1,738 research outputs found
Pointless Hyperelliptic Curves
In this paper we consider the question of whether there exists a hyperelliptic curve of genus g which is defined over but has no rational points over for various pairs . As an example of such a result, we show that if p is a prime such that is also prime then there will be pointless hyperelliptic curves over of every genus
Cyclic Critical Groups of Graphs
In this note, we describe a construction that leads to families of graphs whose critical groups are cyclic. For some of these families we are able to give a formula for the number of spanning trees of the graph, which then determines the group exactly
High-Redshift Metals. II. Probing Reionization Galaxies with Low-Ionization Absorption Lines at Redshift Six
We present a survey for low-ionization metal absorption line systems towards
17 QSOs at redshifts z_em=5.8-6.4. Nine of our objects were observed at high
resolution with either Keck/HIRES or Magellan/MIKE, and the remainder at
moderate resolution with Keck/ESI. The survey spans 5.3 < z_abs < 6.4 and has a
pathlength interval \Delta X=39.5, or \Delta z=8.0. In total we detect ten
systems, five of which are new discoveries. The line-of-sight number density is
consistent with the combined number density at z~3 of DLAs and sub-DLAs, which
comprise the main population of low-ionization systems at lower redshifts. This
apparent lack of evolution may occur because low ionization systems are hosted
by lower-mass halos at higher redshifts, or because the mean cross section of
low-ionization gas at a given halo mass increases with redshift due to the
higher densities and lower ionizing background. The roughly constant number
density notably contrasts with the sharp decline at z > 5.3 in the number
density of highly-ionized systems traced by C IV. The low-ionization systems at
z~6 span a similar range of velocity widths as lower-redshift sub-DLAs but have
significantly weaker lines at a given width. This implies that the
mass-metallicity relation of the host galaxies evolves towards lower
metallicities at higher redshifts. These systems lack strong Si IV and C IV,
which are common among lower-redshift DLAs and sub-DLAs. This is consistent,
however, with a similar decrease in the metallicity of the low- and
high-ionization phases, and does not necessarily indicate a lack of nearby,
highly-ionized gas. The high number density of low-ionization systems at z~6
suggests that we may be detecting galaxies below the current limits of
i-dropout and Ly-alpha emission galaxy surveys. These systems may therefore be
the first direct probes of the `typical' galaxies responsible for hydrogen
reionization.Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures, submitted to Ap
Preferences of Hungarian consumers for quality, access and price attributes of health care services — result of a discrete choice experiment
In 2010, a household survey was carried out in Hungary among 1037 respondents to study consumer preferences and willingness to pay for health care services. In this paper, we use the data from the discrete choice experiments included in the survey, to elicit the preferences of health care consumers about the choice of health care providers. Regression analysis is used to estimate the effect of the improvement of service attributes (quality, access, and price) on patients’ choice, as well as the differences among the socio-demographic groups. We also estimate the marginal willingness to pay for the improvement in attribute levels by calculating marginal rates of substitution. The results show that respondents from a village or the capital, with low education and bad health status are more driven by the changes in the price attribute when choosing between health care providers. Respondents value the good skills and reputation of the physician and the attitude of the personnel most, followed by modern equipment and maintenance of the office/hospital. Access attributes (travelling and waiting time) are less important. The method of discrete choice experiment is useful to reveal patients’ preferences, and might support the development of an evidence-based and sustainable health policy on patient payments
The history of the development of wireless telegraphy and broadcasting in Australia to 1942, with especial reference to the Australian Broadcasting Commission : a political and administrative study
Licences are a crucial aspect of the information publishing process in the web of (linked) data. Recent work on modeling of policies with semantic web languages (RDF, ODRL) gives the opportunity to formally describe licences and reason upon them. However, choosing the right licence is still challenging. Particularly, understanding the number of features - permissions, prohibitions and obligations - constitute a steep learning process for the data provider, who has to check them individ- ually and compare the licences in order to pick the one that better fits her needs. The objective of the work presented in this paper is to reduce the effort required for licence selection. We argue that an ontology of licences, organized by their relevant features, can help providing support to the user. Developing an ontology with a bottom-up approach based on Formal Concept Analysis, we show how the process of licence selection can be simplified significantly and reduced to answering an average of three/five key questions
Evidence of patchy hydrogen reionization from an extreme Lyα trough below redshift six
We report the discovery of an extremely long (∼110 Mpc/h) and dark (τeff≳7) Lyα trough extending down to z≃5.5 towards the zem≃6.0 quasar ULAS J0148+0600. We use these new data in combination with Lyα forest measurements from 42 quasars at 4.5≤zem≤6.4 to conduct an updated analysis of the line-of-sight variance in the intergalactic Lyα opacity over 4≤z≤6. We find that the scatter in transmission among lines of sight near z∼6 significantly exceeds theoretical expectations for either a uniform ultraviolet background (UVB) or simple fluctuating UVB models in which the mean free path to ionizing photons is spatially invariant. The data, particularly near z≃5.6-5.8, instead require fluctuations in the volume-weighted hydrogen neutral fraction that are a factor of 3 or more beyond those expected from density variations alone. We argue that these fluctuations are most likely driven by large-scale variations in the mean free path, consistent with expectations for the final stages of inhomogeneous hydrogen reionization. Even by z≃5.6, however, a large fraction of the data are consistent with a uniform UVB, and by z∼5 the data are fully consistent with opacity fluctuations arising solely from the density field. This suggests that while reionization may be ongoing at z∼6, it has fully completed by z∼5
SDSS J115517.35+634622.0: A Newly Discovered Gravitationally Lensed Quasar
We report the discovery of SDSSJ115517.35+634622.0, a previously unknown
gravitationally lensed quasar. The lens system exhibits two images of a quasar, with an image separation of 1{\farcs}832 \pm 0.007 . Near-IR
imaging of the system reveals the presence of the lensing galaxy between the
two quasar images. Based on absorption features seen in the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey (SDSS) spectrum, we determine a lens galaxy redshift of .
