108 research outputs found
Optimization-based interactive segmentation interface for multiregion problems.
Interactive segmentation is becoming of increasing interest to the medical imaging community in that it combines the positive aspects of both manual and automated segmentation. However, general-purpose tools have been lacking in terms of segmenting multiple regions simultaneously with a high degree of coupling between groups of labels. Hierarchical max-flow segmentation has taken advantage of this coupling for individual applications, but until recently, these algorithms were constrained to a particular hierarchy and could not be considered general-purpose. In a generalized form, the hierarchy for any given segmentation problem is specified in run-time, allowing different hierarchies to be quickly explored. We present an interactive segmentation interface, which uses generalized hierarchical max-flow for optimization-based multiregion segmentation guided by user-defined seeds. Applications in cardiac and neonatal brain segmentation are given as example applications of its generality
"Low-state" Black Hole Accretion in Nearby Galaxies
I summarize the main observational properties of low-luminosity AGNs in
nearby galaxies to argue that they are the high-mass analogs of black hole
X-ray binaries in the "low/hard" state. The principal characteristics of
low-state AGNs can be accommodated with a scenario in which the central engine
is comprised of three components: an optically thick, geometrically accretion
disk with a truncated inner radius, a radiatively inefficient flow, and a
compact jet.Comment: 8 pages. To appear in From X-ray Binaries to Quasars: Black Hole
Accretion on All Mass Scales, ed. T. J. Maccarone, R. P. Fender, and L. C. Ho
(Dordrecht: Kluwer
Slow-blue nuclear hypervariables in PanSTARRS-1
We discuss 76 large amplitude transients (Δm > 1.5) occurring in the nuclei of galaxies, nearly all with no previously known active galactic nucleus (AGN). They have been discovered as part of the Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) 3π survey, by comparison with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) photometry a decade earlier, and then monitored with the Liverpool Telescope, and studied spectroscopically with the William Herschel Telescope (WHT). Based on colours, light-curve shape, and spectra, these transients fall into four groups. A few are misclassified stars or objects of unknown type. Some are red/fast transients and are known or likely nuclear supernovae. A few are either radio sources or erratic variables and so likely blazars. However the majority (∼66 per cent) are blue and evolve slowly, on a time-scale of years. Spectroscopy shows them to be AGN at z ∼ 0.3 − 1.4, which must have brightened since the SDSS photometry by around an order of magnitude. It is likely that these objects were in fact AGN a decade ago, but too weak to be recognized by SDSS; they could then be classed as ‘hypervariable’ AGN. By searching the SDSS Stripe 82 quasar database, we find 15 similar objects. We discuss several possible explanations for these slow-blue hypervariables – (i) unusually luminous tidal disruption events; (ii) extinction events; (iii) changes in accretion state; and (iv) large amplitude microlensing by stars in foreground galaxies. A mixture of explanations (iii) and (iv) seems most likely. Both hold promise of considerable new insight into the AGN phenomenon
Millimeter imaging of submillimeter galaxies in the COSMOS field: Redshift distribution
We present new IRAM PdBI 1.3mm continuum observations at ~1.5" resolution of
28 SMGs previously discovered with the 870um bolometer LABOCA at APEX within
the central 0.7deg2 of the COSMOS field. 19 out of the 28 LABOCA sources were
detected with the PdBI at a >~3sigma level of ~1.4mJy/b. A combined analysis of
this new sample with existing interferometrically identified SMGs in the COSMOS
field yields the following results: 1) >~15%, and possibly up to ~40% of
single-dish detected SMGs consist of multiple sources, 2) statistical
identifications of multi-wavelength counterparts to the single-dish SMGs yield
that only ~50% of these single-dish SMGs have real radio or IR counterparts, 3)
~18% of interferometric SMGs have only radio or even no multi-wavelength
counterpart at all, and 4) ~50-70% of z>~3 SMGs have no radio counterparts down
to an rms of 7-12uJy at 1.4GHz. Using the exact interferometric positions to
identify proper multi-wavelength counterparts allows us to determine accurate
photometric redshifts for these sources. The redshift distributions of the
combined and the individual 1.1mm and 870um selected samples have a higher mean
and broader width than the redshift distributions derived in previous studies.
