900 research outputs found
The Homogeneity of Interstellar Oxygen in the Galactic Disk
We present an analysis of high resolution HST Space Telescope Imaging
Spectrograph (STIS) observations of O I 1356 and H I Lyman-alpha absorption in
36 sight lines that probe a variety of Galactic disk environments and include
paths that range over nearly 4 orders of magnitude in f(H_2), over 2 orders of
magnitude in mean sight line density, and that extend up to 6.5 kpc in length.
Consequently, we have undertaken the study of gas-phase O/H abundance ratio
homogeneity using the current sample and previously published Goddard
High-Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) results. Two distinct trends are identified
in the 56 sight line sample: an apparent decrease in gas-phase oxygen abundance
with increasing mean sight line density and a gap between the mean O/H ratio
for sight lines shorter and longer than about 800 pc. The first effect is a
smooth transition between two depletion levels associated with large mean
density intervals; it is centered near a density of 1.5 cm^-3 and is similar to
trends evident in gas-phase abundances of other elements. Paths less dense than
the central value exhibit a mean O/H ratio of log_10 (O/H) = -3.41+/-0.01 (or
390+/-10 ppm), which is consistent with averages determined for several long,
low-density paths observed by STIS (Andre et al. 2003) and short low-density
paths observed by FUSE (Moos et al. 2002). Sight lines of higher mean density
exhibit an average O/H value of log_10 (O/H) = -3.55+/-0.02 (284+/-12 ppm). The
datapoints for low-density paths are scattered more widely than those for
denser sight lines, due to O/H ratios for paths shorter than 800 pc that are
generally about 0.10 dex lower than the values for longer ones.Comment: 33 pages, including 8 figures and 4 tables; accepted for publication
in ApJ, tentatively in Oct 200
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"The dearest of our possessions": applying Floridi's information privacy concept in models of information behavior and information literacy
This conceptual paper argues for the value of an approach to privacy in the digital information environment informed by Luciano Floridi's philosophy of information and information ethics. This approach involves achieving informational privacy, through the features of anonymity and obscurity, through an optimal balance of ontological frictions. This approach may be used to modify models for information behavior and for information literacy, giving them a fuller and more effective coverage of privacy issues in the infosphere. For information behavior, the Information Seeking and Communication Model, and the Information Grounds conception, are most appropriate for this purpose. For information literacy, the metaliteracy model, using a modification a privacy literacy framework, is most suitable
Dose Finding Study To Assess Safety, Pk And Efficacy Of Fimepinostat (Cudc‐907) With Venetoclax Or Rituximab Plus Bendamustine In Patients With Relapsed/Refractory Lymphoma
Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149554/1/hon9_2632.pd
A GLIMPSE into the Nature of Galactic Mid-IR Excesses
We investigate the nature of the mid-IR excess for 31 intermediate-mass stars
that exhibit an 8 micron excess in either the Galactic Legacy Infrared
Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire or the Mid-Course Space Experiment using high
resolution optical spectra to identify stars surrounded by warm circumstellar
dust. From these data we determine projected stellar rotational velocities and
estimate stellar effective temperatures for the sample. We estimate stellar
ages from these temperatures, parallactic distances, and evolutionary models.
Using MIPS [24] measurements and stellar parameters we determine the nature of
the infrared excess for 19 GLIMPSE stars. We find that 15 stars exhibit Halpha
emission and four exhibit Halpha absorption. Assuming that the mid-IR excesses
arise in circumstellar disks, we use the Halpha fluxes to model and estimate
the relative contributions of dust and free-free emission. Six stars exhibit
Halpha fluxes that imply free-free emission can plausibly explain the infrared
excess at [24]. These stars are candidate classical Be stars. Nine stars
exhibit Halpha emission, but their Halpha fluxes are insufficient to explain
the infrared excesses at [24], suggesting the presence of a circumstellar dust
component. After the removal of the free-free component in these sources, we
determine probable disk dust temperatures of Tdisk~300-800 K and fractional
infrared luminosities of L(IR)/L(*)~10^-3. These nine stars may be
pre-main-sequence stars with transitional disks undergoing disk clearing. Three
of the four sources showing Halpha absorption exhibit circumstellar disk
temperatures ~300-400 K, L(IR)/L(*)~10^-3, IR colors K-[24]< 3.3, and are warm
debris disk candidates. One of the four Halpha absorption sources has K-[24]>
3.3 implying an optically thick outer disk and is a transition disk candidate.Comment: 17 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
Spectroscopy of high proper motion stars in the ground--based UV
Based on high quality spectral data (spectral resolution R>60000) within the
wavelength range of 3550-5000 AA we determined main parameters (effective
temperature, surface gravity, microturbulent velocity, and chemical element
abundances including heavy metals from Sr to Dy) for 14 metal-deficient G-K
stars with large proper motions. The stars we studied have a wide range of
metallicity: [Fe/H]=-0.3 \div -2.9. Abundances of Mg, Al, Sr and Ba were
calculated with non-LTE line-formation effects accounted for. Abundances both
of the radioactive element Th and r-process element Eu were determined using
synthetic spectrum calculations. We selected stars that belong to different
galactic populations according to the kinematical criterion and parameters
determined by us. We found that the studied stars with large proper motions
refer to different components of the Galaxy: thin, thick disks and halo. The
chemical composition of the star BD+80 245 located far from the galactic plane
agrees with its belonging to the accreted halo. For the giant HD115444 we
obtained [Fe/H]=-2.91, underabundance of Mn, overabundance of heavy metals from
Ba to Dy, and, especially high excess of the r-process element Europium:
[Eu/Fe]=+1.26. Contrary to its chemical composition typical for halo stars,
HD115444 belongs to the disc population according to its kinematic parameters.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, 5 tables, "UV Universe-2010 (2nd NUVA Symposium)
conference
