evolution indicate that they are bars viewed in projection. If the properties of boxy bulges can be entirely explained by assuming they are bars, then this may imply that their hosts are pure disc galaxies with no classical bulge. A handful of these bulges, including that of the Milky Way, have been observed to rotate cylindrically, i.e. with a mean stellar velocity independent of height above the disc. In order to assess whether such behaviour is ubiquitous in boxy bulges, and whether a pure disc interpretation is consistent with their stellar populations, we have analysed the stellar kinematics and populations of the boxy or peanut-shaped bulges in a sample of five edge-on galaxies. We placed slits along the major axis of ...
AbstractThe Galaxy package empowers regular users to perform rich DNA sequence analysis through a much-needed and user-friendly graphical web interface.See research article...Full Text Available
Comparative studies of flocculent and grand-design spirals suggest that density waves are not the predominant trigger of star formation in most galaxies. Implications for chemical evolution are profound. It may be possible to ignore the details of the spiral-wave phenomenon in research aimed at unifying the chemical properties of spiral disks. 16 references.
We describe the characteristics of the rapidly rotating molecular disk in the nucleus of the mildly active galaxy NGC4258. The morphology and kinematics of the disk are delineated by the point-like...Full Text Available
This review covers research done at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under DOE contract. Areas of research are as follows: star evolution supernovae, and nucleosynthesis; stellar atmospheres and winds; galaxies and interstellar space; and high-energy astrophysics.
This review covers research done at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the fields of astronomy and astrophysics. The research areas mentioned are as follows: star evolution, supernovae, and nucleosynthesis; stellar atmospheres and winds; galaxies and the interstellar medium; and high-energy astrophysics.
It is shown that a natural consequence of the binary pulsar's evolution is a neutron star collision. Such a collision is expected to eject neutron-rich matter of an r-process character. Taking reasonable estimates for the number of such events over the history of the galaxy, it may be that they account for all of the r-process nuclei.
NGC 2770 has been the host of three supernovae of Type Ib during the last 10 years, SN 1999eh, SN 2007uy and SN 2008D. SN 2008D attracted special attention due to the serendipitous discovery of an associated X-ray transient. In this paper, we study the properties of NGC 2770 and specifically the three SN sites to investigate whether this galaxy is in any way peculiar to cause a high frequency of SNe Ib. We model the global SED of the galaxy from broadband data and derive a star-formation and SN rate comparable to the values of the Milky Way. We further study the galaxy using longslit spectroscopy covering the major axis and the three SN sites. From the spectroscopic study we find subsolar metallicities for the SN sites, a high extinction and a moderate star-formation rate. In a high resolution spectrum, we also detect diffuse interstellar bands in the line-of-sight towards SN 2008. A comparison of NGC 2770 to the global ...
Recent technological advances have lead to the ability to generate large amounts of data for model and non-model organisms. Whereas, in the past, there have been a relatively small number of central...Full Text Available
much in common. For starters, Isabel was hundreds of miles across, while M51 (the Whirlpool Galaxy) spans about 50,000 light-years making them vastly dissimilar in scale, not...
This report presents the preliminary findings from the first phase of the Environmental Survey of the United States Department of Energy's (DOE) Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), conducted March 29, 1987 through April 17, 1987. The Survey is being conducted by an interdisciplinary team of environmental specialists, led and managed by the Office of Environment, Safety and Health's Office of Environmental Audit. Individual team components are outside experts being supplied by a private contractor. The objective of the Survey is to identify environmental problems and areas of environmental risk associated with the LANL. The Survey covers all environmental media and all areas of environmental regulation. It is being performed in accordance with the DOE Environmental Survey Manual. The on-site phase of the Survey involves the review of existing ...
The expected interstellar antiproton spectrum arising from cosmic-ray interactions in the Galaxy is recalculated, and the modulation of both antiprotons and protons is calculated using a two-dimensional modulation model incorporating gradient and curvature drifts and a wavy current sheet as well as the usual diffusion, convection, and energy-loss effects. Significant differences in the antiproton/proton ratio for different solar magnetic field polarities are predicted as well as a 'low-energy' component for antiprotons below about 1 GeV. 28 refs.
We present the results of a monitoring campaign aimed at deriving rotation periods for a representative sample of stars in the young (30 Myr) open cluster IC 2602. Rotation periods were derived for 29 of 33 stars monitored. The periods derived range from 0.2d (one of the shortest known rotation periods of any single open cluster star) to about 10d (which is almost twice as long as the longest period previously known for a cluster of this age). We are able to confirm 8 previously known periods and derive 21 new ones, delineating the long period end of the distribution. Despite our sensitivity to longer periods, we do not detect any variables with periods longer than about 10d. The combination of these data with those for IC 2391, an almost identical cluster, leads to the following conclusions: 1) The fast rotators in a 30 Myr cluster are distributed across the entire 0.5 < B-V ...
Galactic open clusters are since long recognized as one of the best tools for investigating the radial distribution of iron and other metals. We employed FLAMES at VLT to collect UVES spectra of bright giant stars in a large sample of open clusters, spanning a wide range of Galactocentric distances, ages, and metallicities. We present here the results for four clusters: Berkeley 20 and Berkeley 29, the two most distant clusters in the sample; Collinder 261, the oldest and the one with the minimum Galactocentric distance; Melotte 66. Equivalent width analysis was carried out using the spectral code MOOG and Kurucz model atmospheres to derive abundances of Fe, Al, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti, Cr, Ni, Ba; non-LTE Na abundances were derived by direct line-profile fitting. We obtain subsolar metallicities for the two anticenter clusters Be 20 ([Fe/H]=-0.30, rms=0.02) and Be 29 ([Fe/H]=-0.31, ...
Finding "densely connected clusters" in a graph is in general an important and well studied problem in the literature \\cite{Schaeffer}. It has various applications in pattern recognition, social networking and data mining \\cite{Duda,Mishra}. Recently, Ames and Vavasis have suggested a novel method for finding cliques in a graph by using convex optimization over the adjacency matrix of the graph \\cite{Ames, Ames2}. Also, there has been recent advances in decomposing a given matrix into its "low rank" and "sparse" components \\cite{Candes, Chandra}. In this paper, inspired by these results, we view "densely connected clusters" as imperfect cliques, where imperfections correspond missing edges, which are relatively sparse. We analyze the problem in a probabilistic setting and aim to detect disjointly planted clusters. Our main result basically suggests that, one can find \\emph{dense} clusters in a ...
Given a point set S and an unknown metric d on S, we study the problem of efficiently partitioning S into k clusters while querying few distances between the points. In our model we assume that we have access to one versus all queries that given a point s in S return the distances between s and all other points. We show that given a natural assumption about the structure of the instance, we can efficiently find an accurate clustering using only O(k) distance queries. We use our algorithm to cluster proteins by sequence similarity. This setting nicely fits our model because we can use a fast sequence database search program to query a sequence against an entire dataset. We conduct an empirical study that shows that even though we query a small fraction of the distances between the points, we produce clusterings that are close to a desired clustering given by manual classification.
We study luminosities of millisecond pulsars in globular clusters by fitting the observed luminosity distribution with single and double power laws. We use simulations to model the observed distribution as the brighter part of some parent distribution for Terzan 5 and try to find a model which simultaneously agrees with the observed diffuse radio flux, total predicted number of pulsars and observed luminosity distribution. We find that wide ranges of parameters for log-normal and power-law distributions give such good models. No clear difference between the luminosity distributions of millisecond pulsars in globular clusters and normal disk pulsars was seen.
We present radial velocity and photometry for four early-type, massive double-lined spectroscopic binaries in the R136 cluster. Three of these systems are eclipsing, allowing orbital inclinations to be determined. One of these systems, R136-38 (O3 V + O6 V), has one of the highest masses ever measured, 57 Mo, for the primary. Comparison of our masses with those derived from standard evolutionary tracks shows excellent agreement. We also identify five other light variables in the R136 cluster which are worthy of follow-up study.
The electronic structure of octahedral metal atom clusters Me/sub 6/ of 3d, 4d, and 5d transition metal atoms (V, Cr; Nb, Mo; Ta, W) has been calculated applying two different quantum-chemical approximation methods (Extended Hueckel (EH) method; SW-Xsub(alpha) method). Equilibrium structures, energy level schemes, Fermi energies and band widths as well as densities of states of clusters are discussed in detail.
The avalanche quantity of the information developed by mankind has led to concept of automation of knowledge extraction - Data Mining ([1]). This direction is connected with a wide spectrum of problems - from recognition of the fuzzy set to creation of search machines. Important component of Data Mining is processing of the text information. Such problems lean on concept of classification and clustering ([2]). Classification consists in definition of an accessory of some element (text) to one of in advance created classes. Clustering means splitting a set of elements (texts) on clusters which quantity are defined by localization of elements of the given set in vicinities of these some natural centers of these clusters. Realization of a problem of classification initially should lean on the given postulates, basic of which - the aprioristic information on primary set of texts and a measure of affinity of ...
BackgroundFeature selection is an important pre-processing task in the analysis of complex data. Selecting an appropriate subset of features can improve classification or clustering...Full Text Available
BackgroundElementary schools represent both a source of childhood sun exposure and a setting for educational interventions.MethodsSun Protection...Full Text Available
Defect cluster formation in 14-MeV neutron irradiated polycrystalline copper has been observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and correlated with the increase in yield stress. The measurements indicate that the radiation hardening component of the yield strength in polycrystals is not directly additive to the unirradiated yield strength. A transitional behavior was observed for radiation hardening at low fluences, which produces an anomalous variation of the defect cluster barrier strength with fluence. The behavior is attributed to the effect of grain boundaries on slip band transmission. An upper limit for the room temperature barrier strength of defect clusters in neutron-irradiated copper was determined to be #alpha#=0.23. (orig.).
A prediction of delayed neutron yields for actinides which are important in the nuclear energy field is given. The prediction is based on a correlation related to a suggested cluster structure of the nucleus. (author).
A new constraint of clustering for the AMD calculation is proposed. This new constraint gives us large improvement in studying the cluster structure by AMD which sometimes meets difficulty in giving rise to some specific cluster configurations. The usefulness of this new constraint is verified by applying it to the the study of the third $K^\\pi = 0^+$ band of $^{20}$Ne which has been discussed to have $2\\alpha$-$^{12}$C structure. This band has not been easy even to construct by AMD. We see that the AMD+GCM calculation by the use of the new constraint gives rise to the third $K^\\pi = 0^+$ band which contains the $2\\alpha$-$^{12}$C structure as an important component.
These include, but are not limited to: stellar winds and outflows, post-main- sequence stellar evolution, binary/multiple star evolution, globular cluster ...
These include, but are not limited to: stellar winds and outflows, post-main- sequence star evolution, binary star evolution, globular cluster structure and ...
The foundation of a drill unit for cluster drilling of wells is proposed, which includes support, intermediate, and primary girders, forward and rear carts attached to them, railways and traction units. In order to improve operating reliability of the device during unloading on the cart during drilling and placement of the elevator and movement of the foundation within the area of the cluster of boreholes, it is equipped with controllable rods for connecting the carts to one another with the power component. Each of the power components is attached by hinges to a cart and intermediate girder, while the railways with parts are located on supporting girders. The forward carts are connected to the traction units. In order to reduce labor in moving the foundation to a new borehole of the cluster the foundation has brackets and temporary support. The power components have braces which are connected by hinges to them in the ...
In natural ecosystems, hundreds of species typically share the same environment and are connected by a dense network of interactions such as predation or competition for resources. Much is known about...Full Text Available
Background The identification of sequences that control transcription in metazoans is a major goal of genome analysis. In a previous study, we demonstrated that searching for clusters of predicted transcription factor binding sites could discover active regulatory sequences, and identified 37 regions of the Drosophila melanogaster genome with high densities of predicted binding sites for five transcription factors involved in anterior-posterior embryonic patterning. Nine of these clusters overlapped known enhancers. Here, we report the results of in vivo functional analysis of 27 remaining clusters. Results We generated transgenic flies carrying each cluster attached to a basal promoter and reporter gene, and assayed embryos for reporter gene expression. Six clusters are enhancers of adjacent genes: giant, fushi tarazu, odd-skipped, nubbin, squeeze and pdm2; three drive expression ...
The electronic structure of small niobium clusters Nb/sub n/ (n = 2, 4, 6, 9) has been calculated applying two different quantum-chemical approximation methods (Extended Hueckel (EH) method; SW-X/sub alpha/ method). It was found that both the methods led to the same results concerning equilibrium structures, energy level schemes, Fermi energies and band widths as well as the densities of states of the clusters. In solving solid state problems of transition metals with the aid of the cluster model a better adaptation of the EH method should be expected by adjusting the EH parameters to the SW-X/sub alpha/ results.
Inferring cluster structure in microarray datasets is a fundamental task for the -omic sciences. A fundamental question in Statistics, Data Analysis and Classification, is the prediction of the number of clusters in a dataset, usually established via internal validation measures. Despite the wealth of internal measures available in the literature, new ones have been recently proposed, some of them specifically for microarray data. In this dissertation, a study of internal validation measures is given, paying particular attention to the stability based ones. Indeed, this class of measures is particularly prominent and promising in order to have a reliable estimate the number of clusters in a dataset. For those measures, a new general algorithmic paradigm is proposed here that highlights the richness of measures in this class and accounts for the ones already available in the literature. Moreover, some of the most ...
