3,234 research outputs found
A multi-scale study of infrared and radio emission from Scd galaxy M33
We investigate the energy sources of the infrared (IR) emission and their
relation to the radio continuum emission at various spatial scales within the
Scd galaxy M33. We use the wavelet transform to analyze IR data at the Spitzer
wavelengths of 24, 70, and 160m, as well as recent radio continuum data at
3.6cm and 20cm. An H map serves as a tracer of the star forming regions
and as an indicator of the thermal radio emission. We find that the dominant
scale of the 70m emission is larger than that of the 24m emission,
while the 160m emission shows a smooth wavelet spectrum. The radio and
H maps are well correlated with all 3 MIPS maps, although their
correlations with the 160m map are weaker. After subtracting the bright
HII regions, the 24 and 70m maps show weaker correlations with the 20cm
map than with the 3.6cm map at most scales. We also find a strong correlation
between the 3.6cm and H emission at all scales. Comparing the results
with and without the bright HII regions, we conclude that the IR emission is
influenced by young, massive stars increasingly with decreasing wavelength from
160 to 24m. The radio-IR correlations indicate that the warm dust-thermal
radio correlation is stronger than the cold dust-nonthermal radio correlation
at scales smaller than 4kpc. A perfect 3.6cm-H correlation implies that
extinction has no significant effect on H emitting structures.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in the Astronomy and
Astrophysics Journa
The Nature of Infrared Emission in the Local Group Dwarf Galaxy NGC 6822 As Revealed by Spitzer
We present Spitzer imaging of the metal-deficient (Z ~30% Z_sun) Local Group
dwarf galaxy NGC 6822. On spatial scales of ~130 pc, we study the nature of IR,
H alpha, HI, and radio continuum emission. Nebular emission strength correlates
with IR surface brightness; however, roughly half of the IR emission is
associated with diffuse regions not luminous at H alpha (as found in previous
studies). The global ratio of dust to HI gas in the ISM, while uncertain at the
factor of ~2 level, is ~25 times lower than the global values derived for
spiral galaxies using similar modeling techniques; localized ratios of dust to
HI gas are about a factor of five higher than the global value in NGC 6822.
There are strong variations (factors of ~10) in the relative ratios of H alpha
and IR flux throughout the central disk; the low dust content of NGC 6822 is
likely responsible for the different H alpha/IR ratios compared to those found
in more metal-rich environments. The H alpha and IR emission is associated with
high-column density (> ~1E21 cm^-2) neutral gas. Increases in IR surface
brightness appear to be affected by both increased radiation field strength and
increased local gas density. Individual regions and the galaxy as a whole fall
within the observed scatter of recent high-resolution studies of the radio-far
IR correlation in nearby spiral galaxies; this is likely the result of depleted
radio and far-IR emission strengths in the ISM of this dwarf galaxy.Comment: ApJ, in press; please retrieve full-resolution version from
http://www.astro.wesleyan.edu/~cannon/pubs.htm
Radial distribution of stars, gas and dust in SINGS galaxies. I. Surface photometry and morphology
We present ultraviolet through far-infrared surface brightness profiles for
the 75 galaxies in the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey (SINGS). The
imagery used to measure the profiles includes GALEX UV data, optical images
from KPNO, CTIO and SDSS, near-IR data from 2MASS, and mid- and far-infrared
images from Spitzer. Along with the radial profiles, we also provide
multi-wavelength asymptotic magnitudes and several non-parametric indicators of
galaxy morphology: the concentration index (C_42), the asymmetry (A), the Gini
coefficient (G) and the normalized second-order moment of the brightest 20% of
the galaxy's flux (M_20). Our radial profiles show a wide range of morphologies
and multiple components (bulges, exponential disks, inner and outer disk
truncations, etc.) that vary not only from galaxy to galaxy but also with
wavelength for a given object. In the optical and near-IR, the SINGS galaxies
occupy the same regions in the C_42-A-G-M_20 parameter space as other normal
galaxies in previous studies. However, they appear much less centrally
concentrated, more asymmetric and with larger values of G when viewed in the UV
(due to star-forming clumps scattered across the disk) and in the mid-IR (due
to the emission of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons at 8.0 microns and very hot
dust at 24 microns).Comment: 66 pages in preprint format, 14 figures, published in ApJ. The
definitive publisher authenticated version is available online at
http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/703/2/156
Factors determining social participation in the first year after kidney transplantation: a prospective study
