531 research outputs found
An HI census of Loose Groups of Galaxies
We present results from our Parkes Multibeam HI survey of 3 loose groups of
galaxies that are analogous to the Local Group. This is a survey of groups
containing only spiral galaxies with mean separations of a few hundred kpc, and
total areas of approximately 1 sq. Mpc; groups similar to our own Local Group.
We present a census of the HI-rich objects in these groups down to an M(HI),
1-sigma sensitivity ~7x10^5 M(sun), as well as the detailed properties of these
detections from follow-up Compact Array observations. We found 7 new HI-rich
members in the 3 groups, all of which have stellar counterparts and are,
therefore, typical dwarf galaxies. The ratio of low-mass to high-mass gas-rich
galaxies in these groups is less than in the Local Group meaning that the
``missing satellite'' problem is not unique. No high-velocity cloud analogs
were found in any of the groups. If HVCs in these groups are the same as in the
Local Group, this implies that HVCs must be located within ~300-400 kpc of the
Milky Way.Comment: 6 pages, to appear in the ASP proceedings of IAU Symposium 217,
"Recycling intergalactic and interstellar matter", eds. Pierre-Alain Duc,
Jonathan Braine, Elias Brink
Impact of Powder Variability on the Microstructure and Mechanical Behavior of Selective Laser Melted (SLM) Alloy 718
Nickel Alloy 718 has found wide use in high-temperature aerospace applications (up to 700C), due to a combination of good mechanical properties, environmental resistance, and workability at moderate cost. These properties have led Alloy 718 to early adoption by selective laser melting (SLM) additive manufacturing. This presentation will share results from a comprehensive industry survey of 718 powder feedstock for SLM. The survey focuses on the impact of variability in powder characteristics on build quality, microstructure, tensile and high cycle fatigue in the as-fabricated and machined surface conditions. The investigation includes sixteen powder lots from eight suppliers that are produced by gas atomization or rotary atomization in argon or nitrogen. This research was previously presented and published at the 9th International Symposium on Superalloy 718 & Derivatives and was funded by NASA Space Launch System Liquid Engine Office with the Human Exploration Operations Mission Directorate
Star Formation Histories of the LEGUS dwarf galaxies. II. Spatially resolved star formation history of the Magellanic irregular NGC 4449
We present a detailed study of the Magellanic irregular galaxy NGC 4449 based
on both archival and new photometric data from the Legacy Extragalactic UV
Survey, obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys
and Wide Field Camera 3. Thanks to its proximity ( Mpc) we
reach stars 3 magnitudes fainter than the tip of the red giant branch in the
F814W filter. The recovered star formation history spans the whole Hubble time,
but due to the age-metallicity degeneracy of the red giant branch stars, it is
robust only over the lookback time reached by our photometry, i.e.
Gyr. The most recent peak of star formation is around 10 Myr ago. The average
surface density star formation rate over the whole galaxy lifetime is
M yr kpc. From our study it emerges that NGC 4449 has
experienced a fairly continuous star formation regime in the last 1 Gyr with
peaks and dips whose star formation rates differ only by a factor of a few. The
very complex and disturbed morphology of NGC 4449 makes it an interesting
galaxy for studies of the relationship between interactions and starbursts, and
our detailed and spatially resolved analysis of its star formation history does
indeed provide some hints on the connection between these two phenomena in this
peculiar dwarf galaxy.Comment: 16 pages, 25 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
On the origin of fluorine in the Milky Way
The main astrophysical factories of fluorine (19F) are thought to be Type II
supernovae, Wolf-Rayet stars, and the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) of
intermediate mass stars. We present a model for the chemical evolution of
fluorine in the Milky Way using a semi-analytic multi-zone chemical evolution
model. For the first time, we demonstrate quantitatively the impact of fluorine
nucleosynthesis in Wolf-Rayet and AGB stars. The inclusion of these latter two
fluorine production sites provides a possible solution to the long-standing
discrepancy between model predictions and the fluorine abundances observed in
Milky Way giants. Finally, fluorine is discussed as a possible probe of the
role of supernovae and intermediate mass stars in the chemical evolution
history of the globular cluster omega Centauri.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. MNRAS in pres
Transboundary Water: Improving Methodologies and Developing Integrated Tools to Support Water Security
River basins for which transboundary coordination and governance is a factor are of concern to US national security, yet there is often a lack of sufficient data-driven information available at the needed time horizons to inform transboundary water decision-making for the intelligence, defense, and foreign policy communities. To address this need, a two-day workshop entitled Transboundary Water: Improving Methodologies and Developing Integrated Tools to Support Global Water Security was held in August 2017 in Maryland. The committee that organized and convened the workshop (the Organizing Committee) included representatives from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the US Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), and the US Air Force. The primary goal of the workshop was to advance knowledge on the current US Government and partners' technical information needs and gaps to support national security interests in relation to transboundary water. The workshop also aimed to identify avenues for greater communication and collaboration among the scientific, intelligence, defense, and foreign policy communities. The discussion around transboundary water was considered in the context of the greater global water challenges facing US national security
An HI survey of six Local Group analogs: I. Survey description and the search for high-velocity clouds
We have conducted an HI 21 cm emission-line survey using the Parkes 20cm
multibeam instrument and the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) of six
loose groups of galaxies chosen to be analogs to the Local Group. The goal of
this survey is to make a census of the HI-rich galaxies and high-velocity
clouds (HVCs) within these groups and compare these populations with those in
the Local Group. The Parkes observations covered the entire volume of each
group with a rms M(HI) sensitivity of 4-10x10^5 M(sun) per 3.3 km/s channel.