BackgroundThe Prospective Space-Time scan statistic (PST) is widely used for the evaluation of space-time clusters of point event data. Usually a window of cylindrical shape is employed,...Full Text Available
We propose a scheme for the generation of the cluster states for many atoms in cavity QED. In our scheme, the atoms are sent through nonresonant cavity fields in the vacuum states. The cavity fields are only virtually excited and no quantum information will be transferred from the atoms to the cavity fields. The advantage is that the cavities are suppressed during the procedure. The scheme can also be generalized to the ion trap system.
Activities and results are reported of a project to investigate the application of remote sensing technology developed for the LACIE, AgRISTARS, Forestry and other NASA remote sensing projects for the environmental monitoring of strip mining, industrial pollution, and acid rain. Following a remote sensing workshop for EPA personnel, the EOD clustering algorithm CLASSY was selected for evaluation by EPA as a possible candidate technology. LANDSAT data acquired for a North Dakota test sight was clustered in order to compare CLASSY with other algorithms.
The electronic structure of octahedral metal atom clusters Me_6 of 3d, 4d, and 5d transition metal atoms (V, Cr; Nb, Mo; Ta, W) has been calculated applying two different quantum-chemical approximation methods (Extended Hueckel (EH) method; SW-Xsub(alpha) method). Equilibrium structures, energy level schemes, Fermi energies and band widths as well as densities of states of clusters are discussed in detail.
Results on defect structure study and degree of molybdenum radiation hardening irradiated by fission neutrons and medium energy alpha-particles are presented. It is shown that molybdenum irradiation by alpha-particles and neutrons leads to different degree of material hardening for the same damage level. It is established that molybdenum radiation hardening is mainly defined by radiation defect clusters visible in electron microscope whose coefficient of rigidity depends on their size. 5 refs.; 6 figs.; 2 tabs. (author).
Aluminium toxicity is a major problem in agriculture worldwide. Among the cultivated triticeae, rye (Secale cereale L.) is one of the most Al-tolerant and represents an important potential source of Al-tolerance for improvement of wheat. The Alt4 Al-tolerance locus of rye contains a cluster of genes...
Using high resolution and high sensitivity IRAS data at 12 and 25 microns low mass stars were studied which have recently formed in the Ophiuchus, Corona Australis, and IC1396 dark clouds. The successful application of these techniques to the Rho Ophiuchi infrared cluster is briefly described. The status of research performed is also presented.
Simulation irradiation experiments were carried out to investigate the formation processes and contribution to hardening of radiation-induced features in low alloy steels. Medium Cu (0.12 and 0.16%) and low Cu (0.03%) A533B steels were irradiated with 3 MeV Ni ions and 5 MeV electrons, and in KUR at 290degC. Irradiated steels were examined by three-dimensional atom probe, positron annihilation, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and hardness measurements. Electron irradiation caused almost the same hardening as KUR irradiation in medium Cu steels under almost the same dose rate and dose conditions, whereas the formation of larger, denser and more Cu enriched clusters and smaller accumulation of single vacancies were confirmed for KUR irradiation. This indicated that cascade damage provides additional cluster nucleation sites to compensate for lower free point defect production. High dose rate Ni ion irradiation produced Mn-Ni-Si ...
Stellar rotation and velocity-dispersion measurements are presented for the bulge components of the SBO galaxies NGC 1023, 2859, 2950, 4340, 4371, and 7743. The kinematics of nine SB bulges with data available are compared with bulges of unbarred galaxies studied by Kormendy and Illingworth. All of the SB bulges are found to rotate at least as rapidly as oblate-spheroid dynamical models which are flattened by rotation. This result confirms the conclusion of Kormendy and Illingworth that bulges rotate very rapidly. Six SB bulges found by Kormendy and Koo to be triaxial rotate even more rapidly than the oblate models. In this respect, they resemble published n-body models of bars. That is, triaxial bulges are dynamically like bars and unlike elliptical galaxies, which are also believed to be triaxial, but which rotate slowly. Measured velocity anisotropies are found to be consistent with these conclusions. Two ordinary bulges ...
Photographic surface photometry in the BV system was carried out two Southern SO's galaxies, NGC 2855 and NGC 6771. B and V isophote maps were obtained as well as geometric and integrated parameters as position angles, inclination, diameters, magnitudes and integrated colors. Each luminosity profile was decomposed into bulge and disk contributions, each component being fitted to convenient laws. For NGC 2855 de Vaucouleurs law described well the bulge whereas the disk showed an exponential distribution. For NGC 6771 the barred nuclear bulge as well as the disk was best fitted by exponential laws. Additional luminosity components due to an inner fragmented ring were identified in NGC 2855 and due to both a quite prominent lens and well defined ring in NGC 6771. In this galaxy the minor axis, oriented almost edge-on, present clues of another luminosity component besides the bulge and the thin disk. For both galaxies the disk ...
We report five new measurements of central black hole masses based on Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 observations with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and on axisymmetric, three-integral, Schwarzschild orbit-library kinematic models. We selected a sample of galaxies within a narrow range in velocity dispersion that cover a range of galaxy parameters (including Hubble type and core/power-law surface density profile) where we expected to be able to resolve the galaxy's sphere of influence based on the predicted value of the black hole mass from the M-#sigma# relation. We find masses for the following galaxies: NGC 3585, M _B_H = 3.4"+"1"."5 _-_0_._6 x 10"8 M _s_u_n; NGC 3607, M _B_H = 1.2"+"0"."4 _-_0_._4 x 10"8 M _s_u_n; NGC 4026, M _B_H = 2.1"+"0"."7 _-_0_._4 x 10"8 M _s_u_n; and NGC 5576, M _B_H = 1.8"+"0"."3 _-_0_._4 x 10"8 M _s_u_n, all significantly excluding ...
An indoor radioactive survey is being conducted in an Italian district. Preliminary results identified a zone with significant radioactive levels, in which a new specific survey has been planned. In this paper attention is dedicated mainly to radon measurement technique and results.
BackgroundDespite having the largest population in Africa, Nigeria has no accurate population based data to plan and evaluate eye care services. A national survey was undertaken...Full Text Available
The report contains detailed information with regard to the data collected in the 1977 Survey of Industry on the Use of Food Additives undertaken by committees of the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council under sponsorship of the Food ...
This report gives the results of a survey of operational flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems on coal-fired utility boilers in the United States. The FGD systems installed on Units 1 and 2 at the Bruce Mansfield Station of the Pennsylvania Power Company...
Two hundred and fifty Fellows of the American Dental Society of Anesthesiology were surveyed concerning their personal preference of anesthetic technique, regional versus general anesthesia, through...Full Text Available
This paper describes a radiation shield verification survey of a large hot cell at the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF). The following aspects of the shield test are discussed: description of the FFTF; description of the hot cell; the test procedures; radiation protection, and the test results.
A small regional survey of direct spectrophotometric methods and a larger Australian and New Zealand survey of paediatric bilirubin analyses are described. The overall performance of both groups was...Full Text Available
Survey - science for a changing world USGS Home Contact USGS Search USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Reports 2007-1316 through 2007-1354...
This volume presents the collations tables of a six volume comparative epidemiological survey of the effects of low level radiation dose. Data are collated for the effects observed in the following irradiated groups:- Preconception irradiation, intra-uterine irradiation, childhood irradiation, adult irradiation. (UK).
The report, generated by a computerized data base system, presents a survey of operational and planned domestic utility flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems, operational domestic particle scrubbers, and Japanese coal-fired utility FGD installations. It ...
The report presents detailed technical information concerning application of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems to industrial boilers. The information was obtained by a survey of plant personnel, control system vendors, regulatory agencies, and consulting engineering firms. T...
ObjectivePersons with chronic or recurrent pain frequently visit the emergency department (ED), yet little research examines this experience. We conducted this national survey to...Full Text Available
BackgroundThis study examines the prevalence and nature of bereavement help-seeking among the population who experienced an "expected" death in the five years before their survey...Full Text Available
A debris disk is a constituent of any planetary system surrounding a main sequence star. We study whether close stellar encounters can disrupt and strip a debris disk of its planetesimals in the expanding open cluster of its birth. Such stripping would affect the dust production and hence detectability of the disk. We tabulated the fractions of planetesimals stripped off during stellar flybys of miss distances between 100 and 1000 AU and for several mass ratios of the central to passing stars. We then estimated the numbers of close stellar encounters over the lifetime of several expanding open clusters characterized by their initial star densities. We found that a standard disk, with inner and outer radii of 40 and 100 AU, suffers no loss of planetesimals around a star born in a common embedded cluster with star density 20 000 pc^-3. In this environment, a disk loses >97% of its planetesimals around an M-dwarf, >63% ...
A simulation model for boron diffusion which takes into account the aggregation of the excess interstitials in clusters, and subsequently, the dissolution of these defects, is proposed. The interstitial supersaturation and generation rate are determined according to the classical theory of nucleation and growth of particles, in analogy with the precipitation of a new phase in heavily doped silicon. The clusters are considered as precipitates formed by interstitial Si atoms. The B diffusion is modelled on the basis of the dopant-interstitial pair diffusion mechanism. The clusters dissolution during annealing maintains nearly constant, for a long period, the interstitial supersaturation and the related enhancement of the boron diffusion. This gives a good account of the diffusion results over a large range of experimental conditions. Furthermore, this approach describes most of the behavior of the transient enhanced diffusion ...
Not long ago primary census data became available to publicity. It opened qualitatively new perspectives not only for researchers in demography and sociology, but also for those people, who somehow face processes occurring in society. In this paper authors propose using Data Mining methods for searching hidden patterns in census data. A novel clustering-based technique is described as well. It allows determining factors which influence people behavior, in particular decision-making process (as an example, a decision whether to have a baby or not). Proposed technique is based on clustering a set of respondents, for whom a certain event have already happened (for instance, a baby was born), and discovering clusters' prototypes from a set of respondents, for whom this event hasn't occurred yet. By means of analyzing clusters' and their prototypes' characteristics it is possible to identify which factors ...
Results of a survey conducted by Concawe on 75 oil refineries in Europe show that the total quantity of waste requiring disposal in 1986 was 0.5 million metric tons. This quantity of waste is but 0.13% of the total refinery throughput of 387 million metric tons during 1986. The survey revealed a wide range of disposal costs, depending on the particular properties of the waste and local conditions. A summary of total waste generation and how the waste is disposed of is shown. Details on the types of waste disposed, the disposal methods used, and the costs of disposal are detailed in this excerpt from the Concawe survey.
Prior to routine use, all newly installed x-ray machines must have a radiation-protection survey by a qualified expert. The survey is an evaluation of existing or potential radiation hazards associated with the use of diagnostic x-ray equipment under specific conditions. Such evaluation includes the measurement of exposure levels in the environment as well as environmental levels arising from operation of the equipment. The survey also includes an evaluation of the safety characteristics of the x-ray unit.
NASA's Glory spacecraft is equipped to survey and map aerosols in Earth's atmosphere during a mission marking the return to flight of the Taurus XL rocket.
This is a design study into the capabilities of the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) in performing a full-sky low redshift neutral hydrogen survey, termed WALLABY, and the potential cosmological constraints one can attain from measurement of the matter power spectrum. We find that the full sky survey will likely attain 600,000 redshifts which, when combined with expected Planck CMB data, will constrain the Dark Energy equation of state to 20%, for the first time making cosmological constraints from radio observations competitive with the best existing optical surveys.
The Subcommittee for Surveillance of Nuclear Medicine Practice has implemented a survey for actual nuclear medicine practice in Japan every 5 years. This article reports on the third survey implemented during a one-month period in June 1992. Questionnaires were sent to all 1256 facilities employing radiopharmaceuticals in routine practice, and 1162 (92.5%) answered. In vivo nuclear medicine examinations per day were performed in 6600 cases. SPECT accounted for 19.4%, as compared with 7.1% in the 1987 survey. According to organs, the frequency of examination for the cerebrospinal region was 3.2 and 2.2 times higher than that in the 1982 and 1987 surveys, respectively, whereas for the thyroid gland it was 0.6-fold and 0.7-fold that of these surveys. The proportion of bone scintigraphy was the highest (24.5%), followed by tumor scintigraphy (14.1%) and myocardial scintigraphy (11.9%). ...
The potential market for irradiated chicken breasts was investigated using a mail survey and a retail trial. Results from the mail survey suggested a significantly higher level of acceptability of irradiated chicken than did the retail trial. A subsequent market experiment involving actual purchases showed levels of acceptability similar to that of the mail survey when similar information about food irradiation was provided.
DescriptionM291272: Annex A - Electronic data capture of woodland survey records (baseline for studying change and variation in woods) Rationale During the 1980s and 1990s, particularly, much woodland survey was undertaken in England by the Nature Conservancy Council and its successor English Nature. Most of the records are only in paper form and the species data they contain has not been available for further analysis or use in wider context such as species and habitat recording schemes. The aims o [continued...
Two dimensional Fourier spectra of near-infrared images of galaxies provide a powerful diagnostic tool for the detection of spiral arm modulation in stellar disks. Spiral arm modulation may be understood in terms of interference patterns of outgoing and incoming density wave packets or modes. The brightness along a spiral arm will be increased where two wave crests meet and constructively interfere, but will be decreased where a wave crest and a wave trough destructively interfere. Spiral arm modulation has hitherto only been detected in grand design spirals (such as Messier 81). Spiral arm amplitude variations have the potential to become a powerful constraint for the study of galactic dynamics. We illustrate our method in two galaxies: NGC 4062 and NGC 5248. In both cases, we have detected trailing and leading m=2 waves with similar pitch angles. This suggests that the amplification mechanism is the WASER type II. In this mechanism, the bulge ...
