3,589 research outputs found
Long-term variability of AGN at hard X-rays
Variability at all observed wavelengths is a distinctive property of AGN.
Hard X-rays provide us with a view of the innermost regions of AGN, mostly
unbiased by absorption along the line of sight. Swift/BAT offers the unique
opportunity to follow, on time scales of days to years and with a regular
sampling, the 14-195 keV emission of the largest AGN sample available up to
date for this kind of investigation. We study the amplitude of the variations,
and their dependence on sub-class and on energy, for a sample of 110 radio
quiet and radio loud AGN selected from the BAT 58-month survey. About 80% of
the AGN in the sample are found to exhibit significant variability on months to
years time scales, radio loud sources being the most variable. The amplitude of
the variations and their energy dependence are incompatible with variability
being driven at hard X-rays by changes of the absorption column density. In
general, the variations in the 14-24 and 35-100 keV bands are well correlated,
suggesting a common origin of the variability across the BAT energy band.
However, radio quiet AGN display on average 10% larger variations at 14-24 keV
than at 35-100 keV and a softer-when-brighter behavior for most of the Seyfert
galaxies with detectable spectral variability on month time scale. In addition,
sources with harder spectra are found to be more variable than softer ones.
These properties are generally consistent with a variable power law continuum,
in flux and shape, pivoting at energies >~ 50 keV, to which a constant
reflection component is superposed. When the same time scales are considered,
the timing properties of AGN at hard X-rays are comparable to those at lower
energies, with at least some of the differences possibly ascribable to
components contributing differently in the two energy domains (e.g.,
reflection, absorption).Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A&
GI2T/REGAIN spectro-interferometry with a new infrared beam combiner
We have built an infrared beam combiner for the GI2T/REGAIN interferometer of
the Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur. The beam combiner allows us to record
spectrally dispersed Michelson interference fringes in the near-infrared J-, H-
or K-bands. The beam combiner has the advantage that Michelson interferograms
can simultaneously be recorded in about 128 different spectral channels. The
tilt of the spectrally dispersed fringes is a measure of the instantaneous
optical path difference. We present the optical design of the beam combiner and
GI2T/REGAIN observations of the Mira star R Cas with this beam combiner in the
spectral range of 2.00 micron - 2.18 micron (observations on 22 and 25 August
1999; variability phase 0.08; V-magnitude approx. 6; seven baselines between
12m and 24m; reference stars Vega and Beta Peg). The spectrograph of the beam
combiner consists of an anamorphotic cylindrical lens system, an image plane
slit, and a grism. A system of digital signal processors calculates the
ensemble average power spectrum of the spectrally dispersed Michelson
interferograms and the instantaneous optical path difference error in real
time. From the observed R Cas visibilities at baselines 12.0m, 13.8m and 13.9m,
a 2.1 micron uniform-disk diameter of 25.3mas +/-3.3mas was derived. The
unusually high visibility values at baselines >16m show that the stellar
surface of R Cas is more complex than previously assumed. The visibility values
at baselines >16m can be explained by high-contrast surface structure on the
stellar surface of R Cas or other types of unexpected center-to-limb
variations. The R Cas observations were compared with theoretical Mira star
models yielding a linear Rosseland radius of 276Rsun +/-66Rsun and an effective
temperature of 2685K+/-238K for R Cas at phase 0.08.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, see also
http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/div/speckle, SPIE conf 4006 "Interferometry in
Optical Astronomy", in pres
Validation of the newly developed Advanced Practice Nurse Task Questionnaire: A national survey.
To describe psychometric validation of the newly developed Advanced Practice Nurse Task Questionnaire.
Cross-sectional quantitative study.
The development of the questionnaire followed an adapted version of the seven steps described in the guide by the Association for Medical Education in Europe. A nationwide online survey tested the construct and structural validity and internal consistency using an exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha coefficient and a Kruskal-Wallis test to compare the hypotheses.
We received 222 questionnaires between January and September 2020. The factor analysis produced a seven-factor solution as suggested in Hamric's model. However, not all item loadings aligned with the framework's competencies. Cronbach's alpha of factors ranged between .795 and .879. The analysis confirmed the construct validity of the Advanced Practice Nurse Task Questionnaire. The tool was able to discriminate the competencies of guidance and coaching, direct clinical practice and leadership across the three advanced practice nurse roles clinical nurse specialist, nurse practitioner or blended role.
A precise assessment of advanced practice nurse tasks is crucial in clinical practice and in research as it may be a basis for further refinement, implementation and evaluation of roles.
The Advanced Practice Nurse Task Questionnaire is the first valid tool to assess tasks according to Hamric's model of competencies independently of the role or the setting. Additionally, it distinguishes the most common advanced practice nurse roles according to the degree of tasks in direct clinical practice and leadership. The tool may be applied in various countries, independent of the degree of implementation and understanding of advanced nursing practice.
The STARD 2015 guideline was used to report the study.