A qualitative study of stakeholders' perspectives on the social network service environment
Over two billion people are using the Internet at present, assisted by the mediating activities of software agents which deal with the diversity and complexity of information. There are, however, ethical issues due to the monitoring-and-surveillance, data mining and autonomous nature of software agents. Considering the context, this study aims to comprehend stakeholders' perspectives on the social network service environment in order to identify the main considerations for the design of software agents in social network services in the near future. Twenty-one stakeholders, belonging to three key stakeholder groups, were recruited using a purposive sampling strategy for unstandardised semi-structured e-mail interviews. The interview data were analysed using a qualitative content analysis method. It was possible to identify three main considerations for the design of software agents in social network services, which were classified into the following categories: comprehensive understanding of users' perception of privacy, user type recognition algorithms for software agent development and existing software agents enhancement
Migrant participation in Norwegian health care. A qualitative study using key informants
Background Little is known about how migrants adapt to first-world public health systems. In Norway, patients are assigned a registered general practitioner (RGP) to provide basic care and serve as gatekeeper for other medical services. Objectives: To explore determinants of migrant compliance with the RGP scheme and obstacles that migrants may experience. Methods: Individuals in leadership positions within migrant organizations for the 13 largest migrant populations in Norway in 2008 participated in this qualitative study. Semi-structured interviews, with migrants serving as key informants, were used to elucidate possible challenges migrant patients face in navigating the local primary health-care system. Conversations were structured using an interview guide covering the range of challenges that migrant patients meet in the health-care system. Results: According to informants, integration into the RGP scheme and adequacy of patient-physician communication varies according to duration of stay in Norway, the patient's country of origin, the reason for migration, health literacy, intention to establish permanent residence in Norway, language proficiency, and comprehension of information received about the health system. Informants noted as obstacles: doctor-patient interaction patterns, conflicting ideas about the role of the doctor, and language and cultural differences. In addressing noted obstacles, one strategy would be to combine direct intervention by migrant associations with indirect intervention via the public-health system
The Palomar Testbed Interferometer Calibrator Catalog
The Palomar Testbed Interferometer (PTI) archive of observations between 1998
and 2005 is examined for objects appropriate for calibration of optical
long-baseline interferometer observations - stars that are predictably
point-like and single. Approximately 1,400 nights of data on 1,800 objects were
examined for this investigation. We compare those observations to an
intensively studied object that is a suitable calibrator, HD217014, and
statistically compare each candidate calibrator to that object by computing
both a Mahalanobis distance and a Principal Component Analysis. Our hypothesis
is that the frequency distribution of visibility data associated with
calibrator stars differs from non-calibrator stars such as binary stars.
Spectroscopic binaries resolved by PTI, objects known to be unsuitable for
calibrator use, are similarly tested to establish detection limits of this
approach. From this investigation, we find more than 350 observed stars
suitable for use as calibrators (with an additional being
rejected), corresponding to sky coverage for PTI. This approach
is noteworthy in that it rigorously establishes calibration sources through a
traceable, empirical methodology, leveraging the predictions of spectral energy
distribution modeling but also verifying it with the rich body of PTI's on-sky
observations.Comment: 100 pages, 7 figures, 7 tables; to appear in the May 2008ApJS, v176n
Debris Disk Evolution Around A Stars
We report 24 and/or 70 um measurements of ~160 A-type main-sequence stars
using the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS). Their ages range
from 5 to 850 Myr based on estimates from the literature (cluster or moving
group associations) or from the H-R diagram and isochrones. The thermal
infrared excess is identified by comparing the deviation (~3% and ~15% at the
1-\sigma level at 24 and 70 um, respectively) between the measurements and the
synthetic Kurucz photospheric predictions. Stars showing excess infrared
emission due to strong emission lines or extended nebulosity seen at 24 um are
excluded from our sample; therefore, the remaining infrared excesses are likely
to arise from circumstellar debris disks. At the 3-sigma confidence level, the
excess rate at 24 and 70 um is 32% and >=33% (with an uncertainty of 5%),
considerably higher than has been found for old solar analogs and M dwarfs. Our
measurements place constraints on the fractional dust luminosities and
temperatures in the disks. We find that older stars tend to have lower
fractional dust luminosity than younger ones. While the fractional luminosity
from the excess infrared emission follows a general 1/t relationship, the
values at a given stellar age vary by at least two orders of magnitude. We also
find that (1) older stars possess a narrow range of temperature distribution
peaking at colder temperatures, and (2) the disk emission at 70 um persists
longer than that at 24 um. Both results suggest that the debris-disk clearing
process is more effective in the inner regions.Comment: 17 pages, accepted for publication in Ap
Intranasal administration of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors
This short review outlines the rationale, challenges, and opportunities for intranasal acetylcholinesterases, in particular galantamine. An in vitro screening model facilitated the development of a therapeutically viable formulation. In vivo testing confirmed achievement of therapeutically relevant drug levels that matched or exceeded those for oral dosing, with a dramatic reduction in undesired emetic responses. Intranasal drug delivery is an effective option for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other central nervous system disorders
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