We present a set of structural parameters for the central parts of 57 early-type galaxies observed with the Planetary Camera of the Hubble Space Telescope. These parameters are based on a new empirical law that successfully characterizes the centers of early type galaxies. This empirical law assumes that the surface brightness profile is a combination of two power laws with different slopes gamma and beta for the inner and outer regions. Conventional structural parameters such as core radius and central surface brightness are replaced by break radius r_b, where the transition between power-law slopes takes place, and surface brightness mu_b at that radius. An additional parameter alpha describes the sharpness of the break. The structural parameters are derived using a chi-squared minimization process applied to the mean surface brightness profiles. The resulting model profiles generally give very good agreement to the observed profiles out to ...
In order to perform a detailed study of the stellar kinematics in the vertical axis of bars, we obtained high signal-to-noise spectra along the major and minor axes of the bars in a sample of 14 face-on galaxies, and used them to determine the line of sight stellar velocity distribution, parameterized as Gauss-Hermite series. With these data, we developed a diagnostic tool that allows one to distinguish between recently formed and evolved bars, as well as estimate their ages, assuming that bars form in vertically thin disks, recognizable by low values for the vertical velocity dispersion sigma_z. Through N-body realizations of bar unstable disk galaxies we could also check the time scales involved in the processes which give bars an important vertical structure. We show that sigma_z in evolved bars is roughly around 100 Km/s, which translates to a height scale of about 1.4 Kpc, giving support to scenarios in which bulges form through disk ...
We present deep optical long-slit spectra of 17 edge-on spiral galaxies of intermediate to late morphological type, mostly parallel to their major axes and in a few cases parallel to the minor axes.The line-of-sight stellar kinematics are obtained from the stellar absorption lines using the improvedc ross-correlation technique. In general, the stellar kinematics are regular and can be traced well into the disc-dominated region. The mean stellar velocity curves are far from solid-body, indicating that the effect of dust extinction is not large. The line-of-sight stellar disc velocity dispersion correlates with the galaxy maximum rotational velocity, but detailed modeling is necessary to establish whether this represents a physical relation. In four spirals with a boxy- or peanut-shaped bulge we are able to detect asymmetric velocity distributions, having a common signature with projected radius in the mean line-of-sight velocity and the $h_{3}$ ...
We consider isolated compact remnants (ICoRs), i.e. neutrons stars and black holes that do not reside in binary systems and therefore cannot be detected as X-ray binaries. ICoRs may represent $\\sim\\,5$ percent of the stellar mass budget of the Galaxy, but they are very hard to detect. Here we explore the possibility of using microlensing to identify ICoRs. In a previous paper we described a simulation of neutron star evolution in phase space in the Galaxy, taking into account the distribution of the progenitors and the kick at formation. Here we first reconsider the evolution and distribution of neutron stars and black holes adding a bulge component. From the new distributions we calculate the microlensing optical depth, event rate and distribution of event time scales, comparing and contrasting the case of ICoRs and "normal stars". We find that the contribution of remnants to optical depth is slightly lower than without kinematics, owing to ...
Ultra-luminous infrared galaxies are among the most luminous objects in the local universe and are thought to be powered by intense star formation. It has been shown that in these objects the rotational spectral lines of molecular hydrogen observed at mid-infrared wavelengths are not affected by dust obscuration, leaving unresolved the source of excitation of this emission. Here I report an analysis of archival Spitzer Space Telescope data on ultra-luminous infrared galaxies and demonstrate that star formation regions are buried inside optically thick clouds of gas and dust, so that dust obscuration affects star-formation indicators but not molecular hydrogen. I thereby establish that the emission of H_2 is not co-spatial with the buried starburst activity and originates outside the obscured regions. This is rather surprising in light of the standard view that H_2 emission is directly associated with star-formation activity. Instead, I propose ...
We present results of near--IR long-slit spectroscopy in the J and K bands of the Seyfert 2 galaxies NGC 2110 and Circinus, investigating the gaseous distribution, excitation, reddening and kinematics. In NGC 2110, the emission line ratio [FeII]/Pa beta increases towards the nucleus (to ~ 7). The nuclear [Fe II]1.257 (microns) and Pa beta lines are broader (FWHM ~ 500 km/s) than the H2 (2.121) line (FWHM ~ 300 km/s). Both these results suggest that shocks, driven by the radio jet, are an important source of excitation of [Fe II]. The H2 excitation appears to be dominated by X-rays from the nucleus. In Circinus, both [FeII]/Pa beta and H2/Br gamma decrease from ~ 2 at 4 arcsec from the nucleus to nuclear values of ~ 0.6 and ~ 1, respectively, suggesting that the starburst dominates the nuclear excitation, while the AGN dominates the excitation further out (r > 2 arcsec). For both galaxies, the gaseous kinematics are consistent with circular ...
We compare N-body simulations of isolated galaxies performed in both frameworks of modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) and Newtonian gravity with dark matter (DM). We have developed a multigrid code able to efficiently solve the modified Poisson equation derived from the Lagrangian formalism AQUAL. We take particular care of the boundary conditions that are a crucial point in MOND. The 3-dimensional dynamics of initially identical stellar discs is studied in both models. In Newtonian gravity the live DM halo is chosen to fit the rotation curve of the MOND galaxy. For the same value of the Toomre parameter (Q_T), galactic discs in MOND develop a bar instability sooner than in the DM model. In a second phase the MOND bars weaken while the DM bars continue to grow by exchanging angular momentum with the halo. The bar pattern speed evolves quite differently in the two models: there is no dynamical friction on the MOND bars so they keep a constant ...
We present deep two-dimensional spectra of 22 candidate and confirmed Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at redshifts 2galaxy formation scenarios postulating that LBGs occur only at the bottom of the potential wells of massive host halos; rather, they support ``collisional starburst'' ...
We examine the observable properties of simulated barred galaxies including radial mass profiles, edge-on structure and kinematics, bar lengths and pattern speed evolution for detailed comparison to real systems. We have run several simulations in which bars are created through inherent instabilities in self-consistent simulations of a realistic disc+halo galaxy model with a disc-dominated, flat rotation curve. These simulations were run at high (N=20M particles) and low (N=500K) resolution to test numerical convergence. We determine the pattern speeds in simulations directly from the phase angle of the bar versus time and the Tremaine-Weinberg method. Fundamental dynamics do not change between the high and low resolution, suggesting that convergence has been reached in this case. We find the higher resolution is needed to simulate structural and kinematic properties accurately. The edge-on view of the higher-resolution system clearly shows the ...
Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are thought to originate at cosmological distances from the most powerful explosions in the Universe. If GRBs are not beamed then the distribution of their number as a function of gamma-ray flux implies that they occur once per (0.3-40) million years per bright galaxy and that they deposit >10^{53} ergs into their surrounding interstellar medium. The blast wave generated by a GRB explosion would be washed out by interstellar turbulence only after tens of millions of years when it finally slows down to a velocity of 10 km/s. This rather long lifetime implies that there could be up to several tens of active GRB remnants in each galaxy at any given time. For many years, radio observations have revealed the enigmatic presence of expanding neutral-hydrogen (HI) supershells of kpc radius in the Milky Way and in other nearby galaxies. The properties of some supershells cannot be easily explained in terms ...
We present a HST/STIS spectroscopic and optical/radio imaging study of the Seyfert NGC 2110 aiming to measure the dynamics and understand the nature of the nuclear outflow in the galaxy. Previous HST studies have revealed the presence of a linear structure in the Narrow-Line Region (NLR) aligned with the radio jet. We show that this structure is strongly accelerated, probably by the jet, but is unlikely to be entrained in the jet flow. The ionisation properties of this structure are consistent with photoionisation of dusty, dense gas by the active nucleus. We present a plausible geometrical model for the NLR, bringing together various components of the nuclear environment of the galaxy. We highlight the importance of the circum-nuclear disc in determining the appearance of the emission line gas and the morphology of the jet. From the dynamics of the emission line gas, we place constraints on the accelerating mechanism of the outflow and discuss ...
We report on the discovery of kinematic shock signatures associated with a localized radio jet interaction in the merging Seyfert galaxy NGC 5929. We explore the velocity-dependent ionization structure of the gas and find that low-ionization gas at the interaction site is significantly more disturbed than high-ionization gas, which we attribute to a local enhancement of shock ionization due to the influence of the jet. The characteristic width of the broad low-ionization emission is consistent with shock velocities predicted from the ionization conditions of the gas. We interpret the relative prominence of shocks to the high density of gas in the nuclear environment of the galaxy and place some constraints of their importance as feedback mechanisms in Seyferts.
Observed parameter scaling laws show that lower-luminosity ellipticals have higher central densities and smaller core radii; if they formed by mergers, they are very unlike their progenitors. In the extreme case of M32, the central surface brightness is mu0 less than about 12 V mag/sq arcsec and the core radius is r(c) less than about 0.001 kpc, while plausible progenitor disk galaxies have mu0 of about 22 V mag/sq arcsec and r(c) of about 0.5 kpc. M32 must have formed by a dissipative collapse, whether or not a merger was involved. The cooling diagram also shows that low-luminosity ellipticals formed with more dissipation than high-luminosity ellipticals. Thus the merger picture of galalxy formation requires essential aspects of the dissipative collapse picture. 38 refs.
The next decade promises an observational revolution which will change cosmology forever. The precise measurement of the angular anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background should specify to a few percent all of the parameters of the cosmological model which effect astrophysics. The growth of structure will then be determined (but not yet observed) until gravitational collapse becomes highly non-linear and stars, galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGN) form. These processes are hard to model with basic physics because they are complex and allow a rich variety of expression. Instead observations will determine when the first stars and quasars formed, and how and when galaxies assembled. If we can reconcile the numerous contradictions which characterize the subject today, cosmology will become a mature subject, founded on the agreement between detailed, inclusive and realistic models, which make precise predictions, and the wealth of new data ...
The relativistic time dilation is reviewed in a cosmological context. We show that a clock or twin paradox does not arise if cosmic time is properly taken into account. The receding galaxy background provides a unique frame of reference, and the proper times of geodesic as well as accelerated observers can be linked to the universal cosmic time parameter. This suggests to compare the proper time differentials of the respective observers by determining their state of motion in the galaxy grid. In this way, each observer can figure out whether his proper time is dilated or contracted relative to any other. In particular one can come to unambiguous conclusions on the aging of uniformly moving observers, without reference to asymmetries in measurement procedures or accelerations they may have undergone.
The relative merits and difficlties of the primary and secondry origin hypotheses for the observed cosmic-ray antiprotons, including the new low-energy measurement of Buffington, et al are discussed. We conclude that the cosmic-ray antiproton data may be evidence for antimatter galaxies and baryon symmetric cosmology. The present bar P data are consistent with a primary extragalactic component having /p /equiv 1+/- 3.2/0.7x10 to the -4 independent of energy. We propose that the primary extragalactic cosmic ray antiprotons are most likely from active galaxies and that expected disintegration of bar alpha/alpha ban alpha/alpha. We further predict a value for ban alpha/alpha /equiv 10 to the -5, within range of future cosmic ray detectors.
Prompted by work on the buckling instability in barred spiral galaxies, much effort has been devoted lately to the study of boxy/peanut-shaped (B/PS) bulges. Here, we present new bar diagnostics for edge-on spiral galaxies based on periodic orbits calculations and hydrodynamical simulations. Both approaches provide reliable ways to identify bars and their orientations in edge-on systems. We also present the results of an observational search for bars in a large sample of edge-on spirals with and without B/PS bulges. We show that most B/PS bulges are due to the presence of a thick bar viewed edge-on while only a few may be due to accretion. This strongly supports the bar-buckling mechanism for the formation of B/PS bulges.
Abstract Recent work (Schawinski et al.) indicates that star-forming early-type galaxies residing in the blue cloud migrate rapidly to the red sequence within around a Gyr, passing through several phases of increasingly strong active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity in the process. We show that natural depletion of the cold gas reservoir through star formation (i.e. in the absence of any feedback from the AGN) induces a blue-to-red reddening rate that is several factors lower than that observed by Schawinski et al. This is because the gas depletion rate due to star formation alone is too slow, implying that another process needs to be invoked to remove cold gas from the system and accelerate the reddening rate. We develop a simple phenomenological model, in which a fraction of the AGN-s lum...
Faults are being actively investigated across Japan since the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. Discussed in this report is the application of the 3D near-surface reflection seismic survey in big cities. Data from trenching and drilling is used for the geological interpretation of the surroundings of a fault, and the reflection seismic survey is used to identify the position, etc., of the fault. In this article, when the results obtained from the experimental field are examined, it is found that the conventional 2D imaging reflection survey betrays the limit of its capability when the geological structure is complicated, that the 3D reflection seismic survey, on the contrary, is capable of high-precision imaging and, when augmented by drilling, etc., becomes capable of a more detailed interpretation, and that it also contributes effectively to the improvement of local disaster prevention in big cities. ...
