41,131 research outputs found
Locating the gamma-ray emission site in Fermi/LAT blazars from correlation analysis between 37 GHz radio and gamma-ray light curves
We address the highly debated issue of constraining the gamma-ray emission
region in blazars from cross-correlation analysis using discrete correlation
function between radio and gamma-ray light curves. The significance of the
correlations is evaluated using two different approaches: simulating light
curves and mixed source correlations. The cross-correlation analysis yielded 26
sources with significant correlations. In most of the sources, the gamma-ray
peaks lead the radio with time lags in the range +20 and +690 days, whereas in
sources 1633+382 and 3C 345 we find the radio emission to lead the gamma rays
by -15 and -40 days, respectively. Apart from the individual source study, we
stacked the correlations of all sources and also those based on sub-samples.
The time lag from the stacked correlation is +80 days for the whole sample and
the distance travelled by the emission region corresponds to 7 pc. We also
compared the start times of activity in radio and gamma rays of the correlated
flares using Bayesian block representation. This shows that most of the flares
at both wavebands start at almost the same time, implying a co-spatial origin
of the activity. The correlated sources show more flares and are brighter in
both bands than the uncorrelated ones.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures and 4 tables. Published in MNRAS. Online-only
Figure 6 is available as ancillary file with this submissio
Applicability of subcortical EEG metrics of synaptopathy to older listeners with impaired audiograms
Emerging evidence suggests that cochlear synaptopathy is a common feature of sensorineural hearing loss, but it is not known to what extent electrophysiological metrics targeting synaptopathy in animals can be applied to people, such as those with impaired audiograms. This study investigates the applicability of subcortical electrophysiological measures associated with synaptopathy, i.e., auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) and envelope following responses (EFRs), to older participants with high-frequency sloping audiograms. The outcomes of this study are important for the development of reliable and sensitive synaptopathy diagnostics in people with normal or impaired outer-hair-cell function. Click-ABRs at different sound pressure levels and EFRs to amplitude-modulated stimuli were recorded, as well as relative EFR and ABR metrics which reduce the influence of individual factors such as head size and noise floor level on the measures. Most tested metrics showed significant differences between the groups and did not always follow the trends expected from synaptopathy. Age was not a reliable predictor for the electrophysiological metrics in the older hearing-impaired group or young normal-hearing control group. This study contributes to a better understanding of how electrophysiological synaptopathy metrics differ in ears with healthy and impaired audiograms, which is an important first step towards unravelling the perceptual consequences of synaptopathy.(C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Scaling properties of velocity and temperature spectra above the surface friction layer in a convective atmospheric boundary layer
International audienceWe report velocity and temperature spectra measured at nine levels from 1.42 meters up to 25.7 m over a smooth playa in Western Utah. Data are from highly convective conditions when the magnitude of the Obukhov length (our proxy for the depth of the surface friction layer) was less than 2 m. Our results are somewhat similar to the results reported from the Minnesota experiment of Kaimal et al. (1976), but show significant differences in detail. Our velocity spectra show no evidence of buoyant production of kinetic energy at at the scale of the thermal structures. We interpret our velocity spectra to be the result of outer eddies interacting with the ground, not "local free convection". We observe that velocity spectra represent the spectral distribution of the kinetic energy of the turbulence, so we use energy scales based on total turbulence energy in the convective boundary layer (CBL) to collapse our spectra. For the horizontal velocity spectra this scale is (zi ?o)2/3, where zi is inversion height and ?o is the dissipation rate in the bulk CBL. This scale functionally replaces the Deardorff convective velocity scale. Vertical motions are blocked by the ground, so the outer eddies most effective in creating vertical motions come from the inertial subrange of the outer turbulence. We deduce that the appropriate scale for the peak region of the vertical velocity spectra is (z ?o)2/3 where z is height above ground. Deviations from perfect spectral collapse under these scalings at large and small wavenumbers are explained in terms of the energy transport and the eddy structures of the flow. We find that the peaks of the temperature spectra collapse when wavenumbers are scaled using (z1/2 zi1/2). That is, the lengths of the thermal structures depend on both the lengths of the transporting eddies, ~9z, and the progressive aggregation of the plumes with height into the larger-scale structures of the CBL. This aggregation depends, in top-down fashion, on zi. The whole system is therefore highly organized, with even the smallest structures conforming to the overall requirements of the whole flow
Report of the ICES\NAFO Joint Working Group on Deep-water Ecology (WGDEC), 11–15 March 2013, Floedevigen, Norway.
On 11 February 2013, the joint ICES/NAFO WGDEC, chaired by Francis Neat (UK) and attended by ten members met at the Institute for Marine Research in Floedevi-gen, Norway to consider the terms of reference (ToR) listed in Section 2. WGDEC was requested to update all records of deep-water vulnerable marine eco-systems (VMEs) in the North Atlantic. New data from a range of sources including multibeam echosounder surveys, fisheries surveys, habitat modelling and seabed imagery surveys was provided. For several areas across the North Atlantic, WGDEC makes recommendations for areas to be closed to bottom fisheries for the purposes of conservation of VMEs
Baseline and Stress-Induced Plasma Corticosterone during Long-Distance Migration in the Bar-Tailed Godwit, Limosa lapponica
The specific roles of corticosterone in promotion of avian migration remain unclear even though this glucocorticosteroid is elevated in many migrating bird species. In general, glucocorticosteroids promote metabolic homeostasis and may elicit effects on feeding and locomotion. Because the migratory stages of refueling and flight are characterized by distinct behaviors and physiology, the determination of corticosterone levels during each stage should help identify potential processes in which corticosterone is involved. We measured baseline levels of corticosterone in bar-tailed godwits (Limosa lapponica) during two distinct stages of migration: (1) immediately after arrival at a false stopover site just short of theWadden Sea and (2) throughout the subsequent 4-wk refueling period on the Wadden Sea. Plasma corticosterone was higher in arriving than in refueling birds. In addition, corticosterone increased with size-corrected body mass during the refueling phase, suggesting that corticosterone rises as birds prepare to reinitiate flight. Therefore, elevated corticosterone appears associated with migratory flight and may participate in processes characterizing this stage. We also performed a capture stress protocol in all birds and found that corticosterone increased in both arriving and refueling godwits. Therefore, the normal course of migration may be typified by corticosterone concentrations that are lower than those associated with stressful and life-threatening episodes.