Our sample supports the previous tentative trend that on average brighter
and/or mm-selected SMGs are located at higher redshifts. There is a tentative
offset between the mean redshift for the 1.1mm (=3.1+/-0.4) and 870um
(=2.6+/-0.4) selected samples, with the 1.1mm sources lying on average at
higher redshifts. Based on our nearly complete sample of AzTEC 1.1mm SMGs
within a uniform 0.15deg2 area we infer a higher surface density of z>~4 SMGs
than predicted by current cosmological models. In summary, our findings imply
that (sub-)millimeter interferometric identifications are crucial to build
statistically complete and unbiased samples of SMGs.Comment: 35 pages, 18 figures, 10 tables; accepted for publication in A&
Quest for COSMOS Submillimeter Galaxy Counterparts using CARMA and VLA: Identifying Three High-redshift Starburst Galaxies
We report on interferometric observations at 1.3 mm at 2"-3" resolution using the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy. We identify multi-wavelength counterparts of three submillimeter galaxies (SMGs; F_(1mm) > 5.5 mJy) in the COSMOS field, initially detected with MAMBO and AzTEC bolometers at low, ~10"-30", resolution. All three sources—AzTEC/C1, Cosbo-3, and Cosbo-8—are identified to coincide with positions of 20 cm radio sources. Cosbo-3, however, is not associated with the most likely radio counterpart, closest to the MAMBO source position, but with that farther away from it. This illustrates the need for intermediate-resolution (~2") mm-observations to identify the correct counterparts of single-dish-detected SMGs. All of our three sources become prominent only at NIR wavelengths, and their mm-to-radio flux based redshifts suggest that they lie at redshifts z ≳ 2. As a proof of concept, we show that photometric redshifts can be well determined for SMGs, and we find photometric redshifts of 5.6 ± 1.2, 1.9^(+0.9)_(–0.5), and ~4 for AzTEC/C1, Cosbo-3, and Cosbo-8, respectively. Using these we infer that these galaxies have radio-based star formation rates of ≳ 1000 M_☉ yr^(–1) and IR luminosities of ~10^(13) L_☉ consistent with properties of high-redshift SMGs. In summary, our sources reflect a variety of SMG properties in terms of redshift and clustering, consistent with the framework that SMGs are progenitors of z ~ 2 and today's passive galaxies
Atomic X-ray Spectroscopy of Accreting Black Holes
Current astrophysical research suggests that the most persistently luminous
objects in the Universe are powered by the flow of matter through accretion
disks onto black holes. Accretion disk systems are observed to emit copious
radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, each energy band providing
access to rather distinct regimes of physical conditions and geometric scale.
X-ray emission probes the innermost regions of the accretion disk, where
relativistic effects prevail. While this has been known for decades, it also
has been acknowledged that inferring physical conditions in the relativistic
regime from the behavior of the X-ray continuum is problematic and not
satisfactorily constraining. With the discovery in the 1990s of iron X-ray
lines bearing signatures of relativistic distortion came the hope that such
emission would more firmly constrain models of disk accretion near black holes,
as well as provide observational criteria by which to test general relativity
in the strong field limit. Here we provide an introduction to this phenomenon.