Recently, molecular clusters are the subject of several experimental and computational studies by means of their bonding structures. We studied, first time, small difluorine monoxide clusters such as dimer (linear, cyclic, bifurcated), trimer and tetramer structures using B3LYP variant of density functional theory with cc-pVDZ basis set. On the basis of the optimized geometry, various energy properties such as binding energy, molecular orbital energies, two and three body interaction energies have been calculated. Additionally dipole moment, polarizability, anisotropic polarizability and hyper polarizability have been calculated and compared with monomer structure.
We present structure calculations of neutral and singly ionized Mg clusters of up to 30 atoms, as well as Na clusters of up to 10 atoms. The calculations have been performed using density functional theory (DFT) within the local (spin-)density approximation, ion cores are described by pseudopotentials. We have utilized a new algorithm for solving the Kohn-Sham equations that is formulated entirely in coordinate space and, thus, permits straightforward control of the spatial resolution. Our numerical method is particularly suitable for modern parallel computer architectures; we have thus been able to combine an unrestricted simulated annealing procedure with electronic structure calculations of high spatial resolution, corresponding to a plane-wave cutoff of 954 eV for Mg. We report the geo...
This paper addresses the problem of partitioning a local service region into nonoverlapping work areas in which pickups and deliveries are made throughout the day. For a fleet of homogeneous vehicles, a given set of customers, and expected demand for service, the objective is to find the least number of work areas or clusters that satisfy a variety of geometric and capacity constraints. Using rectangles as the basic shape, each cluster must have an aspect ratio that falls within certain bounds, as well as meet load and time requirements dictated by the capacity of a vehicle and the working hours in a day, respectively. The latter requirement presents a unique hurdle because travel times are a function of the actual routes followed by the drivers, and are not known, even in a probabilistic ...
We apply a notion of static renormalization to the preparation of cluster states for quantum computing, exploiting ideas from percolation theory. Such a strategy yields a novel way to cope with the randomness of non-deterministic quantum gates. This is most relevant in the context of linear optical architectures, where probabilistic gates are inevitable. We demonstrate how to efficiently construct cluster states without the need for rerouting, thereby avoiding a massive amount of feed-forward and conditional dynamics, and furthermore show that except for a single layer of fusion measurements during the preparation, all further measurements can be shifted to the final adapted single qubit measurements. Remarkably, the cluster state preparation is achieved using essentially the same scaling in resources as if deterministic gates were available. Further, techniques to reduce the size of the required resource states will be ...
Abstract We use Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics to simulate the formation of a massive (106-M-) stellar cluster system formed from the gravitational collapse of a turbulent molecular cloud. We investigate the hierarchical clustering properties of our model system and we study the influence of the photoionizing radiation produced by the system's multiple O-type stars on the evolution of the protocluster. We find that dense gas near the ionizing sources prevents the radiation from eroding the filaments in which most of the star formation occurs and that instead, ionized gas fills pre-existing voids and bubbles originally created by the turbulent velocity field.
In this paper we present a model and simulator for many clusters of heterogeneous PCs belonging to a local network. These clusters are assumed to be connected to each other through a global network and each cluster is managed via a local scheduler which is shared by many users. We validate our simulator by comparing the experimental and analytical results of a M/M/4 queuing system. These studies indicate that the simulator is consistent. Next, we do the comparison with a real batch system and we obtain an average error of 10.5\\% for the response time and 12\\% for the makespan. We conclude that the simulator is realistic and well describes the behaviour of a large-scale system. Thus we can study the scheduling of our system called \\dirac in a high throughput context. We justify our decentralized, adaptive and opportunistic approach in comparison to a centralized approach in such a context.
The electronic structures of the set of molecular clusters of dielectric oxide crystals AWO4 (A = Pb, Cd, Zn), the sizes of which increase sequentially are ab-initio calculated by the Restricted Hartree-Fock (RHF) method. The results of calculations of molecular orbitals and energy dependences of partial densities of electronic states of different clusters are compared each to other and to experimental data. It is found that calculated electronic structures of the tungstate groups and cations which are surrounded in cluster by certain number of the nearest neighbor atoms of the crystals quite well represent the experimentally obtained value of the forbidden gap of corresponding AWO4 crystal. (authors)
In a sufficiently large cluster of several polar molecules, collective interactions lead to localization or 'solvation' of electrons. The existence of the solvated electron is known since 1863 in liquid ammonia and since 1962 for liquid water. In 1984, electron localization in clusters was experimentally demonstrated in (H_2O)_N_#>=#_1_1 and (NH_3)_N_#>=#_3_4 clusters. In cooperation with K. Bowen, we recently initiated a test of the theory of electron binding by a dipole and a new ground state dipole bound dimer anion, (H_2O..NH_3), was predicted and observed. We here describe results of a search for new dipole-bound and solvated electron systems. (author).
Bent specimens of A533B steel (0.16wt% Cu) were irradiated at 290degreeC to 1dpa with 6.4MeV Fe3+ ions. Calculated tensile stresses at the irradiated surface were set to 0, 250, 500 and 750MPa. The specimens were subjected to hardness measurements, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations and three-dimensional atom probe (3DAP) analysis. The radiation-induced hardening decreased with increasing stress to 500MPa which was near the yield strength. TEM and 3DAP results showed that well-defined dislocation loops and solute clusters were formed. The diameter of dislocation loops increased and the number density decreased when the stress was applied, whereas the diameter and number density of solute clusters decreased. The hardening was mainly attributed to solute cluster formation. A...
We have obtained radial velocities for 69 stars in the globular cluster M2 (NGC 7089). M2's rotation axis is, within sizeable uncertainties, perpendicular to the major axis determined by the flattening. The ratio of rotational to random kinetic energy agrees with that predicted from the ellipticity assuming an oblate figure and an isotropic velocity-dispersion tensor. We have fitted King-Michie models to determine M2's mass, the exponent of an assumed power-law mass function, and the anisotropy radius. The most significant sources of uncertainty in the modeling are the velocity dispersion, the distance, and the mass-luminosity relation for the cluster stars. The models favor mass functions similar to or shallower than the Salpeter initial-mass function and a moderate amount of velocity anisotropy.
We analyse the issues involved in the management and mining of astrophysical data. The traditional approach to data management in the astrophysical field is not able to keep up with the increasing size of the data gathered by modern detectors. An essential role in the astrophysical research will be assumed by automatic tools for information extraction from large datasets, i.e. data mining techniques, such as clustering and classification algorithms. This asks for an approach to data management based on data warehousing, emphasizing the efficiency and simplicity of data access; efficiency is obtained using multidimensional access methods and simplicity is achieved by properly handling metadata. Clustering and classification techniques, on large datasets, pose additional requirements: computational and memory scalability with respect to the data size, interpretability and objectivity of clustering or classification results. ...
Hyperspherical-harmonics method to investigate the lightest nuclei having three-cluster structure is discussed together with recent experiments. Properties of bound states and methods to explore three-body continuum are presented. The challenges created by large neutron excess and halo phenomena are highlighted. Astrophysical aspects of the "7Li + n "#-># "8Li + #gamma# reaction and the solar-boron-neutrinos problem are analyzed. Three-cluster structure of highly excited states in "8Be is shown to be responsible for extreme isospin mixing. Progress in studies of "6He- and "1"1Li-induced inclusive and exclusive nuclear reactions is demonstrated, providing information on the nature of continuum structures of Borromean nuclei.
Molecular cluster predictions for electronic energy levels, wave functions, momentum densities, and Compton profiles of VO and VO_2 are examined within the Hartree-Fock-Slater model. VO_6 clusters are treated in O/subh/, D_4/subh/, and D_2/subh/ symmetry to obtain quantitative relations between distortion parameters and level shifts and splittings. Effects of the crystal environment are taken into account by a potential field. Results for VO are consistent with the augmented plane-wave band calculation of Mattheiss and x-ray emission data; the VO_2 levels are in good agreement with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data. A sizable anisotropy is predicted for the Compton profile of VO and VO_2.
The increasing use of quantum-chemical methods in catalysis has underscored the importance of developing and improving semiempirical approximations oriented toward calculations of the total energy and geometry, offering a means for examining intermolecular interactions. In this article a general approach is proposed, using weighting factors for certain regions of distances, i.e., introducing different parametrization into the various regions. A scheme designated MINDO/3-HB is presented as an extension of the MINDO/3 scheme to the region of hydrogen bonds and ..pi..-complexes of olefins with Broensted acid centers (BACs). Examples of cluster calculations are given for the adsorption of ammonia, pyridine, ethylene, and ethanol on the BACs of zeolites. In the example of the process of zeolite synthesis, the possibilities of the cluster approach are discussed for calculations related to the formation of catalysts.
The relationship between X chromosome-linked adrenoleukodystrophy and the red/green color pigment gene cluster on Xq28 was investigated in a large kindred. The DNA in a hemizygous male showed altered restriction fragment sizes compatible with at least a deletion extending from the 5[prime] end of the color pigment genes. Segregation analysis using a DNA probe within the color pigment gene cluster showed significant linkage with adrenoleukodystrophy (logarithm of odds score of 3.19 at [theta] = 0.0). These data demonstrate linkage, rather than association, between a unique molecular rearrangement in the color pigment gene cluster and adrenoleukodystrophy. The DNA changes in this region are thus likely to be helpful for determining the location and identity of the responsible gene. 33 refs., 4 figs.
Transition-metal chemistry in ionic liquids (IL) has achieved intrinsic fascination in the last few years. The use of an IL as environmental friendly solvent, offers many advantages over traditional materials synthesis methods. The change from molecular to ionic reaction media leads to new types of materials being accessible. Room-temperature IL have been found to be excellent media for stabilising transition-metal clusters in solution and to crystallise homo- and heteronuclear transition-metal complexes and clusters. Furthermore, the use of IL as solvent provides the option to replace high-temperature routes, such as crystallisation from the melt or gas-phase deposition, by convenient room- or low-temperature syntheses. Inorganic IL composed of alkali metal cations and polynuclear transition-metal cluster anions are also known. Each of these areas will be discussed briefly in this contribution. PMID:21743925
The authors analyze the consequences of models of structure formation for higher-order (n-point) galaxy correlation functions in the mildly non-linear regime. Several variations of the standard {Omega} = 1 cold dark matter model with scale-invariant primordial perturbations have recently been introduced to obtain more power on large scales, R{sub p} {approximately}20 h{sup {minus}1} Mpc, e.g., low-matter-density (non-zero cosmological constant) models, {open_quote}tilted{close_quote} primordial spectra, and scenarios with a mixture of cold and hot dark matter. They also include models with an effective scale-dependent bias, such as the cooperative galaxy formation scenario of Bower, et al. The authors show that higher-order (n-point) galaxy correlation functions can provide a useful test of such models and can discriminate between models with true large-scale power in the density field and those where the ...
We use deep HST/ACS observations to calculate the star formation history (SFH) of the Cetus dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy. Our photometry reaches below the oldest main-sequence turnoffs, which allows us to estimate the age and duration of the main episode of star formation in Cetus. This is well approximated by a single episode that peaked roughly 12 #+-# 0.5 Gyr ago and lasted no longer than about 1.9 #+-# 0.5 Gyr (FWHM). Our solution also suggests that essentially no stars formed in Cetus during the past 8 Gyr. This makes Cetus' SFH comparable to that of the oldest Milky Way dSphs. Given the current isolation of Cetus in the outer fringes of the Local Group, the dominant old population implies that Cetus is a clear outlier in the morphology-Galactocentric distance relation that holds for the majority of the Milky Way dwarf satellites. Our results also show that Cetus continued forming stars until z#approx =# 1, long after the universe was reionized, and that ...
Global angular momentum balance suggests that the neutron stars in Be/X-ray binaries are not spinning in equilibrium. This requires an X-ray lifetime ''approx <'' 10"5 yr, and suggests that there are many 'dead' Be/X-ray binaries in the Galaxy. Some of these may be turned up as millisecond radio pulsars with Be star companions. (author).
We demonstrate the nonuniqueness of the basic assumptions leading to spiral structure in self-propagating star formation models. Even in the case where star formation occurs purely spontaneously and does not propagate, we have generated spiral structure by adopting the radically different assumption where star formation is systematically inhibited.
The galaxies of the Local Group that are currently forming stars can serve as our laboratories for understanding star formation and the evolution of massive stars. In this talk I will summarize what I think we've learned about these topics over the past few decades of research, and briefly mention what I think needs to happen next.
The problem on change of deuterium abundance in the process of galactic evolution (star evolution, supernova explosions, nucleosynthesis in supermassive objects) is considered. It is shown that the observable deuterium quantity in the interstellar medium must correspond to its cosmological abundance. This conclusion is independent of the rate of accretion of intergalactic gas by Galaxy. The effect of hypothetical pregalactic active objects on cosmological deuterium is small. It is poind out that observations of interstellar deuterium in absorbtion at lambda=91.6 cm are significant.
After presenting three ways of defining a bulge component in disc galaxies, we introduce the various types of bulges, namely the classical bulges, the boxy/peanut bulges and the disc-like bulges. We then discuss three specific topics linked to bulge formation and evolution, namely the coupled time evolution of the bar, buckling and peanut strengths; the effect of velocity anisotropy on peanut formation; and bulge formation via bar destruction.
The relative merits and difficulties of the primary and secondary origin hypotheses for the observed cosmic ray antiprotons, including the low energy measurement of Buffington, were examined. It is concluded that the cosmic ray antiproton data may be strong evidence for antimatter galaxies and baryon symmetric cosmology. The present antiproton data are consistent with a primary extragalactic component having antiproton/proton approximately equal to .0032 + or - 0.7.