All potential sources detected in the Parkes data were confirmed with ATCA
observations at ~2' resolution and the same M(sun) sensitivity. All the
confirmed sources have associated stellar counterparts; no starless HI
clouds--HVC analogs--were found in the six groups. In this paper, we present a
description of the survey parameters, its sensitivity and completeness. Using
the population of compact HVCs (CHVCs) around the Milky Way as a template
coupled with the detailed knowledge of our survey parameters, we infer that our
non-detection of CHVC analogs implies that, if similar populations exist in the
six groups studied, the CHVCs must be clustered within 90 kpc of group
galaxies, with average M(HI) < 4x10^5 M(sun) at the 95% confidence level. The
corollary is that the same must apply to Milky Way CHVCs. This is consistent
with our previous results from a smaller sample of groups, and in accordance
with recent observational and theoretical constraints from other authors. These
results confirm that there is very little neutral matter around galaxies, and
that any substantial reservoir of baryons must be in other phases.Comment: 10 pages, ApJ accepte
Adoption and use of social media among public health departments
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Effective communication is a critical function within any public health system. Social media has enhanced communication between individuals and organizations and has the potential to augment public health communication. However, there is a lack of reported data on social media adoption within public health settings. The purposes of this study were to assess: 1) the extent to which state public health departments (SHDs) are using social media; 2) which social media applications are used most often; and 3) how often social media is used interactively to engage audiences.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a non-experimental, cross sectional study of SHD social media sites. Screen capture software Snag-It<sup>® </sup>was used to obtain screenshots of SHD social media sites across five applications. These sites were coded for social media presence, interactivity, reach, and topic.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Sixty percent of SHDs reported using at least one social media application. Of these, 86.7% had a Twitter account, 56% a Facebook account, and 43% a YouTube channel. There was a statistically significant difference between average population density and use of social media (p = .01). On average, SHDs made one post per day on social media sites, and this was primarily to distribute information; there was very little interaction with audiences. SHDs have few followers or friends on their social media sites. The most common topics for posts and tweets related to staying healthy and diseases and conditions. Limitations include the absence of a standard by which social media metrics measure presence, reach, or interactivity; SHDs were only included if they had an institutionally maintained account; and the study was cross sectional.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Social media use by public health agencies is in the early adoption stage. However, the reach of social media is limited. SHDs are using social media as a channel to distribute information rather than capitalizing on the interactivity available to create conversations and engage with the audience. If public health agencies are to effectively use social media then they must develop a strategic communication plan that incorporates best practices for expanding reach and fostering interactivity and engagement.</p
An Open System for Social Computation
Part of the power of social computation comes from using the collective intelligence of humans to tame the aggregate uncertainty of (otherwise) low veracity data obtained from human and automated sources. We have witnessed a surge in development of social computing systems but, ironically, there have been few attempts to generalise across this activity so that creation of the underlying mechanisms themselves can be made more social. We describe a method for achieving this by standardising patterns of social computation via lightweight formal specifications (we call these social artifacts) that can be connected to existing internet architectures via a single model of computation. Upon this framework we build a mechanism for extracting provenance meta-data across social computations
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