The National Virtual Observatory

As a scientific discipline, Astronomy is rather unique. We only have one laboratory, the Universe, and we cannot, of course, change the initial conditions and study the resulting effects. On top of this, acquiring Astronomical data has historically been a very labor-intensive effort. As a result, data has traditionally been preserved for posterity. With recent technological advances, however, the rate at which we acquire new data has grown exponentially, which has generated a Data Tsunami, whose wave train threatens to overwhelm the field. In this conference proceedings, we present and define the concept of virtual observatories, which we feel is the only logical answer to this dilemma.Comment: 5 pages, uses newpasp.sty (included), to appear in "Extragalactic Gas at Low Redshfit", ASP Conf. Series, J. S. Mulchaey and J. T. Stocke (eds.

A nudge in a healthier direction: How environmental cues help restrained eaters pursue their weight-control goal

Losing weight is a goal for many people, but it is hard to pursue. However, dieting cues in the environment hold promise for improving individuals' eating behavior. For example, exposure to thin, human-like sculptures by the artist Alberto Giacometti has been found to promote healthy snack choices at a vending machine. Whether health- or weight-related processes drive such effects has not yet been determined. However, a detailed understanding of the content-related drivers of environmental cues' effects provides the first indications regarding a cue's possible use. Therefore, two laboratory studies were conducted. They examined the Giacometti sculptures' effects on unhealthy and healthy food intake (Study 1) and on the completion of weight- and health-related fragmented words (Study 2). Study 1 indicated that the sculptures are weight-related by showing that they reduced food intake independent of food healthiness. Furthermore, the “Giacometti effect” was moderated by restrained eating. Restrained eaters, who are known for their weight-control goal, ate less after having been exposed to the thin sculptures. The results of Study 2 pointed in the same direction. Restrained eaters completed more weight-related words after being exposed to the sculptures. Overall, these studies suggest that the thin sculptures are primarily weight-related cues and particularly helpful for restrained eaters. Environmental weight-control cues such as the Giacometti sculptures could act as a counterforce to our obesogenic environment and help restrained eaters pursue their weight-control goal. In this way, they could nudge food decisions in a healthier direction

Estimating Z-Pinch computing resources.

The Z facility at Sandia National Laboratories produces high energy density environments. Computer simulations of the experiments provide key insights and help make the most efficient use of the facility. This document estimates the computer resources needed in order to support the experimental program. The resource estimate is what we would like to have in about five years and assumes that we will have a robust, scalable simulation capability as well as enough physicists to run the simulations

Ready-meal consumption: associations with weight status and cooking skills

Abstract Objective The ready-meal market has grown considerably in recent years. At the same time, a degradation of traditional cooking skills has been observed. Ready meals are often rich in energy, fat and sugar and lack vegetables; however, studies investigating associations between ready-meal consumption, overweight and cooking skills are lacking. The present study examines whether demographic factors, overweight, beliefs about the nutritional value and taste of ready meals and cooking skills are associated with ready-meal consumption. Design Cross-sectional survey. Setting Ready-meal consumption, weight status, cooking skills, beliefs about the taste and nutritional value of ready meals and demographic variables were assessed with self-administered questionnaires. Data were analysed with one-way ANOVA and multiple regression analysis. Subjects A total of 1017 adults from the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Results Men reported being more positive about ready meals and having fewer cooking skills compared with women. Overweight adults (BMI > 25 kg/m2) were more positive about nutrients and vitamins in ready meals compared with normal-weight adults. Ready-meal consumption was associated with cooking skills (β = −0·192), age (β =− 0·228), overweight (β = 0·129), nutritional value (β = −0·131), taste (β = −0·126), working status (β = 0·096) and gender (β = 0·084). Conclusions Cooking skills were identified as a strong predictor of ready-meal consumption. The importance of cooking skills as a barrier to healthy eating should be explored, as it is plausible that cooking skills will further decrease in the future. Next, the study provided evidence for an association between ready-meal consumption and overweight. Further research should examine the importance of ready meals for the overweight epidemi

A user's guide to radiation transport in ALEGRA-HEDP : version 4.6.

This manual describes the input syntax to the ALEGRA radiation transport package. All input and output variables are defined, as well as all algorithmic controls. This manual describes the radiation input syntax for ALEGRA-HEDP. The ALEGRA manual[2] describes how to run the code and general input syntax. The ALEGRA-HEDP manual[13] describes the input for other physics used in high energy density physics simulations, as well as the opacity models used by this radiation package. An emission model, which is the lowest order radiation transport approximation, is also described in the ALEGRA-HEDP manual. This document is meant to be used with these other manuals

Massive Datasets in Astronomy

Astronomy has a long history of acquiring, systematizing, and interpreting large quantities of data. Starting from the earliest sky atlases through the first major photographic sky surveys of the 20th century, this tradition is continuing today, and at an ever increasing rate. Like many other fields, astronomy has become a very data-rich science, driven by the advances in telescope, detector, and computer technology. Numerous large digital sky surveys and archives already exist, with information content measured in multiple Terabytes, and even larger, multi-Petabyte data sets are on the horizon. Systematic observations of the sky, over a range of wavelengths, are becoming the primary source of astronomical data. Numerical simulations are also producing comparable volumes of information. Data mining promises to both make the scientific utilization of these data sets more effective and more complete, and to open completely new avenues of astronomical research. Technological problems range from the issues of database design and federation, to data mining and advanced visualization, leading to a new toolkit for astronomical research. This is similar to challenges encountered in other data-intensive fields today. These advances are now being organized through a concept of the Virtual Observatories, federations of data archives and services representing a new information infrastructure for astronomy of the 21st century. In this article, we provide an overview of some of the major datasets in astronomy, discuss different techniques used for archiving data, and conclude with a discussion of the future of massive datasets in astronomy.Comment: 46 Pages, 21 Figures, Invited Review for the Handbook of Massive Datasets, editors J. Abello, P. Pardalos, and M. Resende. Due to space limitations this version has low resolution figures. For full resolution review see http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~rb/publications/hmds.ps.g