BACKGROUND: This study describes changes in social participation in the first year after kidney transplantation and examines the influence of clinical factors, health status, transplantation-related symptoms, and psychological characteristics on change in social participation. METHODS: A prospective study was performed on a cohort of primary kidney transplant recipients, transplanted between March 2002 and March 2003. Data on participation in obligatory activities (i.e., employment, education, household tasks) and leisure activities (i.e., volunteer work, assisting others, sports, clubs/associations, recreation, socializing, going out) were collected by in-home interviews (n=61) at 3 months (T1) and 1 year posttransplantation (T2). Analysis of covariance was performed. RESULTS: Data showed an increase in participation in obligatory activities and diversity of leisure participation between T1 and T2, although pre-end-stage renal disease level was not regained and differed from the general population. On T1, the majority of employed recipients were on sick leave, but returned to work on T2. Employment rate remained stable. An increase in obligatory participation was predicted by clinical factors (i.e., peritoneal dialysis, initial hospitalization), whereas change in leisure participation was related to serum albumin and cognitive capacity. No effects were found for type of donation, comorbidity, and renal function. CONCLUSIONS: We found that mainly clinical factors were associated with an increase in participation in society. Although health-status related factors and the psychological attribute self-efficacy may be related to recovery of social participation, their effect was outweighed by the strength of clinical predictors in multivariate analysis
Modelling the spectral energy distribution of galaxies. V. The dust and PAH emission SEDs of disk galaxies
We present a self-consistent model of the spectral energy distributions
(SEDs) of spiral galaxies from the ultraviolet (UV) to the mid-infrared
(MIR)/far-infrared (FIR)/submillimeter (submm) based on a full radiative
transfer calculation of the propagation of starlight in galaxy disks. This
model predicts not only the total integrated energy absorbed in the UV/optical
and re-emitted in the infrared/submm, but also the colours of the dust emission
based on an explicit calculation of the strength and colour of the UV/optical
radiation fields heating the dust, and incorporating a full calculation of the
stochastic heating of small dust grains and PAH molecules.
The geometry of the translucent components of the model is empirically
constrained using the results from the radiation transfer analysis of Xilouris
et al. on spirals in the middle range of the Hubble sequence, while the
geometry of the optically thick components is constrained from physical
considerations with a posteriori checks of the model predictions with
observational data.
These geometrical constraints enable the dust emission to be predicted in
terms of a minimum set of free parameters: the central face-on dust opacity in
the B-band tau^f_B, a clumpiness factor F for the star-forming regions, the
star-formation rate SFR, the normalised luminosity of the old stellar
population old and the bulge-to-disk ratio B/D. We show that these parameters
are almost orthogonal in their predicted effect on the colours of the dust/PAH
emission.
The results of the calculations are made available in the form of a large
library of simulated dust emission SEDs spanning the whole parameter space of
our model, together with the corresponding library of dust attenuation
calculated using the same model. (see full abstract in the paper)Comment: 39 pages; accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics; For a
higher resolution version of Fig.1 and Fig.20 see
http://www.star.uclan.ac.uk/~ccp/index.shtm
The Genome of Mycobacterium Africanum West African 2 Reveals a Lineage-Specific Locus and Genome Erosion Common to the M. tuberculosis Complex
Mycobacterium africanum, a close relative of M. tuberculosis, is studied for the following reasons: M. africanum is commonly isolated from West African patients with tuberculosis yet has not spread beyond this region, it is more common in HIV infected patients, and it is less likely to lead to tuberculosis after one is exposed to an infectious case. Understanding this organism's unique biology gets a boost from the decoding of its genome, reported in this issue. For example, genome analysis reveals that M. africanum contains a region shared with âancientâ lineages in the M. tuberculosis complex and other mycobacterial species, which was lost independently from both M. tuberculosis and M. bovis. This region encodes a protein involved in transmembrane transport. Furthermore, M. africanum has lost genes, including a known virulence gene and genes for vitamin synthesis, in addition to an intact copy of a gene that may increase its susceptibility to antibiotics that are insufficiently active against M. tuberculosis. Finally, the genome sequence and analysis reported here will aid in the development of new diagnostics and vaccines against tuberculosis, which need to take into account the differences between M. africanum and other species in order to be effective worldwide
