2,368 research outputs found
Globular Clusters and Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies
Traditionally globular clusters and dwarf spheroidal galaxies have been
distinguished by using one or more of the following criteria: (1) mass, (2)
luminosity, (3) size, (4) mass-to-light ratio and (5) spread in metallicity.
However, a few recently discovered objects show some overlap between the
domains in parameter space that are occupied by galaxies and clusters. In the
present note it is shown that ellipticity can, in some cases, be used to help
distinguish between globular clusters and dwarf spheroidal galaxies.Comment: MNRAS (Letters), in pres
Association of mid-infrared solar plages with Calcium K line emissions and magnetic structures
Solar mid-IR observations in the 8-15 micrometer band continuum with moderate
angular resolution (18 arcseconds) reveal the presence of bright structures
surrounding sunspots. These plage-like features present good association with
calcium CaII K1v plages and active region magnetograms. We describe a new
optical setup with reflecting mirrors to produce solar images on the focal
plane array of uncooled bolometers of a commercial camera preceded by germanium
optics. First observations of a sunspot on September 11, 2006 show a mid-IR
continuum plage exhibiting spatial distribution closely associated with CaII
K1v line plage and magnetogram structures. The mid-IR continuum bright plage is
about 140 K hotter than the neighboring photospheric regions, consistent with
hot plasma confined by the magnetic spatial structures in and above the active
regionComment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Accepted by PAS
Astrometric-spectroscopic determination of the absolute masses of the HgMn binary star Phi Herculis
The Mercury-Manganese star Phi Her is a well known spectroscopic binary that
has been the subject of a recent study by Zavala et al. (2006), in which they
resolved the companion using long-baseline interferometry. The total mass of
the binary is now fairly well established, but the combination of the
spectroscopy with the astrometry has not resulted in individual masses
consistent with the spectral types of the components. The motion of the center
of light of Phi Her was clearly detected by the Hipparcos satellite. Here we
make use of the Hipparcos intermediate data (`abscissa residuals') and show
that by combining them in an optimal fashion with the interferometry the
individual masses can be obtained reliably using only astrometry. We re-examine
and then incorporate existing radial-velocity measurements into the orbital
solution, obtaining improved masses of 3.05 +/- 0.24 M_Sun and 1.614 +/- 0.066
M_Sun that are consistent with the theoretical mass-luminosity relation from
recent stellar evolution models. These mass determinations provide important
information for the understanding of the nature of this peculiar class of
stars.Comment: Total of 18 pages including figures and tables, in emulateapj format.
To appear in The Astronomical Journal, June 2007 issu
A psychometric evaluation of the interRAI Child and Youth Mental Health instruments (ChYMH) anxiety scale in children with and without developmental disabilities
Background: With 10 to 20% of Canadian children suffering with mental illness, the importance of early identification and accurate assessment systems is clear. Unfortunately, many do not receive the mental health treatment necessary and wait-times for assessment can span up to a year. In response, the interRAI suite of assessments were designed to comprehensively assess early signs of mental health impairments in children from birth to 18 years. Methods: This study assesses the psychometric properties of the Anxiety Scale and addresses the identification of anxiety within children diagnosed with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD); a commonly underrepresented sample in mental health psychometric studies. Data was collected from children aged 4-18 years in three different samples. Results: Results indicated reliable internal consistency and factor structure, as well as moderate-to-strong convergent validity. Conclusions: We conclude that the Anxiety Scale exhibits psychometric qualities which demonstrate its clinical utility for use within a child sample, as well as in children with IDD. The findings provide support to a larger body of research which show consistent psychometric rigour of the interRAI measures
Clinical severity of, and effectiveness of mRNA vaccines against, covid-19 from omicron, delta, and alpha SARS-CoV-2 variants in the United States: Prospective observational study
OBJECTIVES: To characterize the clinical severity of covid-19 associated with the alpha, delta, and omicron SARS-CoV-2 variants among adults admitted to hospital and to compare the effectiveness of mRNA vaccines to prevent hospital admissions related to each variant.
DESIGN: Case-control study.
SETTING: 21 hospitals across the United States.
PARTICIPANTS: 11 690 adults (≥18 years) admitted to hospital: 5728 with covid-19 (cases) and 5962 without covid-19 (controls). Patients were classified into SARS-CoV-2 variant groups based on viral whole genome sequencing, and, if sequencing did not reveal a lineage, by the predominant circulating variant at the time of hospital admission: alpha (11 March to 3 July 2021), delta (4 July to 25 December 2021), and omicron (26 December 2021 to 14 January 2022).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Vaccine effectiveness calculated using a test negative design for mRNA vaccines to prevent covid-19 related hospital admissions by each variant (alpha, delta, omicron). Among patients admitted to hospital with covid-19, disease severity on the World Health Organization\u27s clinical progression scale was compared among variants using proportional odds regression.
