3,031 research outputs found
A cortical potential reflecting cardiac function
Emotional trauma and psychological stress can precipitate cardiac arrhythmia and sudden death through arrhythmogenic effects of efferent sympathetic drive. Patients with preexisting heart disease are particularly at risk. Moreover, generation of proarrhythmic activity patterns within cerebral autonomic centers may be amplified by afferent feedback from a dysfunctional myocardium. An electrocortical potential reflecting afferent cardiac information has been described, reflecting individual differences in interoceptive sensitivity (awareness of one's own heartbeats). To inform our understanding of mechanisms underlying arrhythmogenesis, we extended this approach, identifying electrocortical potentials corresponding to the cortical expression of afferent information about the integrity of myocardial function during stress. We measured changes in cardiac response simultaneously with electroencephalography in patients with established ventricular dysfunction. Experimentally induced mental stress enhanced cardiovascular indices of sympathetic activity (systolic blood pressure, heart rate, ventricular ejection fraction, and skin conductance) across all patients. However, the functional response of the myocardium varied; some patients increased, whereas others decreased, cardiac output during stress. Across patients, heartbeat-evoked potential amplitude at left temporal and lateral frontal electrode locations correlated with stress-induced changes in cardiac output, consistent with an afferent cortical representation of myocardial function during stress. Moreover, the amplitude of the heartbeat-evoked potential in the left temporal region reflected the proarrhythmic status of the heart (inhomogeneity of left ventricular repolarization). These observations delineate a cortical representation of cardiac function predictive of proarrhythmic abnormalities in cardiac repolarization. Our findings highlight the dynamic interaction of heart and brain in stress-induced cardiovascular morbidity
The Reionization of Carbon
Observations suggest that CII was more abundant than CIV in the intergalactic
medium towards the end of the hydrogen reionization epoch. This transition
provides a unique opportunity to study the enrichment history of intergalactic
gas and the growth of the ionizing background (UVB) at early times. We study
how carbon absorption evolves from z=10-5 using a cosmological hydrodynamic
simulation that includes a self-consistent multifrequency UVB as well as a
well-constrained model for galactic outflows to disperse metals. Our predicted
UVB is within 2-4 times that of Haardt & Madau (2012), which is fair agreement
given the uncertainties. Nonetheless, we use a calibration in post-processing
to account for Lyman-alpha forest measurements while preserving the predicted
spectral slope and inhomogeneity. The UVB fluctuates spatially in such a way
that it always exceeds the volume average in regions where metals are found.
This implies both that a spatially-uniform UVB is a poor approximation and that
metal absorption is not sensitive to the epoch when HII regions overlap
globally even at column densites of 10^{12} cm^{-2}. We find, consistent with
observations, that the CII mass fraction drops to low redshift while CIV rises
owing the combined effects of a growing UVB and continued addition of carbon in
low-density regions. This is mimicked in absorption statistics, which broadly
agree with observations at z=6-3 while predicting that the absorber column
density distributions rise steeply to the lowest observable columns. Our model
reproduces the large observed scatter in the number of low-ionization absorbers
per sightline, implying that the scatter does not indicate a partially-neutral
Universe at z=6.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures, accepted to MNRA
Direct Detection of Galactic Halo Dark Matter
The Milky Way Galaxy contains a large, spherical component which is believed
to harbor a substantial amount of unseen matter. Recent observations indirectly
suggest that as much as half of this ``dark matter'' may be in the form of old,
very cool white dwarfs, the remnants of an ancient population of stars as old
as the Galaxy itself. We conducted a survey to find faint, cool white dwarfs
with large space velocities, indicative of their membership in the Galaxy's
spherical halo component. The survey reveals a substantial, directly observed
population of old white dwarfs, too faint to be seen in previous surveys. This
newly discovered population accounts for at least 2% of the halo dark matter.