No patient or public contribution
Harbour porpoise movement strategy affects cumulative number of animals acoustically exposed to underwater explosions
Anthropogenic sound in the marine environment can have negative consequences for marine fauna. Since most sound sources are intermittent or continuous, estimating how many individuals are exposed over time remains challenging, as this depends on the animals' mobility. Here we explored how animal movement influences how many, and how often, animals are impacted by sound. In a dedicated study, we estimated how different movement strategies affect the number of individual harbour porpoises Phocoena phocoena receiving temporary or permanent hearing loss due to underwater detonations of recovered explosives (mostly WWII aerial bombs). Geo-statistical distribution models were fitted to data from 4 marine mammal aerial surveys and used to simulate the distribution and movement of porpoises. Based on derived dose-response thresholds for temporary (TTS) or permanent threshold shifts (PTS), we estimated the number of animals affected in a single year. When individuals were free-roaming, an estimated 1200 and 24 000 unique individuals would suffer PTS and TTS, respectively. This equates to respectively 0.50 and 10% of the estimated North Sea population. In contrast, when porpoises remained in a local area, fewer animals would receive PTS and TTS (1100 [0.47%] and 15 000 [6.5%], respectively), but more individuals would be subjected to repeated exposures. Because most anthropogenic sound-producing activities operate continuously or intermittently, snapshot distribution estimates alone tend to underestimate the number of individuals exposed, particularly for mobile species. Hence, an understanding of animal movement is needed to estimate the impact of underwater sound or other human disturbance. © The authors 2016
Tricritical behavior of the frustrated XY antiferromagnet
Extensive histogram Monte-Carlo simulations of the XY antiferromagnet on a
stacked triangular lattice reveal exponent estimates which strongly favor a
scenario of mean-field tricritical behavior for the spin-order transition. The
corresponding chiral-order transition occurs at the same temperature but
appears to be decoupled from the spin-order. These results are relevant to a
wide class of frustrated systems with planar-type order and serve to resolve a
long-standing controversy regarding their criticality.Comment: J1K 2R1 4 pages (RevTex 3.0), 4 figures available upon request,
Report# CRPS-94-0
A new class of semiclassical wave function uniformizations
We present a new semiclassical technique which relies on replacing
complicated classical manifold structure with simpler manifolds, which are then
evaluated by the usual semiclassical rules. Under circumstances where the
original manifold structure gives poor or useless results semiclassically the
replacement manifolds can yield remarkable accuracy. We give several working
examples to illustrate the theory presented here.Comment: 12 pages (incl. 12 figures
Fully relativistic calculation of magnetic properties of Fe, Co and Ni adclusters on Ag(100)
We present first principles calculations of the magnetic moments and magnetic
anisotropy energies of small Fe, Co and Ni clusters on top of a Ag(100) surface
as well as the exchange-coupling energy between two single adatoms of Fe or Co
on Ag(100). The calculations are performed fully relativistically using the
embedding technique within the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method. The magnetic
anisotropy and the exchange-coupling energies are calculated by means of the
force theorem. In the case of adatoms and dimers of iron and cobalt we obtain
enhanced spin moments and, especially, unusually large orbital moments, while
for nickel our calculations predict a complete absence of magnetism. For larger
clusters, the magnitudes of the local moments of the atoms in the center of the
cluster are very close to those calculated for the corresponding monolayers.
Similar to the orbital moments, the contributions of the individual atoms to
the magnetic anisotropy energy strongly depend on the position, hence, on the
local environment of a particular atom within a given cluster. We find strong
ferromagnetic coupling between two neighboring Fe or Co atoms and a rapid,
oscillatory decay of the exchange-coupling energy with increasing distance
between these two adatoms.Comment: 8 pages, ReVTeX + 4 figures (Encapsulated Postscript), submitted to
PR
Charge ordering and antiferromagnetic exchange in layered molecular crystals of the theta type
We consider the electronic properties of layered molecular crystals of the
type theta-DA, where A is an anion and D is a donor molecule such as
BEDT-TTF [where BEDT-TTF is bis-(ethylenedithia-tetrathiafulvalene)] which is
arranged in the theta type pattern within the layers. We argue that the
simplest strongly correlated electron model that can describe the rich phase
diagram of these materials is the extended Hubbard model on the square lattice
at a quarter filling. In the limit where the Coulomb repulsion on a single site
is large, the nearest-neighbour Coulomb repulsion, V, plays a crucial role.
When V is much larger than the intermolecular hopping integral t the ground
state is an insulator with charge ordering. In this phase antiferromagnetism
arises due to a novel fourth-order superexchange process around a plaquette on
the square lattice. We argue that the charge ordered phase is destroyed below a
critical non-zero value V, of the order of t. Slave boson theory is used to
explicitly demonstrate this for the SU(N) generalisation of the model, in the
large N limit. We also discuss the relevance of the model to the all-organic
family beta''-(BEDT-TTF)SFYSO where Y = CHCF, CH, CHF.Comment: 15 pages, 6 eps figure
Simultaneous Attainment of High Electron and Ion Temperatures in ITB-Discharges with ECCD on ASDEX Upgrade
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