RESULTS: Effectiveness of the mRNA vaccines to prevent covid-19 associated hospital admissions was 85% (95% confidence interval 82% to 88%) for two vaccine doses against the alpha variant, 85% (83% to 87%) for two doses against the delta variant, 94% (92% to 95%) for three doses against the delta variant, 65% (51% to 75%) for two doses against the omicron variant; and 86% (77% to 91%) for three doses against the omicron variant. In-hospital mortality was 7.6% (81/1060) for alpha, 12.2% (461/3788) for delta, and 7.1% (40/565) for omicron. Among unvaccinated patients with covid-19 admitted to hospital, severity on the WHO clinical progression scale was higher for the delta versus alpha variant (adjusted proportional odds ratio 1.28, 95% confidence interval 1.11 to 1.46), and lower for the omicron versus delta variant (0.61, 0.49 to 0.77). Compared with unvaccinated patients, severity was lower for vaccinated patients for each variant, including alpha (adjusted proportional odds ratio 0.33, 0.23 to 0.49), delta (0.44, 0.37 to 0.51), and omicron (0.61, 0.44 to 0.85).
CONCLUSIONS: mRNA vaccines were found to be highly effective in preventing covid-19 associated hospital admissions related to the alpha, delta, and omicron variants, but three vaccine doses were required to achieve protection against omicron similar to the protection that two doses provided against the delta and alpha variants. Among adults admitted to hospital with covid-19, the omicron variant was associated with less severe disease than the delta variant but still resulted in substantial morbidity and mortality. Vaccinated patients admitted to hospital with covid-19 had significantly lower disease severity than unvaccinated patients for all the variants
Noise sensitivity of sub- and supercritically bifurcating patterns with group velocities close to the convective-absolute instability
The influence of small additive noise on structure formation near a forwards
and near an inverted bifurcation as described by a cubic and quintic Ginzburg
Landau amplitude equation, respectively, is studied numerically for group
velocities in the vicinity of the convective-absolute instability where the
deterministic front dynamics would empty the system.Comment: 16 pages, 7 Postscript figure
Pattern selection as a nonlinear eigenvalue problem
A unique pattern selection in the absolutely unstable regime of driven,
nonlinear, open-flow systems is reviewed. It has recently been found in
numerical simulations of propagating vortex structures occuring in
Taylor-Couette and Rayleigh-Benard systems subject to an externally imposed
through-flow. Unlike the stationary patterns in systems without through-flow
the spatiotemporal structures of propagating vortices are independent of
parameter history, initial conditions, and system length. They do, however,
depend on the boundary conditions in addition to the driving rate and the
through-flow rate. Our analysis of the Ginzburg-Landau amplitude equation
elucidates how the pattern selection can be described by a nonlinear eigenvalue
problem with the frequency being the eigenvalue. Approaching the border between
absolute and convective instability the eigenvalue problem becomes effectively
linear and the selection mechanism approaches that of linear front propagation.
PACS: 47.54.+r,47.20.Ky,47.32.-y,47.20.FtComment: 18 pages in Postsript format including 5 figures, to appear in:
Lecture Notes in Physics, "Nonlinear Physics of Complex Sytems -- Current
Status and Future Trends", Eds. J. Parisi, S. C. Mueller, and W. Zimmermann
(Springer, Berlin, 1996
Neutron Beam Effects on Spin Exchange Polarized He-3
We have observed depolarization effects when high intensity cold neutron
beams are incident on alkali-metal-spin-exchange polarized He-3 cells used as
neutron spin filters. This was first observed as a reduction of the maximum
attainable He-3 polarization and was attributed to a decrease of alkali-metal
polarization, which led us to directly measure alkali-metal polarization and
spin relaxation over a range of neutron fluxes at LANSCE and ILL. The data
reveal a new alkali-metal spin-relaxation mechanism that approximately scales
as the square root of the neutron capture-flux density incident on the cell.
This is consistent with an effect proportional to the recombination-limited ion
concentration, but is much larger than expected from earlier work.Comment: submitted to Physical Review Letter
Exploring AI Futures Through Role Play
We present an innovative methodology for studying and teaching the impacts of
AI through a role play game. The game serves two primary purposes: 1) training
AI developers and AI policy professionals to reflect on and prepare for future
social and ethical challenges related to AI and 2) exploring possible futures
involving AI technology development, deployment, social impacts, and
governance. While the game currently focuses on the inter relations between
short --, mid and long term impacts of AI, it has potential to be adapted for a
broad range of scenarios, exploring in greater depths issues of AI policy
research and affording training within organizations. The game presented here
has undergone two years of development and has been tested through over 30
events involving between 3 and 70 participants. The game is under active
development, but preliminary findings suggest that role play is a promising
methodology for both exploring AI futures and training individuals and
organizations in thinking about, and reflecting on, the impacts of AI and
strategic mistakes that can be avoided today.Comment: Accepted to AIE
- …