It provides a natural explanation for the indirect observations, and represents
a direct detection of Galactic halo dark matter.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Note added after Science Express online
publication: This text reflects the correction of a few typographical errors
in the online version of the table. It also includes the new constraint on
the calculation of d_max which accounts for the fact that the survey could
not have detected stars with proper motions below 0.33 arcseconds per year.
Published online at ScienceExpress www.sciencemag.org 22 March 2001;
10.1126/science.1059954; To appear in Science 27 April 200
Cool White Dwarfs Revisited -- New Spectroscopy and Photometry
In this paper we present new and improved data on 38 cool white dwarfs
identified by Oppenheimer et al. 2001 (OHDHS) as candidate dark halo objects.
Using the high-res spectra obtained with LRIS, we measure radial velocities for
13 WDs that show an H alpha line. We show that the knowledge of RVs decreases
the UV-plane velocities by only 6%. The radial velocity sample has a W-velocity
dispersion of sig_W = 59 km/s--in between the values associated with the thick
disk and the stellar halo. We also see indications for the presence of two
populations by analyzing the velocities in the UV plane. In addition, we
present CCD photometry for half of the sample, and with it recalibrate the
photographic photometry of the remaining WDs. Using the new photometry in
standard bands, and by applying the appropriate color-magnitude relations for H
and He atmospheres, we obtain new distance estimates. New distances of the WDs
that were not originally selected as halo candidates yield 13 new candidates.
On average, new distances produce velocities in the UV plane that are larger by
10%, with already fast objects gaining more. Using the new data, while applying
the same UV-velocity cut (94 km/s) as in OHDHS, we find a density of cool WDs
of 1.7e-4 pc^-3, confirming the value of OHDHS. In addition, we derive the
density as a function of the UV-velocity cutoff. The density (corrected for
losses due to higher UV cuts) starts to flatten out at 150 km/s (0.4e-4 pc^-3),
and is minimized (thus minimizing a possible non-halo contamination) at 190
km/s (0.3e-4 pc^-3). These densities are in a rough agreement with the
estimates for the stellar halo WDs, corresponding to a factor of 1.9 and 1.4
higher values.Comment: Accepted to ApJ. New version contains some additional data. Results
unchange
The Flux Auto- and Cross-Correlation of the Lyman-alpha Forest. II. Modelling Anisotropies with Cosmological Hydrodynamic Simulations
The isotropy of the Lyman-alpha forest in real-space uniquely provides a
measurement of cosmic geometry at z > 2. The angular diameter distance for
which the correlation function along the line of sight and in the transverse
direction agree corresponds to the correct cosmological model. However, the
Lyman-alpha forest is observed in redshift-space where distortions due to
Hubble expansion, bulk flows, and thermal broadening introduce anisotropy.
Similarly, a spectrograph's line spread function affects the autocorrelation
and cross-correlation differently. In this the second paper of a series on
using the Lyman-alpha forest observed in pairs of QSOs for a new application of
the Alcock-Paczynski (AP) test, these anisotropies and related sources of
potential systematic error are investigated with cosmological hydrodynamic
simulations. Three prescriptions for galactic outflow were compared and found
to have only a marginal effect on the Lyman-alpha flux correlation (which
changed by at most 7% with use of the currently favored variable-momentum wind
model vs. no winds at all). An approximate solution for obtaining the zero-lag
cross-correlation corresponding to arbitrary spectral resolution directly from
the zero-lag cross-correlation computed at full-resolution (good to within 2%
at the scales of interest) is presented. Uncertainty in the observationally
determined mean flux decrement of the Lyman-alpha forest was found to be the
dominant source of systematic error; however, this is reduced significantly
when considering correlation ratios. We describe a simple scheme for
implementing our results, while mitigating systematic errors, in the context of
a future application of the AP test.Comment: 20 page
The Structure of High Strehl Ratio Point-Spread Functions
We describe the symmetries present in the point-spread function (PSF) of an