Spectroscopic scanning tunneling microscopy insights into Fe-based superconductors
In the first three years since the discovery of Fe-based high Tc
superconductors, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy have shed
light on three important questions. First, STM has demonstrated the complexity
of the pairing symmetry in Fe-based materials. Phase-sensitive quasiparticle
interference (QPI) imaging and low temperature spectroscopy have shown that the
pairing order parameter varies from nodal to nodeless s\pm within a single
family, FeTe1-xSex. Second, STM has imaged C4 -> C2 symmetry breaking in the
electronic states of both parent and superconducting materials. As a local
probe, STM is in a strong position to understand the interactions between these
broken symmetry states and superconductivity. Finally, STM has been used to
image the vortex state, giving insights into the technical problem of vortex
pinning, and the fundamental problem of the competing states introduced when
superconductivity is locally quenched by a magnetic field. Here we give a
pedagogical introduction to STM and QPI imaging, discuss the specific
challenges associated with extracting bulk properties from the study of
surfaces, and report on progress made in understanding Fe-based superconductors
using STM techniques.Comment: 36 pages, 23 figures, 229 reference
Azimuthal asymmetry in the risetime of the surface detector signals of the Pierre Auger Observatory
The azimuthal asymmetry in the risetime of signals in Auger surface detector
stations is a source of information on shower development. The azimuthal
asymmetry is due to a combination of the longitudinal evolution of the shower
and geometrical effects related to the angles of incidence of the particles
into the detectors. The magnitude of the effect depends upon the zenith angle
and state of development of the shower and thus provides a novel observable,
, sensitive to the mass composition of cosmic rays
above eV. By comparing measurements with predictions from
shower simulations, we find for both of our adopted models of hadronic physics
(QGSJETII-04 and EPOS-LHC) an indication that the mean cosmic-ray mass
increases slowly with energy, as has been inferred from other studies. However,
the mass estimates are dependent on the shower model and on the range of
distance from the shower core selected. Thus the method has uncovered further
deficiencies in our understanding of shower modelling that must be resolved
before the mass composition can be inferred from .Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
Radial distribution of stars, gas and dust in SINGS galaxies. II. Derived dust properties
We present a detailed analysis of the radial distribution of dust properties
in the SINGS sample, performed on a set of UV, IR and HI surface brightness
profiles, combined with published molecular gas profiles and metallicity
gradients. The internal extinction, derived from the TIR-to-FUV luminosity
ratio, decreases with radius, and is larger in Sb-Sbc galaxies. The TIR-to-FUV
ratio correlates with the UV spectral slope beta, following a sequence shifted
to redder UV colors with respect to that of starbursts. The star formation
history (SFH) is identified as the main driver of this departure. We have also
derived radial profiles of the total dust mass surface density, the fraction of
the dust mass contributed by PAHs, the fraction of the dust mass heated by very
intense starlight and the intensity of the radiation field heating the grains.
The dust profiles are exponential, their radial scale-length being constant
from Sb to Sd galaxies (only ~10% larger than the stellar scale-length). Many
S0/a-Sab galaxies have central depressions in their dust radial distributions.
The PAH abundance increases with metallicity for 12+\log(O/H)<9, and at larger
metallicities the trend flattens and even reverses, with the SFH being a
plausible underlying driver for this behavior. The dust-to-gas ratio is also
well correlated with metallicity and therefore decreases with galactocentric
radius.Comment: 73 pages in preprint format, 21 figures, published in ApJ. The
definitive publisher authenticated version is available online at
http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/701/2/196
Inclusive pi0 and K0s Production in Two-Photon Collisions at LEP
The reactions ee->ee+pi0+X and ee->ee+K0s+X are studied using data collected
at LEP with the L3 detector at centre-of-mass energies between 189 and 202 GeV.
Inclusive differential cross sections are measured as a function of the
particle transverse momentum pt and the pseudo-rapidity. For pt < 1.5 GeV, the
pi0 and K0s differential cross sections are described by an exponential,
typical of soft hadronic processes. For pt > 1.5 GeV, the cross sections show
the presence of perturbative QCD processes, described by a power-law. The data
are compared to Monte Carlo predictions and to NLO QCD calculations
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