This report presents the preliminary findings of the first phase of the Environmental Survey of the United States Department of Energy's (DOE) Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) and Component Development and Integration Facility (CDIF), conducted September 14 through October 2, 1987. The Survey is being conducted by an interdisciplinary team of environmental specialists, led and managed by the Office of Environment, Safety and Health's Office of Environmental Audit. The team includes outside experts supplied by a private contractor. The objective of the Survey is to identify environmental problems and areas of environmental risk associated with the INEL and CDIF. The Survey covers all environmental media and all areas of environmental regulation. It is being performed in accordance with the DOE Environmental Survey Manual. The on-site phase of the ...
Pathogenicity islands (PAIs) are chromosomal clusters of pathogen-specific virulence genes often found at tRNA loci. In the Yersinia pseudotuberculosis 32777 chromosome, we characterized...Full Text Available
One of the keystones of the canceled BTeV experiment (proposed at Fermilab's Tevatron) was its sophisticated three-level trigger. The trigger was designed to reject 99.9% of light-quark background events and retain a large number of B decays. The BTeV Pixel Detector provided a 3-dimensional, high resolution tracking system to detect B signatures. The Level 1 pixel detector trigger was proposed as a two stage process, a track-segment finder and a vertex finder which analyzed every accelerator crossing. In simulations the track-segment finder stage outputs an average of 200 track-segments per accelerator crossing (2.5MHz). The vertexing stage finds vertices and associates track-segments with the vertices found. This paper proposes a novel adaptive pattern recognition model to find the number and the estimated location of vertices, and to cluster track-segments around those vertices. The track clustering and vertex finding is done in ...
Objectives: Human influenza A (H1N1) 2009 has caused severe epidemics in many countries, but its dynamics in spatial and temporal contexts have so far been poorly appreciated. Methods: A total of 24,414 laboratory confirmed human influenza A (H1N1) 2009 cases reported from May to September 2009 in Hong Kong were evaluated, using a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based approach. Spatio-temporal clustering was assessed after dividing Hong Kong into 4 geographic sectors, 18 districts and 500 m x 500 m cells. Global Moran's I, Local Moran's I and SaTScan(TM) were used in the exploration. Results: Spatio-temporal clusters first appeared on Hong Kong Island at week 3, alongside multiple foci suggestive of infection nidus introduced from abroad. The clusters grew rapidly and became confluent ...
The ALICE heavy-ion particle physics experiment is currently being built at CERN near Geneva. It will use a PC cluster of 900 dual-processor machines for the last stages of the data readout process and a network of 400 microcomputers for the configuration and control of the cluster nodes. One of the most important objectives to be achieved in such experiments is to guarantee the utilized devices are running correctly during the experiment life-time. A second aspect is the extremely high availability and reliability requirements of the applications being run, the so called high level trigger (HLT). The SysMES framework is a scalable, decentralized, fault tolerant, dynamic, rule based tool set for the monitoring of networks of target systems and applications. The management algorithms consist of the following steps: system and application monitoring, recognition of undesirable states, event (message) generation, local event handling on the ...
Using the complete genome of Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 which has 14 chromosomes as an example, we have examined the distribution functions for the amount of C or G and A or T consecutively...Full Text Available
BackgroundIn many of the European countries affected by Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), case clustering patterns have been observed. Most of these patterns have been interpreted...Full Text Available
We numerically investigate whether and how gaseous ejecta from AGB stars can be converted into new stars within originally massive star clusters (MSCs) in order to understand the origin of multiple stellar populations in globular clusters (GCs). We adopt a scenario in which (i) MSCs with masses of M_s can be formed from high-mass, high-density giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in their host galactic building blocks embedded in dark matter halos at high redshifts and (ii) their evolution therefore can be significantly influenced by M_s, their initial locations, and physical properties of their hosts. Our 3D hydrodynamical simulations show that gaseous ejecta from AGB stars can be retained within MSCs and consequently converted into new stars very efficiently in the central regions of MSCs, only if M_s exceed a threshold mass (M_th) of ~10^6 M_sun. The new stars can correspond to the ``second generation (SG)'' of stars with higher Na and lower O ...
Previous studies have been conducted in gene expression profiling to identify groups of genes that characterize the colorectal carcinoma disease. Despite the success of previous attempts to identify...Full Text Available
BackgroundPresumptive treatment of all febrile patients with anti-malarials leads to massive over-treatment. The aim was to assess the effect of implementing malaria rapid diagnostic...Full Text Available
ObjectiveTo refine the CT prediction of emphysema by comparing histology and CT for specific regions of lung. To incorporate both regional lung density measured by CT and cluster...Full Text Available
The new Gaussian potentials and interactions with forbidden states consistent with the phase scattering at low energies were obtained. Cross sections, resonance level spectra and some characteristics of bound states of lithium nuclei are calculated with these potentials.
The A(..pi../sup +/,/sup 3/He)B reaction near threshold is studied in a model where the pion is absorbed by an /sup 4/He constituent of the target nucleus. The predictions of this model using harmonic oscillator cluster wave functions agree semi-quantitatively with the experimental data on the inverse reaction.
Feb 7, 2011 ... The potentials of the spherical sensor and nearby conductors are controlled ... Incoming data are continuously monitored by algorithms in the software ... together with FM8 (Tango) by a Soyuz-Fregat rocket from Baikonur. ...
Noncoding RNAs play important roles in various aspects of gene regulation. We have identified 7SK RNA to be enriched in nuclear speckles or interchromatin granule clusters (IGCs), a subnuclear domain...Full Text Available
This paper reports on the superiority of zeolites over amorphous solids which is well documented for solid acid catalysts of industrial use. Crystalline supports, likewise, open attractive perspectives for catalysis by metals, alloys, and ligated metal clusters. Size and location of clusters can be controlled by careful design of the preparation conditions. Pore dimensions control the access of reactants to active sites and escape paths for products. Cage dimensions determine which transition states can be attained; window apertures are functional in isolating metal clusters from each other, thus preventing ther coalescence and growth. The ship-in-a-bottle method permits deisgn of fairly large active complexes entrapped in zeolite cages. Orientation of non-spherical molecules in a zeolite proe helps to direct their collision with a metal particle to the head on mode; however, isolated Pt atoms hidden in niches of the pore ...
Genes of the S100 fused-type protein (SFTP) family are clustered within the epidermal differentiation complex and encode essential components that maintain epithelial homeostasis and barrier functions....Full Text Available
In the course of a prenatal diagnosis for beta thalassaemia by linkage analysis of restriction fragment length polymorphisms, a homozygous beta thalassaemia fetus was misdiagnosed as beta thalassaemia...Full Text Available
BackgroundMass treatment to trachoma endemic communities is a critical part of the World Health Organization SAFE strategy. However, non-participation may not be at random, affecting...Full Text Available
Aflatrem is a potent tremorgenic mycotoxin produced by the soil fungus Aspergillus flavus and is a member of a large structurally diverse group of secondary metabolites known as indole-diterpenes....Full Text Available
BackgroundMuch of our current understanding of the epidemiology of Ascaris lumbricoides infections in humans has been acquired by analyzing worm count data. These...Full Text Available
Physicochemical and benthos data were collected from 12 marine monitoring stations in Daya Bay, during 2001-2004. 12 stations in Daya Bay could be grouped into three clusters: cluster I consisted of stations in the southern part of Daya Bay (stations S1, S2 and S6); cluster II consisted of stations in the cage culture areas (stations S3, S4, S5 and S8); cluster III consisted of stations in the southwest, the middle and the northeast of the Bay (stations S7, S9, S10, S11 and S12). Calculation with bivariate correlations between benthos and major physicochemical factors showed that the density of benthos in all stations correlated positively with temperature, DO, pH, NH4-N, SiO3-Si, SiO3-Si /PO4-P and chlorophyll a and was negatively correlated with salinity, Secchi, COD, NO3-N, NO2-N, TIN, ...
Bovine embryos can be generated by in vitro fertilization or somatic nuclear transfer; however, these differ from their in vivo counterparts in many aspects and exhibit a higher proportion of developmental...Full Text Available
Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) constitute a key antibiotic-resistance mechanism affecting Gram-negative bacteria, and also an excellent model for studying evolution in real time. A shift in...Full Text Available
BackgroundEvent-related potentials (ERPs) may be used as a highly sensitive way of detecting subtle degrees of cognitive dysfunction. On the other hand, impairment of cognitive skills...Full Text Available
The expression levels of many thousands of genes can be measured simultaneously by DNA microarrays (chips). This novel experimental tool has revolutionized research in molecular biology and generated considerable excitement. A typical experiment uses a few tens of such chips, each dedicated to a single sample - such as tissue extracted from a particular tumor. The results of such an experiment contain several hundred thousand numbers, that come in the form of a table, of several thousand rows (one for each gene) and 50 - 100 columns (one for each sample). We developed a clustering methodology to mine such data. In this review I provide a very basic introduction to the subject, aimed at a physics audience with no prior knowledge of either gene expression or clustering methods. I explain what genes are, what is gene expression and how it is measured by DNA chips. Next I explain what is meant by "clustering" and how we analyze ...
Molecular analysis of the amo gene cluster in Nitrosococcus oceani revealed that it consists of five genes, instead of the three known genes, amoCAB....Full Text Available
BackgroundThe implementation of high throughput sequencing for exploring biodiversity poses high demands on bioinformatics applications for automated data processing. Here we introduce...Full Text Available
Radionuclides are distributed nonuniformly in tissue. The present work examined the impact of nonuniformities at the multicellular level on the lethal effects of 210Po. A three-dimensional...Full Text Available
BackgroundMost analyses of spatial clustering of disease have been based on either residence at the time of diagnosis or current residence. An underlying assumption in these analyses...Full Text Available
Aluminum toxicity is a major problem in agriculture worldwide. Among the cultivated Triticeae, rye (Secale cereale L.) is one of the most Al tolerant and represents an important potential...Full Text Available
BackgroundWith rates of childhood obesity increasing, physical activity (PA) promotion especially in young children has assumed greater importance. Given the limited effectiveness...Full Text Available
BackgroundImproving nutrition knowledge among children may help them to make healthier food choices. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness and acceptability of a...Full Text Available
This paper reports progress in the fabrication and characterization of an array of 1nm-scale colloidal particles (i.e., quantum-dot array) that can be operated to execute nontrivial and innovative computations, possibly including quantum logic. We discuss the actual fabrication of 2-nm metal clusters as an example of possible quantum dot implementation. Innovative and unconventional paradigms underlie the different stages of this work. For example, regular array geometry is achieved by directing appropriately derivatized metal clusters to preselected locations along a stretched strand of an engineered DNA sequence.
The fission fragments from spontaneous fission of 252Cf have been measured with the spectrometric and position-sensitive semiconductor pixel detector Medipix2. Fragments are identified by pattern recognition of clusters generated in the Medipix2 pixel matrix sensor upon heavy particle hit. From analysis of cluster area, the distribution of kinetic energy of fission fragments is obtained. Together with a novel USB readout interface, the Medipix2/USB system operates as active nuclear emulsion in single-quantum and on-line tracking mode.
There is proposed the nonlinear model of dose dependence saturation of the yield strength on the base of the vacancy and interstitial barrier interaction in this work. Processes of mutual recombination of vacancy and interstitial barriers and formation of vacancy and interstitial clusters are taken into consideration. In the framework of the model, the analytical equations corresponding to the evolution of the barrier densities and yield strength are obtained. It is shown that the yield strength of irradiated materials decreases with the increasing intensity of barrier recombination processes, the dependence being nonlinear. Also it is shown that the model is valid both for low doses and large doses on the stage of radiation hardening.
A method based on cluster analysis techniques is proposed in order to obtain representative local wind patterns. Modeling renewable energy systems, in an accurate way which strongly depends on wind loads, requires reliable data to analyze their response and evaluate their performance. Otherwise poor agreement with the models may be obtained. In a case study for La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico, four different wind patterns were obtained from a one-year data set recorded at 10-min intervals. (author)
Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are parallel distributed processing machines. The unique characteristics of ANNs are: Fault tolerance, robustness, plasticity and generalization. These offer great potential in many AI applications such as character recognition. Handwritten character recognition is an intrinsically interesting problem, but the difficulties of this task are the many variations in the characters. A robust new incremental learning method, which combines supervised and unsupervised learning paradigms implemented by the Functional Link Net, is illustrated with experimental results. Clustering, based on unsupervised learning, classifies the input data into several categories. The supervised learning paradigm then further classifies the data in the clustered categories.
Fractal dimensional analysis was employed to obtain a quantitative measure of the morphology of polymer networks formed by UV irradiation induced polymerization of photo-reactive mesogenic monomers dissolved in a liquid crystal host medium. The fractal dimensions obtained, may be interpreted by polymer network growth following a percolation-like model for monomer concentrations well below the solubility limit. On passing the solubility limit, the polymerization process changes from a (radical chain) solution polymerization to a dispersion polymerization, with fractal dimensions decreasing and suggesting a cluster-cluster aggregation process for monomer concentrations above the solubility limit, similar to the aggregation of colloidal particles.