The lens is rather unusual in that one of the quasar images is only
0{\farcs}22\pm0{\farcs}07 () from the center of the
lens galaxy and photometric modeling indicates that this image is significantly
brighter than predicted by a SIS model. This system was discovered in the
course of an ongoing search for strongly lensed quasars in the dataset from the
SDSS.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in A
Spectroscopy of High-Redshift Supernovae from the ESSENCE Project: The First Two Years
We present the results of spectroscopic observations of targets discovered
during the first two years of the ESSENCE project. The goal of ESSENCE is to
use a sample of ~200 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) at moderate redshifts (0.2 < z
< 0.8) to place constraints on the equation of state of the Universe.
Spectroscopy not only provides the redshifts of the objects, but also confirms
that some of the discoveries are indeed SNe Ia. This confirmation is critical
to the project, as techniques developed to determine luminosity distances to
SNe Ia depend upon the knowledge that the objects at high redshift are the same
as the ones at low redshift. We describe the methods of target selection and
prioritization, the telescopes and detectors, and the software used to identify
objects. The redshifts deduced from spectral matching of high-redshift SNe Ia
with low-redshift SNe Ia are consistent with those determined from host-galaxy
spectra. We show that the high-redshift SNe Ia match well with low-redshift
templates. We include all spectra obtained by the ESSENCE project, including 52
SNe Ia, 5 core-collapse SNe, 12 active galactic nuclei, 19 galaxies, 4 possibly
variable stars, and 16 objects with uncertain identifications.Comment: 38 pages, 9 figures (many with multiple parts), submitted to A
Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis of the Burkholderia cepacia Tyrosine Kinase bceF Mutant Reveals a Role in Tolerance to Stress, Biofilm Formation, and Virulence
The bacterial tyrosine-kinase (BY-kinase) family comprises the major group of bacterial enzymes endowed with tyrosine kinase activity. We previously showed that the BceF protein from Burkholderia cepacia IST408 belongs to this BY-kinase family and is involved in the biosynthesis of the exopolysaccharide cepacian. However, little is known about the extent of regulation of this protein kinase activity. In order to examine this regulation, we performed a comparative transcriptome profile between the bceF mutant and wild-type B. cepacia IST408. The analyses led to identification of 630 genes whose expression was significantly changed. Genes with decreased expression in the bceF mutant were related to stress response, motility, cell adhesion, and carbon and energy metabolism. Genes with increased expression were related to intracellular signaling and lipid metabolism. Mutation of bceF led to reduced survival under heat shock and UV light exposure, reduced swimming motility, and alteration in biofilm architecture when grown in vitro. Consistent with some of these phenotypes, the bceF mutant demonstrated elevated levels of cyclic-di-GMP. Furthermore, BceF contributed to the virulence of B. cepacia for larvae of the Greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella. Taken together, BceF appears to play a considerable role in many cellular processes, including biofilm formation and virulence. As homologues of BceF occur in a number of pathogenic and plant-associated Burkholderia strains, the modulation of bacterial behavior through tyrosine kinase activity is most likely a widely occurring phenomenon.FCT contract: (PTDC/BIA-MIC/66977/2006), FCT postdoctoral grant and a doctoral grant, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian scholarship
Constraining Cosmic Evolution of Type Ia Supernovae
We present the first large-scale effort of creating composite spectra of
high-redshift type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) and comparing them to low-redshift
counterparts. Through the ESSENCE project, we have obtained 107 spectra of 88
high-redshift SNe Ia with excellent light-curve information. In addition, we
have obtained 397 spectra of low-redshift SNe through a multiple-decade effort
at Lick and Keck Observatories, and we have used 45 UV spectra obtained by
HST/IUE. The low-redshift spectra act as a control sample when comparing to the
ESSENCE spectra. In all instances, the ESSENCE and Lick composite spectra
appear very similar. The addition of galaxy light to the Lick composite spectra
allows a nearly perfect match of the overall spectral-energy distribution with
the ESSENCE composite spectra, indicating that the high-redshift SNe are more
contaminated with host-galaxy light than their low-redshift counterparts. This
is caused by observing objects at all redshifts with the same slit width, which
corresponds to different projected distances. After correcting for the
galaxy-light contamination, subtle differences in the spectra remain. We have
estimated the systematic errors when using current spectral templates for
K-corrections to be ~0.02 mag. The variance in the composite spectra give an
estimate of the intrinsic variance in low-redshift maximum-light SN spectra of
~3% in the optical and growing toward the UV. The difference between the
maximum light low and high-redshift spectra constrain SN evolution between our
samples to be < 10% in the rest-frame optical.Comment: 22 pages, 22 figures, submitted to ApJ. Composite spectra can be
downloaded from http://astro.berkeley.edu/~rfoley/composite
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