6,444 research outputs found
Bayesian analysis of Friedmannless cosmologies
Assuming only a homogeneous and isotropic universe and using both the 'Gold'
Supernova Type Ia sample of Riess et al. and the results from the Supernova
Legacy Survey, we calculate the Bayesian evidence of a range of different
parameterizations of the deceleration parameter. We consider both spatially
flat and curved models. Our results show that although there is strong evidence
in the data for an accelerating universe, there is little evidence that the
deceleration parameter varies with redshift.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
New directions in EEG measurement: an investigation into the fidelity of electrical potential sensor signals
Low frequency noise performance is the key indicator in determining the signal to noise ratio of a capacitively coupled sensor when used to acquire electroencephalogram signals. For this reason, a prototype Electric Potential Sensor device based on an auto-zero operational amplifier has been developed and evaluated. The absence of 1/f noise in these devices makes them ideal for use with signal frequencies ~10 Hz or less. The active electrodes are designed to be physically and electrically robust and chemically and biochemically inert. They are electrically insulated (anodized) and have diameters of 12 mm or 18 mm. In both cases, the sensors are housed in inert stainless steel machined housings with the electronics fabricated in surface mount components on a printed circuit board compatible with epoxy potting compounds. Potted sensors are designed to be immersed in alcohol for sterilization purposes. A comparative study was conducted with a commercial wet gel electrode system. These studies comprised measurements of both free running electroencephalogram and Event Related Potentials. Quality of the recorded electroencephalogram was assessed using three methods of inspection of raw signal, comparing signal to noise ratios, and Event Related Potentials noise analysis. A strictly comparable signal to noise ratio was observed and the overall conclusion from these comparative studies is that the noise performance of the new sensor is appropriate
Recommended from our members
Challenges of ultra large scale integration of biomedical computing systems
The NCRI Informatics Initiative is overseeing the implementation of an informatics
framework for the UK cancer research community. The framework advocates an integrated
multidisciplinary method of working between scientific and medical communities. Key to this
process is community adoption of high quality acquisition, storage, sharing and integration of
diverse data elements to improve knowledge of the causes, prevention and treatment of
cancer. The integration of the complex data and meta-data used by these multiple
communities is a significant challenge and there are technical, resource-based and
sociological issues to be addressed. In this paper we review progress aimed at establishing
the framework and outline key challenges in ultra large scale integration of biomedical
computing systems
Radio-quiet and radio-loud pulsars: similar in Gamma-rays but different in X-rays
We present new Chandra and XMM-Newton observations of a sample of eight
radio-quiet Gamma-ray pulsars detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope. For
all eight pulsars we identify the X-ray counterpart, based on the X-ray source
localization and the best position obtained from Gamma-ray pulsar timing. For
PSR J2030+4415 we found evidence for an about 10 arcsec-long pulsar wind
nebula. Our new results consolidate the work from Marelli et al. 2011 and
confirm that, on average, the Gamma-ray--to--X-ray flux ratios (Fgamma/Fx) of
radio-quiet pulsars are higher than for the radio-loud ones. Furthermore, while
the Fgamma/Fx distribution features a single peak for the radio-quiet pulsars,
the distribution is more dispersed for the radio-loud ones, possibly showing
two peaks. We discuss possible implications of these different distributions
based on current models for pulsar X-ray emission.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal; 12 pages, 3
figures, 2 table
Microscopy of Mixed Surfaces on Layered Semiconductors
A large number of well-defined hexagonal etch pits is produced on the WSe2 surface by controlled anisotropic corrosion. As a result a mixed surface (combining both ⊥c and ||c components) is created. This surface exhibits photovoltaic properties even better than the atomically smooth van der Waals surface. Measurements of electron beam induced current performed at low temperatures give direct evidence for enhanced current collection of ||c facets. Observations made by transmission electron microscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy show the presence of very low ||c steps on the van der Waals surface
The spin-half Heisenberg antiferromagnet on two Archimedian lattices: From the bounce lattice to the maple-leaf lattice and beyond
We investigate the ground state of the two-dimensional Heisenberg
antiferromagnet on two Archimedean lattices, namely, the maple-leaf and bounce
lattices as well as a generalized - model interpolating between both
systems by varying from (bounce limit) to (maple-leaf
limit) and beyond. We use the coupled cluster method to high orders of
approximation and also exact diagonalization of finite-sized lattices to
discuss the ground-state magnetic long-range order based on data for the
ground-state energy, the magnetic order parameter, the spin-spin correlation
functions as well as the pitch angle between neighboring spins. Our results
indicate that the "pure" bounce () and maple-leaf () Heisenberg
antiferromagnets are magnetically ordered, however, with a sublattice
magnetization drastically reduced by frustration and quantum fluctuations. We
found that magnetic long-range order is present in a wide parameter range and that the magnetic order parameter varies only
weakly with . At a direct first-order transition to
a quantum orthogonal-dimer singlet ground state without magnetic long-range
order takes place. The orthogonal-dimer state is the exact ground state in this
large- regime, and so our model has similarities to the Shastry-Sutherland
model. Finally, we use the exact diagonalization to investigate the
magnetization curve. We a find a 1/3 magnetization plateau for and another one at 2/3 of saturation emerging only at large .Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure
Model selection forecasts for the spectral index from the Planck satellite
The recent WMAP3 results have placed measurements of the spectral index n_S
in an interesting position. While parameter estimation techniques indicate that
the Harrison-Zel'dovich spectrum n_S=1 is strongly excluded (in the absence of
tensor perturbations), Bayesian model selection techniques reveal that the case
against n_S=1 is not yet conclusive. In this paper, we forecast the ability of
the Planck satellite mission to use Bayesian model selection to convincingly
exclude (or favour) the Harrison-Zel'dovich model.Comment: 4 pages RevTeX with one figure included. Updated to match PRD
accepted version. Improved likelihood function implementation; no qualitative
change to results but some tiny numerical shift
Measuring the effective complexity of cosmological models
We introduce a statistical measure of the effective model complexity, called
the Bayesian complexity. We demonstrate that the Bayesian complexity can be
used to assess how many effective parameters a set of data can support and that
it is a useful complement to the model likelihood (the evidence) in model
selection questions. We apply this approach to recent measurements of cosmic
microwave background anisotropies combined with the Hubble Space Telescope
measurement of the Hubble parameter. Using mildly non-informative priors, we
show how the 3-year WMAP data improves on the first-year data by being able to
measure both the spectral index and the reionization epoch at the same time. We
also find that a non-zero curvature is strongly disfavored. We conclude that
although current data could constrain at least seven effective parameters, only
six of them are required in a scheme based on the Lambda-CDM concordance
cosmology.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, revised version accepted for publication in PRD,
updated with WMAP3 result
- …