The electronic structure of the clusters (V/sub 3/Si/sub 4/)/sup 12 -/, (Nb/sub 3/Sn/sub 4/)/sup 12 -/(Mo/sub 3/Ge/sub 4/)/sup 15 -/ in crystalline V/sub 3/Si, Nb/sub 3/Sn, Mo/sub 3/Ge compounds is calculated by the Extended Hueckel method. The influence of different types of radiation induced defects on the density of states at the Fermi level (the anti-site defects, the displacement of atoms in linear chains, the vacancy-interstitial type defects) is considered.
The electronic structure of the clusters [V_3Si_4]"1"2"-, [Nb_3Sn_4]"1"2"-[Mo_3Ge_4]"1"5"- in crystalline V_3Si, Nb_3Sn, Mo_3Ge compounds is calculated by the Extended Hueckel method. The influence of different types of radiation induced defects on the density of states at the Fermi level (the anti-site defects, the displacement of atoms in linear chains, the vacancy-interstitial type defects) is considered. (author).
Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) measurements of bismuth clusters in the temperature range of 23 -300 K have been performed using synchrotron radiation in order to investigate the size dependent phase transition. The inter-atomic distances around 3.0 A and 3.6 A are attributed to the nearest neighbors within the layer and between layers, respectively. EXAFS functions were analysed by the curve fitting method within a symmetric distribution approximation. The nearest neighbor distance of the 0.5 nm thick films is shorter than that of the 300 nm thick films at all the temperatures, which is related to the reduction of the inter-layer correlation.
Direct nuclear reactions are commonly understood in terms of distorted wave (DW) formalisms. In the case of a single nucleon knockout or transfer reaction the DW analysis provides a reasonable understanding of the observed data. On the other hand the predictions based on different available information inputs have been verified with the observations consistently. In the case of direct reactions involving nuclear clusters however, the DW predictions have been found to disagree with the observations in most cases. The outcome of these and other improvements in the intermediate energy nuclear phenomena involving direct reactions are highlighted. (author). 13 refs., 18 figs.
Phelps N. A. Cluster or capture? Manufacturing foreign direct investment, external economies and agglomeration, Regional Studies.?This paper reviews the nature and significance of external economies associated with multinational enterprise (MNE) participation in the manufacturing industries of host economies. It argues that the balance of forces of internalization and externalization is currently skewed towards the former and the interests of MNEs rather than the latter and the interests of local and national communities and governments. A stylized comparison of developmental and competition state interventions in relation to MNEs and their foreign direct investment (FDI) suggests that in the absence of co-ordinated interventions by governments, there will commonly be a failure of t...
Burnout data with low pressure Freon-113 for even- and odd- numbered peripheral rod clusters with relatively large spacings were used to derive equations in terms of dimensionless parameters suggested by Barnett. The equations which are for three different flow regimes for each rod geometry (even or odd) were found to predict burnout data with maximum RMS deviation being 3.8%. (author). 11 figs., 3 tabs., 15 refs.
We study a percolation process on the planted binary tree, where clusters freeze as soon as they become larger than some fixed parameter N. We show that as N goes to infinity, the process converges in some sense to the frozen percolation process introduced by Aldous. In particular, our results show that the asymptotic behaviour differs substantially from that on the square lattice, on which a similar process has been studied recently by van den Berg, de Lima and Nolin.
The Plant Life Assessment Network (PLAN) is a Brite Euram Type II Thematic Network, initiated by the European Commission to facilitate structured co-operation between all cost shared action projects already funded by the Commission which fall under this common technical theme. The projects involved address a multiplicity of problems associated with plant life assessment and are drawn from Brite-Euram, Standards, Measurement and Testing, Nuclear Fission Safety and Esprit EC programmes. The main aim of the Network is to initiate, maintain and monitor a fruitful co-operation process between completed, ongoing and future EC R and D projects, thereby promoting improved cross fertilization and enhanced industrial exploitation of R and D results. As the project is in its infancy, this presentation covers the background to the initiative in some detail. In particular two key aspects are highlighted, namely, the requirement of the EC to launch such a network in the area of plant life assessment ...
A massively-parallel ab initio computer code, which uses Gaussian bases, pseudopotentials, and the local density approximation, permits the study of transition-metal systems with literally hundreds of atoms. We present total energies and relaxed geometries for Ru, Pd, and Ag clusters with N = 55, 135, and 140 atoms; we also used the DMOL code to study 13-atom Pd and Cu clusters, with and without hydrogen. The N = 55 and 135 clusters were chosen because of simultaneous cubo-octahedral (fcc) and icosahedral (icos) sub-shell closings, and we find icos geometries are preferred. Remarkably large compressions of the central atoms are observed for the icos structures (up to 6% compared with bulk interatomic spacings), while small core compressions ({approx} 1 %) are found for the fcc geometry. In contrast, large surface compressive relaxations are found for the fcc clusters ({approx} 2-3% in average nearest ...
This book constitutes a portion of the primary documentation for the 1992 Pacific Northwest Residential Energy Survey, Phase I. The complete 33-volume set of primary documentation provides information needed by energy analysts and interpreters with respect to planning, execution, data collection, and data management of the PNWRES92-I process. Thirty of these volumes are devoted to different ``views`` of the data themselves, with each view having a special purpose or interest as its focus. Analyses and interpretations of these data will be the subjects of forthcoming publications. Conducted during the late summer and fall months of 1992, PNWRES92-I had the over-arching goal of satisfying basic requirements for a variety of information about the stock of residential units in Bonneville`s service region. Surveys with a similar goal were conducted in 1979 and 1983. This volume contains a follow-up study of non-respondents to the original ...
This document contains summary reports of stream habitat surveys, conducted in the Cowlitz River basin, by the Bureau of Fisheries (BOF, now National Marine Fisheries Service) from 1938-1942. These surveys were part of a larger project to survey streams in the Columbia River basin that provided, or had provided, spawning and rearing habitat for salmon and steelhead. The purpose of the survey was, as described by Rich, [open quotes]to determine the present condition of the various tributaries with respect to their availability and usefulness for the migration, breeding, and rearing of migratory fishes[close quotes]. Current estimates of the loss of anadromous fish habitat in the Columbia River Basin are based on a series of reports published from 1949-1952 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The reports were brief, qualitative accounts of over 5000 miles of stream surveys ...
An aerial radiological survey was performed from 11 to 20 March 1982 over a 260-square-kilometer area centered on the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station at Port Gibson, Mississippi (the station was not yet in operation at the time of the survey). All gamma ray data were collected by flying east-west lines spaced 152 meters apart at an altitude 91 meters above ground level. Processed data showed that all gamma rays detected within the survey area were those expected from naturally occurring terrestrial background emitters. Count rates obtained from the aerial platform were converted to exposure rates at 1 meter above the ground and are presented in the form of an isoradiation contour map. The observed exposure rates were between 5 and 13 microroentgens per hour (#mu#R/h), with most of the area ranging from 9 to 10 #mu#R/h. These values include an estimated cosmic ray contribution of 3.6 #mu#R/h. The exposure rate obtained from soil ...
One of the most important goals of the Italian survey, initiated in 1989, was to promote ad hoc policies to reduce radon exposure of the population. In the survey a statistical representative sample of 5000 dwellings was chosen; two six-month measurements were made of the indoor radon concentration, in combination with one six-month measurement of gamma exposure. The results of the radon concentration measurements are reported here: they refer to 80% of the sample. The annual mean value was 81.5Bq.m{sup -3}, which is higher than that reported for other industrialised countries. (author).
In October 1992, the US Department of Energy, Richland Field Office (RL) requested that Westinghouse Hanford Company (WHC) respond to a letter from EM-331 asking for completion of a survey of items in storage but not categorized as waste (Roberts 1992). The letter contained an attachment with instructions on how to fill out the attached form and what to exclude from the survey (Appendix A). This report is a summary of the information from the response issued to RL. This report primarily is for use in estimating future waste volumes that may have been overlooked because of the nature of their classification as material not categorized as waste (MNCAW) (i.e., not yet declared Waste).
SummaryBTO Winter Gull Roost Survey (WinGS): 2004/07. To assess the significance of Northern Ireland gull populations Background The BTO has organised national surveys of winter gull roosts each decade since 1953 in order to estimate numbers of wintering gulls. The last survey took place in January 1993, during which over 2.5 million gulls were counted in Great Britain. A further 19,000 gulls were also counted in Northern Ireland, 3,850 in the Isle of Man and 8,500 in the Channel Islands. (The re [continued...
In this survey paper, we present open problems and conjectures on visibility graphs of points, segments and polygons along with necessary backgrounds for understanding them.
as manufacturing plants and laboratories, including the Chemical Laboratory at the House of David in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Built in America: Historic Building Buildings Survey/...
Available methods for titrating diphtheria and tetanus antitoxin at low concentrations in human or animal blood are surveyed, with special attention to the amount of serum required for the test....Full Text Available
German translation of the publication 'The evaluation of risks from radiation' published in 1965 by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. In a survey, genetic and somatic risks from radiation are presented and explained. (HP).
Abstract The authors provide a survey of how images are used in radiation therapy to improve the precision of radiation therapy plans, and delivery of radiation treatment. In contrast...Full Text Available
The Quantum Mechanics Conceptual Survey (QMCS) is a 12-question survey of students' conceptual understanding of quantum mechanics. It is intended to be used to measure the relative effectiveness of different instructional methods in modern physics courses. In this paper we describe the design and validation of the survey, a process that included observations of students, a review of previous literature and textbooks and syllabi, faculty and student interviews, and statistical analysis. We also discuss issues in the development of specific questions, which may be useful both for instructors who wish to use the QMCS in their classes and for researchers who wish to conduct further research of student understanding of quantum mechanics. The QMCS has been most thoroughly tested in, and is most appropriate for assessment of (as a posttest only), sophomore-level modern physics courses. We also describe testing with students in ...
BackgroundBlindness due to trachoma is avoidable through Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial hygiene and Environmental improvements (SAFE). Recent surveys have shown trachoma to be a serious...Full Text Available
A questionnaire survey undertaken among 142 schoolteachers in North Staffordshire revealed most of the respondents did not feel confident when teaching children who had epilepsy and a minority considered...Full Text Available
AbstractObjectiveTo estimate the prevalence and identify the determinants of non-prescription use of antibiotics for children in Mongolia.MethodsA...Full Text Available
Health information technology initiatives created the framework for a national health information infrastructure that concomitantly fostered a need to build intellectual capacity within our current and future health information management (HIM) work force. Results from the 2008 HIM Educator Survey are discussed. Developed for voluntary electronic participation, the survey comprised a series of questions about educators' professional interests and responsibilities. Summary data from the 402 respondents are provided and highlight areas such as academic rank, teaching status, salary range, levels of interest in various issues, and use of virtual learning tools. Data from this survey provide insights into the concerns and challenges many HIM educators face in today's training institutions and suggest implications for future directions in work force training and professional development within the HIM field. PMID:19424453
This literature survey covers the period 1969 to date including sugar crops, hydrocarbon bearing arid plants, aquaculture/aquatic biomass systems, and alcohol fuels.
A survey was carried out in a steel foundry in Brisbane to evaluate the nature and frequency of respiratory symptoms and to assess ventilatory function. The foundry used many moulding processes including...Full Text Available
A survey of wetlands on the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) was conducted in 1990. Wetlands occurring on ORR were identified using National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) maps and field surveys. More than 120 sites were visited and 90 wetlands were identified. Wetland types on ORR included emergent communities in shallow embayments on reservoirs, emergent and aquatic communities in ponds, forested wetland on low ground along major creeks, and wet meadows and marshes associated with streams and seeps. Vascular plant species occurring on sites visited were inventoried, and 57 species were added to the checklist of vascular plants on ORR. Three species listed as rare in Tennessee were discovered on ORR during the wetlands survey. The survey provided an intensive ground truth of the wetlands identified by NWI and offered an indication of wetlands that the NWI remote sensing techniques did not detect.
A survey of wetlands on the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) was conducted in 1990. Wetlands occurring on ORR were identified using National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) maps and field surveys. More than 120 sites were visited and 90 wetlands were identified. Wetland types on ORR included emergent communities in shallow embayments on reservoirs, emergent and aquatic communities in ponds, forested wetland on low ground along major creeks, and wet meadows and marshes associated with streams and seeps. Vascular plant species occurring on sites visited were inventoried, and 57 species were added to the checklist of vascular plants on ORR. Three species listed as rare in Tennessee were discovered on ORR during the wetlands survey. The survey provided an intensive ground truth of the wetlands identified by NWI and offered an indication of wetlands that the NWI remote sensing techniques did not detect.
We survey results in lattice quantum chromodynamics from groups in the USQCD Collaboration. The main focus is on physics, but many aspects of the discussion are aimed at an audience of computational physicists.
The automatic weather stations at the Australian stations (Casey, Davis, ... This metadata record describes Simone Ingham's survey of vegetation sampling ...
... far superior in its annual and sick leave policies. ... fair treatment with regard to leave requests, discipline ... Fifty-six percent of FERS employees use TSP ...
Sep 21, 2007... at night," said Glen Cushing of the U.S. Geological Survey's Astrogeology Team and of Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Ariz. ...
Group deal delay solution has fit 42 psec with 2.4% outliers. Group delay ambiguities with spacing 3.9 ns (another world record!) were successfully resolved. ...
Apr 18, 2008 ... The FSS was produced by point-source filtering the individual detector data ... a 1-sigma noise map; and a coverage map giving the count of ...