While the presentation is intended to be primarily tutorial in nature, we aim
also to acquaint the reader with trends in current research. To achieve these
ends, we present the basic applications of general relativity that pertain to
X-ray spectroscopic observations of black hole accretion disk systems, focusing
on the Schwarzschild and Kerr solutions to the Einstein field equations. To
this we add treatments of the fundamental concepts associated with the
theoretical and modeling aspects of accretion disks, as well as relevant topics
from observational and theoretical X-ray spectroscopy.Comment: 63 pages, 21 figures, Einstein Centennial Review Article, Canadian
Journal of Physics, in pres
Observing Supermassive Black Holes across cosmic time: from phenomenology to physics
In the last decade, a combination of high sensitivity, high spatial
resolution observations and of coordinated multi-wavelength surveys has
revolutionized our view of extra-galactic black hole (BH) astrophysics. We now
know that supermassive black holes reside in the nuclei of almost every galaxy,
grow over cosmological times by accreting matter, interact and merge with each
other, and in the process liberate enormous amounts of energy that influence
dramatically the evolution of the surrounding gas and stars, providing a
powerful self-regulatory mechanism for galaxy formation. The different
energetic phenomena associated to growing black holes and Active Galactic
Nuclei (AGN), their cosmological evolution and the observational techniques
used to unveil them, are the subject of this chapter. In particular, I will
focus my attention on the connection between the theory of high-energy
astrophysical processes giving rise to the observed emission in AGN, the
observable imprints they leave at different wavelengths, and the methods used
to uncover them in a statistically robust way. I will show how such a combined
effort of theorists and observers have led us to unveil most of the SMBH growth
over a large fraction of the age of the Universe, but that nagging
uncertainties remain, preventing us from fully understating the exact role of
black holes in the complex process of galaxy and large-scale structure
formation, assembly and evolution.Comment: 46 pages, 21 figures. This review article appears as a chapter in the
book: "Astrophysical Black Holes", Haardt, F., Gorini, V., Moschella, U and
Treves A. (Eds), 2015, Springer International Publishing AG, Cha
Healthcare Costs and Life-years Gained From Treatments Within the Advancing Cryptococcal Meningitis Treatment for Africa (ACTA) Trial on Cryptococcal Meningitis: A Comparison of Antifungal Induction Strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa
Background
Mortality from cryptoccocal meningitis remains high. The ACTA trial demonstrated that, compared with 2 weeks of amphotericin B (AmB) plus flucystosine (5FC), 1 week of AmB and 5FC was associated with lower mortality and 2 weeks of oral flucanozole (FLU) plus 5FC was non-inferior. Here, we assess the cost-effectiveness of these different treatment courses.
Methods
Participants were randomized in a ratio of 2:1:1:1:1 to 2 weeks of oral 5FC and FLU, 1 week of AmB and FLU, 1 week of AmB and 5FC, 2 weeks of AmB and FLU, or 2 weeks of AmB and 5FC in Malawi, Zambia, Cameroon, and Tanzania. Data on individual resource use and health outcomes were collected. Cost-effectiveness was measured as incremental costs per life-year saved, and non-parametric bootstrapping was done.
Results
Total costs per patient were US 1763 for 1 week of AmB and FLU, 2125 for 2 weeks of AmB and FLU, and 208 (95% confidence interval $91–1210) per life-year saved.
Conclusions
Both 1 week of AmB and 5FC and 2 weeks of Oral FLU and 5FC are cost-effective treatments
Updating quasar bolometric luminosity corrections
Bolometric corrections are used in quasar studies to quantify total energy
output based on a measurement of a monochromatic luminosity. First, we
enumerate and discuss the practical difficulties of determining such
corrections, then we present bolometric luminosities between 1 \mu m and 8 keV
rest frame and corrections derived from the detailed spectral energy
distributions of 63 bright quasars of low to moderate redshift (z = 0.03-1.4).
Exploring several mathematical fittings, we provide practical bolometric
corrections of the forms L_iso=\zeta \lambda L_{\lambda} and log(L_iso)=A+B
log(\lambda L_{\lambda}) for \lambda= 1450, 3000, and 5100 \AA, where L_iso is
the bolometric luminosity calculated under the assumption of isotropy. The
significant scatter in the 5100 \AA\ bolometric correction can be reduced by
adding a first order correction using the optical slope, \alpha_\lambda,opt. We
recommend an adjustment to the bolometric correction to account for viewing
angle and the anisotropic emission expected from accretion discs. For
optical/UV monochromatic luminosities, radio-loud and radio-quiet bolometric
corrections are consistent within 95% confidence intervals so we do not make
separate radio-loud and radio-quiet corrections. In addition, we provide
several bolometric corrections to the 2-10 keV X-ray luminosity, which are
shown to have very large scatter. Separate radio-loud and radio-quiet
corrections are warranted by the X-ray data.Comment: 18 pages, 5 tables, 12 figures, accepted to MNRA
Abstracts reporting of HIV/AIDS randomized controlled trials in general medicine and infectious diseases journals: completeness to date and improvement in the quality since CONSORT extension for abstracts
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