ON THE MEASUREMENT OF A COSMOLOGICAL DIPOLE IN THE PHOTON NUMBER COUNTS OF GAMMA-RAY BURSTS

If gamma-ray bursts are cosmological or in a halo distribution their properties are expected to be isotropic (at least to 1st order). However, our motion with respect to the burst parent population (whose proper frame is expected to be that of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), or that of a static halo) will cause a dipole effect in the distribution of bursts and in their photon number counts (together termed a Compton-Getting effect). We argue that the photon number count information is necessary to distinguish a genuine Compton-Getting effect from some other anisotropy and to fully test the proper frame isotropy of the bursts. Using the 2B burst catalogue and the dipole determined from the CMB, we find the surprising result that although the number weighted distribution is consistent with isotropy, the fluence weighted dipole has a correlation with the CMB dipole that has a probability of occuring only 10% of the time for an isotropic photon distribution. Furthermore, the photon and number dipoles are inconsistent under the hypothesis of isotropy, at the 2-sigma level. This could be an indication that a non-negligible fraction of gamma-ray bursts originate in the local, anisotropic universe. (shortened Abstract)Comment: Accepted by ApJ. Self-unpacking (use csh), uuencoded, compressed Postscript, 16 pages + 4 Figures (5 files

The diffuse component of the cosmic X-radiation

The A-2 experiment on HEAO-1 is specifically developed to study the diffuse radiation of the entire X-ray sky over a wide bandwidth, covering both the soft X-ray emission from nearby regions of the galaxy and the isotropic hard X-radiation indicative of remote extragalactic origins. A partial conclusion from the experiment is that a hot thermal plasma, on a scale comparable to that of the universe, may be the principal source of hard X-radiation characteristic of the extragalactic sky. Some key features of this background were defined

The “Voluntary” Inpatient Treatment of Adults Under Guardianship

A number of states have adopted a preference for voluntary hospitalization over involuntary civil commitment for adults with severe mental illness who require inpatient treatment. Frequently, however, the very disabilities that call for inpatient treatment also disrupt an individual patient’s capacity to participate fully in the decision-making process by which hospital admission is elected. When impaired patients have a court-appointed guardian, difficult questions can arise as to the power of the guardian to consent to the ward’s admission for inpatient psychiatric treatment. In some states, the guardian may not consent to the ward’s admission. In others, the guardian’s authority to arrange for voluntary inpatient care may depend on his or her obtaining specific court authorization. Additional requirements apply in other states, often created by the interplay between the laws regulating mental hospital admission and those governing the powers and responsibilities of guardians. Involuntary commitment statutes in virtually every state require that the individual must be dangerous to himself or herself or others. Voluntary hospitalization, by contrast, generally is based on the patient’s need for and amenability to treatment. If a guardian is not permitted to consent to voluntary admission, the more restrictive involuntary commitment standard, with its dangerousness criterion in particular, may make it difficult or impossible to arrange for inpatient care for some patients with severe mental disabilities who do not present an imminent risk of harm, but who would benefit from such treatment. Patients who are assisted by guardians should be able to gain access to inpatient psychiatric treatment without running the gauntlet of involuntary civil commitment, if the substantive standards and procedural requirements put in place by state law can be made adequate to insure that third-party decision-makers are acting with respect for the values held by these patients and, to the extent possible, are seeking to serve their best interests. This Article provides a brief history of the law in this area, explores the role that informed consent plays in voluntary hospitalizations, provides an analysis of the interests in tension, and offers a framework for an effective statutory approach to the area