An in/depth industrial hygiene survey of exposures to phosphine during the use of aluminum phosphide was conducted as part of a survey on exposure to grain fumigants. Area monitoring and breathing-zone sampling for phosphine were conducted during the addition of aluminum phosphide to grain during turning operations; source samples and peak personal exposures were also analyzed. Major sources of personal exposure included the escape of air from the bin headspace during filling with treated grain, filling and emptying of the phosphide pellet dispenser, and infiltration from the treated grain bin and from the pellet dispenser itself into adjacent air space. Relatively good dust control was indicated by the total dust samples collected during the survey. Measures recommended by the author are in the report.
... Pan Flu Preparedness YouTube is Your Friend Additional Resources ... Response Hurricane Readiness in High-Risk Areas: Survey Results Elements of ...
... from the type locality in western DRC at Matadi. It has not been rediscovered during recent surveys at Matadi. (click map to view full version) No information ... ...
OBJECTIVE: To determine the household prevalence of firearms in Pennsylvania, and describe the storage practices for these weapons. DESIGN: A statewide telephone survey of 3,620 Pennsylvania adults...Full Text Available
Waste Technology and Innovation Study Final Report ...Waste Technology and Innovation Study Final Report 21/18569/150554 ...Survey of waste and resource recovery related technology and innovation, including products and product uses
Government policies that encourage exploitation--in particular excessive logging and clearing for ranches and farms--are largely to blame for the accelerating destruction of tropical forests. This paper surveys the problem in detail and briefly recommends potential solutions.
BackgroundInternet-based depression communities provide a forum for individuals to communicate and share information and ideas. There has been little research into the health status...Full Text Available
Jan 25, 2006 ... Source positions are determined using matched-filter and centroiding .... The upper 1-sigma statistical error in the full-band counts. ...
Flow cytometry (FCM) is widely used in health research and in treatment for a variety of tasks, such as in the diagnosis and monitoring of leukemia and lymphoma patients, providing the counts of helper-T...Full Text Available
... Aerial photographs were provided by Mr. Grover P. ... Dr. Beverely J. Watkins conducted the records search and wrote the historic research. x,/ ...
An epidemiological study about mastitis in French dairy herds, supported by an ecopathological survey is described. The aim of this work was to explain variations of the annual frequencies of...Full Text Available
In the present study an estimate is made of the malignancy significant dose from external beam radiotherapy in New Zealand utilizing data obtained in a survey conducted in 1975. This survey had been designed to assess genetically significant dose. A weighted effective dose equivalent is derived from the malignancy significant dose for direct comparison with mean per capita effective dose equivalents arising from other sources of radiation. 14 refs., 1 fig., 8 tabs.
One example of basic and applied research at LLNL that has produced major, highly visible scientific and engineering advances has been the research related to controlled fusion energy. Continuing experimentation at LLNL and elsewhere is likely to demonstrate that fusion is a viable, inexhaustible alternative source of energy. Having conducted major fusion energy experiments for over 30 years at LLNL, it scientists and engineers recognized the enormous challenges that lay ahead in this important endeavor. To be successful, it was clear that collaborative efforts with universities, private industry, and other national laboratories would need to be greatly expanded. Along with invention and scientific discovery would come the challenge of transferring the myriad of new technologies from the laboratories to the private sector for commercialization of the fusion energy process and the application of related technologies to yet unimagined new industries and products. Therefore, using fusion ...
Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in seven new type wall materials were surveyed. The radioactivity was determined with HPGe-#gamma# spectrometer. The red mud has the highest radioactivity concentration, followed by slag building blocks, fly-ash building blocks (bricks), gangue bricks and light weight board materials, gypsum blocks. Fly-ash and slag contain higher NORM, which contributes the major part of the radioactivity in new wall materials. (authors)
The report gives results of a second survey of the flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system on Unit 1 of Commonwealth Edison Co.'s Will County Station. The FGD system, started up in February 1972, uses a limestone slurry in two parallel scrubbing trains. Eac...
The report gives results of a second survey of the flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system on Unit 1 of Kansas City Power and Light Co.'s La Cygne Station. The FGD system, first started up in February 1973 and commercially available in June 1973, uses a lim...
The report gives results of a second survey of the flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system on Unit 1 of Arizona Public Service Co.'s Cholla Station. The FGD system, commercially available in December 1973, uses a limestone slurry in two parallel scrubbing m...
The report gives results of a survey of the flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems at Kansas Power and Light Co.'s Lawrence Power Station. The systems utilize boiler injection of pulverized limestone, followed by tail-end wet scrubbing: unit 4, with a net...
The report gives results of a survey of the flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems at Kansas City Power and Light Co.'s Hawthorn Power Station. The FGD systems on Hawthorn boilers 3 and 4 were designed to operate by injection of dry limestone in the boile...
Experiments contributing to the understanding of the aerodynamics of airfoils operating in the vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) environment are described. These experiments are ultimately intended to reduce VAWT cost of energy and increase system reliability. They include chordwise pressure surveys, circumferential blade acceleration surveys, effects of blade camber, pitch and offset, blade blowing, and use of sections designed specifically for VAWT application.
An indoor survey in order to estimate the population exposure in five towns of an Italian Region is presented. A particular methodology for the campaign was planned and is being applied. Gamma spectrometry of building materials, exposure rate measurements indoors and outdoors and radon concentration measurements indoors were taken with different techniques. A correlation was found between mean gamma exposure rate and mean radon concentration in the houses investigated. An evaluation of mean effective dose equivalents for the inhabitants of the five towns is reported.
Motivation is given for a technique to more thoroughly test semiconductor equipment control systems. A description is given of a simulator-based control system testing technique. Potential benefits that could be realized by using this technique in the semiconductor industry as well as benefits documented by using this technique in other industries are described. Specific requirements for using the technique in the semiconductor industry are outlined. A summary of a survey of nine commercial simulation systems is given. Finally, the outcome of the survey is compared with the requirements for using the technique.
This report contains the results of a survey of reactor coolant pump shaft seal reliability. The survey sample is representatively large (approx. = 27% of total US commercial plant population) and includes the three industry seal suppliers (Bingham-Williamette, Byron Jackson, and Westinghouse). Operationally incurred/induced problems and seal redesign parameters are identified. Failure hypotheses in the form of fault trees have been developed to describe the failure mechanisms. Recommendations are made for seal reliability improvement.
With reference to three hypotheses on the causes of forest decline, the manifold uses of forest decline surveys are demonstrated. Hypothesis no. 1: Forest disease from high-voltage transmission lines; hypothesis no. 2: Forest disease as the consequence of damage from micorrhizas; hypothesis no. 3: Radioactivity as the cause of the increased incidence of forest disease. (orig./MG)
Biomedical science researchers often express frustration that health physics practices vary widely between individual institutions. A survey examining both internal and external dose assessment practices was devised and mailed to fifty institutions supporting biomedical science research. The results indicate that health physics dose assessment practices and policies are highly variable. Factors which may contribute to the degree of variation are discussed. 2 tabs.
Design tools that are currently available for use with microcomputers to assist in designing energy-efficient daylighted buildings are presented. The information presented was gathered as a part of a telephone survey to design tool developer conducted over a six month period. The matrix is but one of five categories of tools. The other four were nomographs, protractors/tables, minis, and main frame computer programs. Information is provided to encourage interested design professionals, educators and students to communicate directly with design tool representatives.
This compact book of tables attempts to give practicians a survey of the corrosion behaviour of common structural and coating materials. Corrosion resistances are presented for steels, alloys, plastics, elastomers, graphite, glasses, and stoneware in environments of NaOH, HNO{sub 3}, SO{sub 2}, ZnCl{sub 2}, NH{sub 3}, H{sub 2}O{sub 2}, ethyl chloride, sodium acetate, and many others. (MM).
A survey to assess mentoring experiences and attitudes towards work of Pennsylvania academic librarians was conducted in September 2006 with questions concerning mentoring experiences, work experiences, and attitudes towards work. Results of the survey are analyzed for differences among those librarians responding, especially generational differences, and implications for professional associations when developing mentoring programs are discussed.
This report provides an initial survey of the domestic and international safeguards requirements and provides a general framework on which future studies may be based. Additional studies are needed to evaluate the activities required to implement effective safeguards within the civilian waste management system and to ensure compliance with all safeguards requirements. 16 refs.
The title refers to the area of research which studies infinite groups using measure-theoretic tools, and studies the restrictions that group structure imposes on ergodic theory of their actions. The paper is a survey of recent developments focused on the notion of Measure Equivalence between groups, and Orbit Equivalence between group actions. We discuss known invariants and classification results (rigidity) in both areas.
A comprehensive understanding of dopant activation mechanisms in crystalline Si is required in order to form shallow junctions. In this paper, we will review several experimental assessments on boron clustering and novel methods to form shallow junctions. Boron marker-layer structures have been used to investigate the fundamental aspects of formation and ripening boron-interstitial clusters (BICs) and their influence on the associated transient enhanced diffusion (TED). The samples were damaged by Si implants at different doses in the sub-amorphizing range and annealed at high temperatures. We found that BICs act as a sink for interstitials at supersaturations values S(t)>10{sup 4}. This implies that silicon self-interstitial defects are the primary source of interstitials driving TED, and that BICs act as a secondary 'buffer' for the interstitial supersaturation. These clusters are less sensitive ...
A detailed investigation of the damage formation and evolution in ion-implanted crystalline Si is presented. Deep-level transient spectroscopy has been used to monitor room temperature migration of point defect complexes and evolution from simple point-like defect complexes to defect clusters and even extended defects. Si samples were implanted with Si or He ions with energies of 145 keV-3MeV, to fluences in the range 5x10[sup 8]-5x10[sup 13]cm[sup -2]. The effects of thermal annealing, in the range 100-680 C and 10 min-15h, were also explored. A systematic comparison of defect complexes formation and evolution in ion-implanted or electron-irradiated Si samples with a different impurity content were used to assess the role of impurities (C and O), extra implanted ion and defect clustering on the nature and thermal stability of residual damage. In particular, an interstitial excess directly resulting from the extra implanted ion is shown to ...
Minor M (M = Fe, Mn, Cr) additions are widely added to enhance the corrosion resistance of commercial cupronickel alloys. The present paper aims at optimizing the amounts of M in Cu_7_0(Ni,Fe,Mn,Cr)_3_0 (at.%) alloys using a cluster-plus-glue-atom model for stable solid solutions. By this model, it assumed that 1 M atom and 12 Ni atoms formed an M-centered and Ni-surrounded cube-octahedron cluster and the isolated M_1Ni_1_2 clusters are embedded in a Cu matrix, conforming to a cluster formula [M_1Ni_1_2]Cu_3_0_._3 = [M_1_/_1_3Ni_1_2_/_1_3]_3_0Cu_7_0. A structure of this kind satisfies ideally the nearest neighbor requirement, i.e. only M-Ni and Ni-Cu neighbors are allowed and the unfavorable Cu-M pairs are avoided, and hence it describes a stable solid solution structure with good thermal stability. Electrochemical corrosion measurements indicated that [(Fe_0_._6Mn_0_._2_5Cr_0_._1_5)_1Ni_1_2]Cu_3_0_._3 ...
We present a large set of merger simulations of early-type disc galaxies with mass ratios of 1:1 and 3:1 and 10% of the total disc mass in gas. In contrast to the collisionless case equal-mass mergers with gas do not result in very boxy remnants which is caused by the suppression of box orbits and the change of the projected shape of minor-axis tube orbits in the more axisymmetric remnants. The isophotal shape of 3:1 remnants and the global kinematic properties of 1:1 and 3:1 remnants are only weakly affected by the presence of gas. 1:1 remnants are slowly rotating whereas 3:1 remnants are fast rotating and discy. The shape of the stellar LOSVD is strongly influenced by gas. The LOSVDs of collisionless remnants have broad leading wings while their gaseous counterparts show steep leading wings, more consistent with observations of elliptical galaxies. We show that this change is also caused by the suppressed populating of box orbits and it is ...
Aims: I have analyzed a sample of seven nearby edge-on galaxies observed in the V and K'-band, in order to infer the properties of the dust distribution. Methods: A radiative transfer model, including scattering, have been used to decompose each image into a stellar disk, a bulge, and a dust disk. The parameters describing the distributions have been obtained through standard X^2 minimization techniques. Results: The dust disks fitted to the V-band images are consistent with previous work in literature: the radial scalelength of dust is larger than that for stars (h_d/h_s ~ 1.5); the dust disk has a smaller vertical scalelength than the stellar (z_d/z_s ~ 1/3); the dust disk is almost transparent when seen face-on (central, face-on, optical depth tau_0 =0.5-1.5). Faster radiative transfer models which neglect scattering can produce equivalent fits, with changes in the derived parameters within the accuracy of full fits including scattering. In the K'-band, no trace ...
The stellar disc kinematics in a sample of fifteen intermediate- to late-type edge-on spiral galaxies are studied using a dynamical modeling technique. The sample covers a substantial range in maximum rotation velocity and deprojected face-on surface brightness and contains seven spirals with either a boxy- or peanut-shaped bulge. Dynamical models of the stellar discs are constructed using the disc structure from $I$-band surface photometry and rotation curves observed in the gas. The differences in the line-of-sight stellar kinematics between the models and absorption line spectroscopy are minimized using a least-squares approach. The modeling constrains the disc surface density and stellar radial velocity dispersion at a fiducial radius through the free parameter $\\sqrt{M/L}$ $(\\sigma_{\\rm z}/\\sigma_{\\rm R})^{-1}$, where $\\sigma_{\\rm z}/\\sigma_{\\rm R}$ is the ratio of vertical and radial velocity dispersion and $M/L$ the disc mass-to-light ratio. For ...