Hierarchical Structure of Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence In Position-Position-Velocity Space
Magnetohydrodynamic turbulence is able to create hierarchical structures in
the interstellar medium that are correlated on a wide range of scales via the
energy cascade. We use hierarchical tree diagrams known as dendrograms to
characterize structures in synthetic Position-Position-Velocity (PPV) emission
cubes of optically thin isothermal magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. We show that
the structures and degree of hierarchy observed in PPV space are related to the
physics of the gas, i.e. self-gravity and the global sonic and Alfvenic Mach
number. Simulations with higher Alfvenic Mach number, self-gravity and
supersonic flows display enhanced hierarchical structure. We observed a strong
sonic and Alfvenic dependency when we apply the the statistical moments (i.e.
mean, variance, skewness, kurtosis) to the dendrogram distribution. Larger
magnetic field and sonic Mach number correspond to larger values of the
moments. Application of the dendrogram to 3D density cubes, also known as
Position-Position-Position cubes (PPP), reveals that the dominant emission
contours in PPP and PPV are related for supersonic gas but not for subsonic. We
also explore the effects of smoothing, thermal broadening and velocity
resolution on the dendrograms in order to make our study more applicable to
observational data. These results all point to hierarchical tree diagrams as
being a promising additional tool for studying ISM turbulence and star forming
regions in the direction of obtaining information on the degree of
self-gravity, the Mach numbers and the complicated relationship between PPV and
PPP.Comment: submitted to Ap
X-ray Variability Characteristics of the Seyfert 1 Galaxy NGC 3783
We have characterized the energy-dependent X-ray variability properties of
the Seyfert~1 galaxy NGC 3783 using archival XMM-Newton and Rossi X-ray Timing
Explorer data. The high-frequency fluctuation power spectral density function
(PSD) slope is consistent with flattening towards higher energies. Light curve
cross correlation functions yield no significant lags, but peak coefficients
generally decrease as energy separation of the bands increases on both short
and long timescales. We have measured the coherence between various X-ray bands
over the temporal frequency range of 6e-8 to 1e-4 Hz; this range includes the
temporal frequency of the low-frequency power spectral density function (PSD)
break tentatively detected by Markowitz et al. and includes the lowest temporal
frequency over which coherence has been measured in any AGN to date. Coherence
is generally near unity at these temporal frequencies, though it decreases
slightly as energy separation of the bands increases. Temporal
frequency-dependent phase lags are detected on short time scales; phase lags
are consistent with increasing as energy separation increases or as temporal
frequency decreases. All of these results are similar to those obtained
previously for several Seyfert galaxies and stellar-mass black hole systems.
Qualitatively, these results are consistent with the variability models of
Kotov et al. and Lyubarskii, wherein the X-ray variability is due to inwardly
propagating variations in the local mass accretion rate.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal, 2005, vol.
635, p. 180; version 2 has minor grammatical changes; 23 pages; uses
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Factors influencing development of management strategies for the Abou Ali River in Lebanon. I: Spatial variation and land use
Surface water bodies are progressively subject to increasing stress as a result of environmentally degrading processes primarily related to anthropogenic activities. This study assesses and examines the impact of land use and anthropogenic activities on the spatial variation in water quality of the Abou Ali River in North Lebanon. It is the first detailed study of its kind in Lebanon and adds to the existing Knowledge by shedding light on a relatively small Mediterranean river in a developing country where there is a paucity of such studies. The assessment was conducted at the end of the dry season in 2002 and 2003 and the end of the wet season in 2003 and 2004. The study has demonstrated the importance of anthropogenic influences on the water quality of the Abou Ali River Basin, as concentrations of most contaminants were higher at locations with greatest human activity. The most adversely affected area was the section of the river that flows through an entirely urbanized and highly populated region, the Tripoli conurbation. Upstream rural sites were enriched by contaminants primarily from non-point sources such as agricultural runoff and poultry litter whereas contaminant concentrations at the urban sites were enriched by a combination of sewage discharge and flow of contaminants from upstream. If the Abou Ali River is to be utilized as a managed water resource and its water quality sustained, point source discharges will require treatment and land use management must be planned to minimize the impact of diffuse source pollution on the river. A high priority should be given to the implementation and enforcement of the precautionary and polluter pays principles. Moreover, an effective legal, economic and institutional framework is required to encourage investment in waste reduction and control and to introduce environmentally sound practices
Storage dynamics in hydropedological units control hillslope connectivity, runoff generation, and the evolution of catchment transit time distributions
Acknowledgments We thank the European Research Council (ERC; project GA 335910 VEWA) and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC; project NE/K000268/1) for funding. We would like to thank Konrad Piegat for invaluable help with the fieldwork. Iain Malcolm and staff at Marine Scotland (Pitlochry) are also thanked for the provision of data from the AWS. We also thank three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
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