optical system either located in space or corrected by an adaptive o to Strehl
ratios of about 70% and higher. We present a formalism for expanding the PSF to
arbitrary order in terms of powers of the Fourier transform of the residual
phase error, over an arbitrarily shaped and apodized entrance aperture. For
traditional unapodized apertures at high Strehl ratios, bright speckles pinned
to the bright Airy rings are part of an antisymmetric perturbation of the
perfect PSF, arising from the term that is first order in the residual phase
error. There are two symmetric second degree terms. One is negative at the
center, and, like the first order term, is modulated by the perfect image's
field strength -- it reduces to the Marechal approximation at the center of the
PSF. The other is non-negative everywhere, zero at the image center, and can be
responsible for an extended halo -- which limits the dynamic range of faint
companion detection in the darkest portions of the image. In regimes where one
or the other term dominates the speckles in an image, the symmetry of the
dominant term can be exploited to reduce the effect of those speckles,
potentially by an order of magnitude or more. We demonstrate the effects of
both secondary obscuration and pupil apodization on the structure of residual
speckles, and discuss how these symmetries can be exploited by appropriate
telescope and instrument design, observing strategies, and filter bandwidths to
improve the dynamic range of high dynamic range AO and space-based
observations. Finally, we show that our analysis is relevant to high dynamic
range coronagraphy.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; 20 pages, 4 figure
The Simulated HI Sky at low redshift
Observations of intergalactic neutral hydrogen can provide a wealth of
information about structure and galaxy formation, potentially tracing accretion
and feedback processes on Mpc scales. Below a column density of NHI ~ 10^19
cm-2, the "edge" or typical observational limit for HI emission from galaxies,
simulations predict a cosmic web of extended emission and filamentary
structures. We study the distribution of neutral hydrogen and its 21cm emission
properties in a cosmological hydrodynamic simulation, to gain more insights
into the distribution of HI below NHI ~ 10^19 cm-2. Such Lyman Limit systems
are expected to trace out the cosmic web, and are relatively unexplored.
Beginning with a 32 h^-1 Mpc simulation, we extract the neutral hydrogen
component by determining the neutral fraction, including a post-processed
correction for self-shielding based on the thermal pressure. We take into
account molecular hydrogen, assuming an average density ratio Omega_H2 /
Omega_HI = 0.3 at z = 0. The statistical properties of the HI emission are
compared with observations, to assess the reliability of the simulation. The
simulated HI distribution robustly describes the full column density range
between NHI ~ 10^14 and NHI ~ 10^21 cm-2 and agrees very well with available
measurements from observations. Furthermore there is good correspondence in the
statistics when looking at the two-point correlation function and the HI mass
function. The reconstructed maps are used to simulate observations of existing
and future telescopes by adding noise and taking account of the sensitivity of
the telescopes. The general agreement in statistical properties of HI suggests
that neutral hydrogen as modeled in this hydrodynamic simulation is a fair
representation of that in the Universe. (abridged)Comment: 20 pages, 17 figures, Accepted for publication in A&A, figures
compressed to low resolution; high-resolution version available at:
http://www.astro.rug.nl/~popping/simulated_HI_sky.pd
Atmospheric, Evolutionary, and Spectral Models of the Brown Dwarf Gliese 229 B
Theoretical spectra and evolutionary models that span the giant planet--brown
dwarf continuum have been computed based on the recent discovery of the brown
dwarf, Gliese 229 B. A flux enhancement in the 4--5 micron window is a
universal feature from Jovian planets to brown dwarfs. We confirm the existence
of methane and water in Gl 229 B's spectrum and find its mass to be 30 to 55
Jovian masses. Although these calculations focus on Gliese 229 B, they are also
meant to guide future searches for extra-solar giant planets and brown dwarfs.Comment: 8 pages, plain TeX, plus four postscript figures, gzipped and
uuencoded, accepted for Scienc
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