We present new semi-analytical models for the formation of disk galaxies with the purpose of investigating the origin of the near-infrared Tully-Fisher (TF) relation. The models assume that disks are formed by cooling of the baryons inside dark halos with realistic density profiles, and that the baryons conserve their specific angular momentum. Only gas with densities above the critical density given by Toomre's stability criterion is considered eligible for star formation, and a simple recipe for supernovae feedback is included. We emphasize the importance of extracting the proper luminosity and velocity measures from the models, something that has often been ignored in the past. The observed K-band TF relation has a slope that is steeper than simple predictions based on dynamical arguments suggest. Taking the stability related star formation threshold densities into account steepens the TF relation, decreases its scatter, and yields gas mass fractions that are in ...
Primordial black holes are unique probes of cosmology, general relativity, quantum gravity and non standard particle physics. They can be considered as the ultimate particle accelerator in their last (explosive) moments since they are supposed to reach, very briefly, the Planck temperature. Upper limits on the primordial black hole number density of mass $M_{\\star} = 5 10^{14}$ g, the Hawking mass (born in the big-bang terminating their life presently), is determined comparing their predicted cumulative $\\gamma$-ray emission, galaxy-wise, to the one observed by the EGRET satellite, once corrected for non thermal $\\gamma$-ray background emission induced by cosmic ray protons and electrons interacting with light and matter in the Milky Way. A model with free gas emissivities is used to map the Galaxy in the 100 MeV photon range, where the peak of the primordial black hole emission is expected. The best gas emissivities and additional model ...
The narrow emission line spectra of active galactic nuclei are not accurately described by simple photoionization models of single clouds. Recent Hubble Space Telescope images of Seyfert 2 galaxies show that these objects are rich with ionization cones, knots, filaments, and strands of ionized gas. Here we extend to the narrow line region the ``locally optimally emitting cloud'' (LOC) model, in which the observed spectra are predominantly determined by powerful selection effects. We present a large grid of photoionization models covering a wide range of physical conditions and show the optimal conditions for producing many of the strongest emission lines. We show that the integrated narrow line spectrum can be predicted by an integration of an ensemble of clouds, and we present these results in the form of diagnostic line ratio diagrams making comparisons with observations. We also predict key diagnostic line ratios as a function of distance from the ionizing ...
We present moderate resolution spectroscopy of extraplanar diffuse ionized gas (EDIG) emission in the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 4302. The spectra were obtained with the SparsePak integral field unit (IFU) at the WIYN Observatory. The spectra are used to construct position-velocity (PV) diagrams at several ranges of heights above the midplane. Azimuthal velocities are directly extracted from the PV diagrams using the envelope tracing method, and indicate an extremely steep dropoff in rotational velocity with increasing height, with magnitude ~30 km/s/kpc. We find evidence for a radial variation in the velocity gradient on the receding side. We have also performed artificial observations of galaxy models in an attempt to match the PV diagrams. The results of a statistical analysis also favor a gradient of ~30 km/s/kpc. We compare these results with an entirely ballistic model of disk-halo flow, and find a strong dichotomy between the observed ...
From this vast subject, I will pick out and review three specific topics, namely the formation and evolution of bars, the formation of bulges, and the evolution during multiple major mergers. Bars form naturally in galactic discs. Their evolution is driven by the exchange of angular momentum within the galaxy. This is emitted mainly by near-resonant material in the inner disc (bar), and is absorbed by near-resonant material in the outer disc and in the halo. As a result of this, the bar becomes stronger and rotates slower. Bulges are not a homogeneous class of objects. Based on their formation history, one can distinguish three types. Classical bulges are mainly formed before the actual disc component, from collapses or mergers and the corresponding dissipative processes. Boxy/peanut bulges are parts of bars seen edge-on. Finally, disc-like bulges are formed by the inflow of material to the center due to bar torques. Major mergers bring strong and fast evolution ...
We discuss the evolution of a disc galaxy due to the formation of a bar and, subsequently, a peanut. After the formation stage there is still considerable evolution, albeit slower. In purely stellar cases the pattern speed of the bar decreases with time, while its amplitude grows. However, if a considerable gaseous component is present in the disc, the pattern speed may increase with time, while the bar strength may decrease. In some cases the gas can be brought sufficiently close to the center to create a strong central concentration, which, in turn, may modify the properties of the bar. More violent evolution can take place during interactions, so that some disc substructures can be either formed or destroyed in a time scale which is small compared to a Hubble time. These include spirals, bars, bridges, tails, rings, thick discs and bulges. In some cases interactions may lead to mergings. We briefly review comparisons of the properties of merger remnants with ...
We present the discovery of a Baldwin effect in 8 nearby Seyfert galaxies for the three most prominent mid-infrared forbidden emission lines observable from the ground that are commonly found in AGN, [ArIII](8.99 micron), [SIV](10.51 micron), and [NeII](12.81 micron). The observations were carried out using the VLT/VISIR imager and spectroraph at the ESO/Paranal observatory. The bulk of the observed line emission comes from the inner <0.4 arcsec which corresponds to spatial scales <100 pc in our object sample. The correlation index is approximately -0.6 without significant difference among the lines. This is the strongest anti-correlation between line equivalent width and continuum luminosity found so far. In the case of Circinus, we show that despite the use of mid-infrared lines, obscuration by either the host galaxy or the circumnuclear dust torus might affect the equivalent widths. Given the small observed spatial scales from which ...
We model the transport of cosmic ray nuclei in the Galaxy by means of a new numerical code. Differently from previous numerical models we account for a generic spatial distribution of the diffusion coefficient. We found that in the case of radially uniform diffusion, the main secondary/primary ratios (B/C, N/O and sub-Fe/Fe) and the modulated antiproton spectrum match consistently the available observations. Convection and re-acceleration do not seem to be required in the energy range we consider: $1 \\le E \\le 10^3$ GeV/nucleon. We generalize these results accounting for radial dependence of the diffusion coefficient, which is assumed to trace that of supernova remnants. While this does not affect the prediction of secondary/primary ratios, the simulated longitude profile of the diffuse $\\gamma$-ray emission is significantly different from the uniform case and may agree with EGRET measurements without invoking {\\it ad hoc} assumptions on the galactic gas ...
We present the X-ray properties of a sample of 17 radio sources observed with the Chandra X-ray Observatory as part of a project aimed at studying the X-ray emission from their radio jets. In this paper, we concentrate on the X-ray properties of the unresolved cores. The sample includes 16 quasars (11 core-dominated and 5 lobe-dominated) in the redshift range z=0.30--1.96, and one low-power radio-galaxy at z=0.064. No diffuse X-ray emission is present around the cores of the quasars, except for the nearby low-power galaxy that has diffuse emission on a scale and with a luminosity consistent with other FRIs. No high-amplitude, short-term variability is detected within the relatively short Chandra exposures. However, 1510-089 shows low-amplitude flux changes with a timescale of $\\sim$25 minutes. The X-ray spectra of the quasar cores are generally well described by a single power law model with Galactic absorption. However, in six quasars we find ...
TIGER integral-field spectrography and HST/WFPC2 imaging of the E3 galaxy NGC 2974 are used to derive the kinematics of the stellar and ionized gas components in its central 500 pc. We derive a numerical two-integral distribution function from a MGE mass model using the HQ formalism. The TIGER as well as published long-slit stellar kinematics are well fitted with this self-consistent model, requiring neither the addition of a significant mass contribution from a hidden disc structure, nor the presence of a central dark mass. The data reveal the presence of a striking, highly contrasted, two-arm gaseous spiral structure within a radius of ~200 pc, corresponding to a total mass of 6.8x10^4 Msun of ionized gas. We use a deconvolved TIGER datacube to probe its kinematics at a resolution of about 0.35 arcsec. Strong departures from circular motions are observed, as well as high velocity dispersion values on the inner side of the arms. We interpret the observed gas ...
We present an analytical model for jets in Fanaroff & Riley Class I (FRI) radio galaxies, in which an initially laminar, relativistic flow is surrounded by a shear layer. We apply the appropriate conservation laws to constrain the jet parameters, starting the model where the radio emission is observed to brighten abruptly. We assume that the laminar flow fills the jet there and that pressure balance with the surroundings is maintained from that point outwards. Entrainment continuously injects new material into the jet and forms a shear layer, which contains material from both the environment and the laminar core. The shear layer expands rapidly with distance until finally the core disappears, and all of the material is mixed into the shear layer. Beyond this point, the shear layer expands in a cone and decelerates smoothly. We apply our model to the well-observed FRI source 3C31 and show that there is a self-consistent solution. We derive the jet power, ...
Industrial utilization of reaction mechanisms of microorganisms under anaerobic condition permits structuring energy saving type production processes. The present survey has investigated features of new microorganisms under anaerobic condition and the status of researches thereon inside and outside the country, and discussed their future applications. Chapter 1 compares anaerobic microorganisms and functions of microorganism under anaerobic condition with those aerobic to describe their general features, and describes the purpose of this survey and the summary of the investigations. Chapter 2 surveys the current status of technologies to utilize microorganisms under anaerobic condition. Chapter 3 outlines metabolic characteristics of the anaerobic microorganisms, and extracts functions effective for material production by different anaerobic microorganisms to describe their applicability. Chapter 4 evaluates the system ...
An aerial radiological survey was conducted from August 10-16, 1993, over a 78-square-kilometer (30-square-mile) area of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant and surrounding area located near Portsmouth, Ohio. The survey was performed at a nominal altitude of 46 meters (150 feet) with a line spacing of 76 meters (250 feet). A contour map of the terrestrial gamma exposure rate extrapolated to 1 meter above ground level was prepared and overlaid on a set of United States Geological Survey topographic maps of the area and an aerial photograph of the plant. The terrestrial gamma exposure rates varied from about 7 to 14 microroentgens per hour at 1 meter above the ground. Protactinium-234m was observed at six sites within the boundaries of the plant. At a seventh site, only uranium-235 was observed. No other man-made, gamma ray-emitting radioactive material was present in a detectable quantity, either on or off the plant ...
An aerial radiological survey of the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) and surrounding area in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was conducted during the period March 30 to April 14,1992. The purpose of the survey was to measure and document the terrestrial radiological environment of the Oak Ridge Reservation for use in environmental management programs and emergency response planning. The aerial survey was flown at an altitude of 150 feet (46 meters) along a series of parallel lines 250 feet (76 meters) apart and included X-10 (Oak Ridge National Laboratory), K-25 (former Gaseous Diffusion Plant), Y-12 (Weapons Production Plant), the Freels Bend Area and Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, the East Fork Poplar Creek (100-year floodplain extending from K-25 to Y-12), Elza Gate (former uranium ore storage site located in the city of Oak Ridge), Parcel A, the Clinch River (river banks extending from Melton Hill Dam to the city of ...
An aerial radiological survey was conducted over the Department of Energy's Hanford Site near Richland, Washington, during the period 5 July through 26 August 1988. The survey was expanded, and additional flights were conducted to the east of the site and along the banks of the Columbia River down to McNary Dam near Umatilla. The survey was flown at altitude of 61 meters (200 feet) by a helicopter containing 17 liters (eight 2 in. x 4 in. x 16 in.) of sodium iodide detectors. Gamma ray data were collected over the survey area by flying north-south lines spaced 122 meters (400 feet) apart. The processed data indicated that detected radioisotopes and their associated gamma ray exposure rates were generally consistent with those expected from normal background emitters and man-made fission/activation products resulting from activities at the site. External exposure rates were generally 10 microroentgens ...
I summarize the extant direct and indirect data on the sky background SNAP will see at the North Ecliptic Pole over the wavelength range 0.4 < {lambda} < 1.7 {micro}m. At the spatial resolution of SNAP the sky background due to stars and galaxies is resolved, so the only source considered is zodiacal light. Several models are explored to provide interpolation in wavelength between the broadband data from HST and COBE observations. I believe the input data are now established well enough that the accuracy of the sky background presented here is sufficient for SNAP simulations, and that it will stand up to scrutiny by reviewers.
The satellite-borne experiment PAMELA has been used to make a new measurement of the cosmic-ray antiproton flux and the antiproton-to-proton flux ratio which extends previously published measurements down to 60 MeV and up to 180 GeV in kinetic energy. During 850 days of data acquisition approximately 1500 antiprotons were observed. The measurements are consistent with purely secondary production of antiprotons in the galaxy. More precise secondary production models are required for a complete interpretation of the results.
We investigate how 'extra' or 'excess' central light in the surface brightness profiles of cusp or power-law elliptical galaxies relates to the profiles of ellipticals with cores. The envelopes of cusp ellipticals are established by violent relaxation in mergers acting on stars present in gas-rich progenitor disks, while their centers are structured by the relics of dissipational, compact starbursts. Ellipticals with cores are formed by the subsequent merging of the now gas-poor cusp ellipticals, with the fossil starburst components combining to preserve a dense, compact component in these galaxies as well (although mixing of stars smooths the transition from the outer to inner components in the profiles). By comparing extensive hydrodynamical simulations to observed profiles spanning a broad mass range, we show how to observationally isolate and characterize the relic starburst component in core ellipticals. Our method recovers the younger ...