1,601 research outputs found
Photometric Redshift Biases from Galaxy Evolution
Proposed cosmological surveys will make use of photometric redshifts of
galaxies that are significantly fainter than any complete spectroscopic
redshift surveys that exist to train the photo-z methods. We investigate the
photo-z biases that result from known differences between the faint and bright
populations: a rise in AGN activity toward higher redshift, and a metallicity
difference between intrinsically luminous and faint early-type galaxies. We
find that even very small mismatches between the mean photometric target and
the training set can induce photo-z biases large enough to corrupt derived
cosmological parameters significantly. A metallicity shift of ~0.003dex in an
old population, or contamination of any galaxy spectrum with ~0.2% AGN flux, is
sufficient to induce a 10^-3 bias in photo-z. These results highlight the
danger in extrapolating the behavior of bright galaxies to a fainter
population, and the desirability of a spectroscopic training set that spans all
of the characteristics of the photo-z targets, i.e. extending to the 25th mag
or fainter galaxies that will be used in future surveys
2D cognitive optical data processing with phase change materials
We demonstrate high-density, multi-level crystallization of a Ge2Sb2Te5 thin film using tightly focused femtosecond laser pulses. The optical reflectivity in each distinct phase states level is characterized for applications in ultra-fast cognitive parallel data processing
Symmetry-breaking and chaos in electron transport in semiconductor superlattices
We study the motion of electrons in a single miniband of a semiconductor
superlattice driven by THz electric field polarized along the growth direction.
We work in the semiclassical balance-equation model, including different
elastic and inelastic scattering rates, and incorporating the self-consistent
electric field generated by electron motion. We explore regions of complex
dynamics, which can include chaotic behaviour and symmetry-breaking. We
estimate the magnitudes of dc current and dc voltage that spontaneously appear
in regions of broken-symmetry for parameters characteristic of modern
semiconductor superlattices. This work complements PRL 80(1998)2669 [
cond-mat/9709026 ].Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, RevTEX, EPS
Dietary nitrate and diet quality: An examination of changing dietary intakes within a representative sample of Australian women
Dietary nitrate is increasingly linked to a variety of beneficial health outcomes. Our purpose was to estimate dietary nitrate consumption and identify key dietary changes which have occurred over time within a representative sample of Australian women. Women from the 1946–1951 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health with complete food frequency questionnaire data for both 2001 and 2013 were included for analysis. Dietary nitrate intakes were calculated using key published nitrate databases. Diet quality scores including the Australian Recommended Food Score, the Mediterranean Diet Score and the Nutrient Rich Foods Index were calculated along with food group serves as per the Australian Dietary Guidelines. Wilcoxon matched pairs tests were used to test for change in dietary intakes and Spearman’s correlations were used to examine associations. In our sample of 8161 Australian women, dietary nitrate intakes were on average 65–70 mg/day, and we detected a significant increase in dietary nitrate consumption over time (+6.57 mg/day). Vegetables were the primary source of dietary nitrate (81–83%), in particular lettuce (26%), spinach (14–20%), beetroot (10–11%), and celery (7–8%) contributed primarily to vegetable nitrate intakes. Further, increased dietary nitrate intakes were associated with improved diet quality scores (r = 0.3, p \u3c 0.0001). Although there is emerging evidence indicating that higher habitual dietary nitrate intakes are associated with reduced morbidity and mortality, future work in this area should consider how dietary nitrate within the context of overall diet quality can facilitate health to ensure consistent public health messages are conveyed
Spontaneous DC Current Generation in a Resistively Shunted Semiconductor Superlattice Driven by a TeraHertz Field
We study a resistively shunted semiconductor superlattice subject to a
high-frequency electric field. Using a balance equation approach that
incorporates the influence of the electric circuit, we determine numerically a
range of amplitude and frequency of the ac field for which a dc bias and
current are generated spontaneously and show that this region is likely
accessible to current experiments. Our simulations reveal that the Bloch
frequency corresponding to the spontaneous dc bias is approximately an integer
multiple of the ac field frequency.Comment: 8 pages, Revtex, 3 Postscript figure
Efficiency of Magnetic to Kinetic Energy Conversion in a Monopole Magnetosphere
Unconfined relativistic outflows from rotating, magnetized compact objects
are often well-modeled by assuming the field geometry is approximately a
split-monopole at large radii. Earlier work has indicated that such an
unconfined flow has an inefficient conversion of magnetic energy to kinetic
energy. This has led to the conclusion that ideal magnetohydrodynamical (MHD)
processes fail to explain observations of, e.g., the Crab pulsar wind at large
radii where energy conversion appears efficient. In addition, as a model for
astrophysical jets, the monopole field geometry has been abandoned in favor of
externally confined jets since the latter appeared to be generically more
efficient jet accelerators. We perform time-dependent axisymmetric relativistic
MHD simulations in order to find steady state solutions for a wind from a
compact object endowed with a monopole field geometry. Our simulations follow
the outflow for 10 orders of magnitude in distance from the compact object,
which is large enough to study both the initial "acceleration zone" of the
magnetized wind as well as the asymptotic "coasting zone." We obtain the
surprising result that acceleration is actually {\it efficient} in the polar
region, which develops a jet despite not being confined by an external medium.
Our models contain jets that have sufficient energy to account for moderately
energetic long and short gamma-ray burst (GRB) events (~10^{51}--10^{52} erg),
collimate into narrow opening angles (opening half-angle \theta_j \approx 0.03
rad), become matter-dominated at large radii (electromagnetic energy flux per
unit matter energy flux \sigma<1), and move at ultrarelativistic Lorentz
factors (\gamma_j ~ 200 for our fiducial model). (abridged)Comment: Accepted to ApJ, 22 pages, 10 figures, uses emulateapj.cls. Changes
in v2: new section in the Appendi
ICON 9—an international phase III randomized study to evaluate the efficacy of maintenance therapy with olaparib and cediranib or olaparib alone in patients with relapsed platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer following a response to platinum-based chemotherapy
BACKGROUND: Two novel biological agents-cediranib targeting angiogenesis, and olaparib targeting DNA repair processes-have individually led to an improvement in ovarian cancer control. The aim of ICON9 is to investigate the combination of cediranib and olaparib maintenance in recurrent ovarian cancer following platinum-based therapy. PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of maintenance treatment with olaparib in combination with cediranib compared with olaparib alone following a response to platinum-based chemotherapy in women with platinum-sensitive ovarian, fallopian tube or peritoneal cancer during first relapse. STUDY HYPOTHESIS: Maintenance therapy with cediranib and olaparib in combination is associated with improved patient outcomes compared with olaparib alone. TRIAL DESIGN: International phase III randomized controlled trial. Following a response to platinum-based chemotherapy patients are randomized 1:1 to either oral olaparib and cediranib (intervention arm) or oral olaparib alone (control arm). MAJOR INCLUSION CRITERIA: Patients with a known diagnosis of high grade serous or endometrioid carcinoma of the ovary, fallopian tube or peritoneum, progressing more than 6 months after first-line platinum-based chemotherapy, who have responded to second-line platinum-based chemotherapy. PRIMARY ENDPOINTS: Progression-free and overall survival. Co-primary endpoints to be assessed using a fixed-sequence gatekeeping approach: (1) progression-free survival, all patients; (2) progression-free survival, BRCA wild type; (3) overall survival, all patients; (4) overall survival, BRCA wild type. SAMPLE SIZE: 618 patients will be recruited. ESTIMATED DATES FOR COMPLETING ACCRUAL AND PRESENTING RESULTS: Accrual is expected to be completed in 2024 with presentation of results in 2025. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03278717
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