2,310 research outputs found
A Universal Temperature Profile for Galaxy Clusters
We investigate the predicted present-day temperature profiles of the hot,
X-ray emitting gas in galaxy clusters for two cosmological models - a current
best-guess LCDM model and standard cold dark matter (SCDM). Our
numerically-simulated "catalogs" of clusters are derived from high-resolution
(15/h kpc) simulations which make use of a sophisticated, Eulerian-based,
Adaptive Mesh-Refinement (AMR) code that faithfully captures the shocks which
are essential for correctly modelling cluster temperatures. We show that the
temperature structure on Mpc-scales is highly complex and non-isothermal.
However, the temperature profiles of the simulated LCDM and SCDM clusters are
remarkably similar and drop-off as
where and . This decrease
is in good agreement with the observational results of Markevitch et al.(1998)
but diverges, primarily in the innermost regions, from their fit which assumes
a polytropic equation of state. Our result is also in good agreement with a
recent sample of clusters observed by BeppoSAX though there is some indication
of missing physics at small radii (). We discuss the
interpretation of our results and make predictions for new x-ray observations
that will extend to larger radii than previously possible. Finally, we show
that, for , our universal temperature profile is consistent with
our most recent simulations which include both radiative cooling and supernovae
feedback.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ, full-page
version of Fig. 2 at
http://www.cita.utoronto.ca/+AH4-cloken/PAPERS/UTP/f2.ep
Medication Adherence in Renal Transplant Recipients: A Latent Variable Model of Psychosocial and Neurocognitive Predictors
Objective Estimates indicate that 20â70% of renal transplant recipients are medication non-adherent, significantly increasing the risk of organ rejection. Medication adherence is negatively impacted by lower everyday problem solving ability, and associations between depressive symptoms, self-efficacy, and adherence are reported in renal transplant recipients. Nonetheless, to date, these associations have not been examined concurrently. Given the relationship between non-adherence and organ rejection, it is critical to gain a better understanding of the predictors of adherence in renal transplant recipients. To this end, we modeled relationships among cognitive abilities, depressive symptoms, self-efficacy, and adherence in this group.
Methods Participants (N = 211) underwent renal transplant at least one year prior to participation. Adherence was measured via self-report, medication possession ratio, and immunosuppressant blood-level. Traditionally-measured neurocognitive and everyday problem-solving abilities were assessed. Depressive symptoms were measured via self-report, as were general and medication adherence related self-efficacy. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the fit of the model to available data.
ResultsEveryday problem solving and self-efficacy had direct positive associations with adherence. Depressive symptoms were negatively associated with self-efficacy, but not adherence. Traditionally-measured neurocognitive abilities were positively associated with self-efficacy, and negatively associated with depressive symptoms.
Conclusions We present a comprehensive investigation of relationships between cognitive and psychosocial factors and adherence in medically stable renal transplant recipients. Findings confirm the importance of everyday problem solving and self-efficacy in predicting adherence and suggest that influences of depressive symptoms and neurocognitive abilities are indirect. Findings have important implications for future development of interventions to improve medication adherence in renal transplant recipients
X-ray and Radio Interactions in the Cores of Cooling Flow Clusters
We present high resolution ROSAT x-ray and radio observations of three
cooling flow clusters containing steep spectrum radio sources at their cores.
All three systems exhibit strong signs of interaction between the radio plasma
and the hot intracluster medium. Two clusters, A133 and A2626, show enhanced
x-ray emission spatially coincident with the radio source whereas the third
cluster, A2052, exhibits a large region of x-ray excess surrounding much of the
radio source. Using 3-D numerical simulations, we show that a perturbed jet
propagating through a cooling flow atmosphere can give rise to amorphous radio
morphologies, particularly in the case where the jet was ``turned off'' and
allowed to age passively. In addition, the simulated x-ray surface brightness
produced both excesses and deficits as seen observationally.Comment: 25 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A
âDo It-Yourselfâ: Home Blood Pressure as a Predictor of Traditional and Everyday Cognition in Older Adults
Background
Hypertension guidelines recommend home blood pressure (HBP) monitoring in adjunct to office blood pressure (OBP) for its greater reproducibility and prognostic utility in the prevention of cardiovascular outcomes, especially stroke. To date, the relationship between HBP and cognitive function remains unexplored.
Methods
We examined HBP as a cognitive predictor in a multi-ethnic group of community-dwelling adults aged 60 and over (N = 133) using neuropsychological measures and analyzed the data using multiple regression analyses. We also employed âeveryday cognitionâ measures that have been found to have higher prognostic utility for real-world functioning than traditional cognitive tasks.
Results
Good to perfect HBP monitoring compliance over seven days was achieved by 88.7% of the participants with superior reliability (ICCâ„.96) to office readings. Higher home systolic BP and pulse pressure predicted worse processing speed, executive function, and everyday cognitive function, whereas lower home diastolic BP predicted worse everyday cognition. Office readings were similarly associated with everyday cognitive function but with no other cognitive measures.
Conclusion
Our findings are the first to validate HBP as a predictor of neuropsychological function in older adults beyond cognitive screening. Differential relationships among blood pressure variables and specific cognitive domains were observed. With proper standardization and training, we demonstrated that HBP can be obtained in a multi-ethnic community-dwelling older adult cohort. Our findings emphasize the importance of employing blood pressure and cognitive measures that are adequately sensitive to detect vascular-related cognitive impairment in a relatively healthy population. Implications regarding proper HBP measurement for hypertension management, cognitive health, and everyday function are discussed
Initial Hubble Diagram Results from the Nearby Supernova Factory
The use of Type Ia supernovae as distance indicators led to the discovery of
the accelerating expansion of the universe a decade ago. Now that large second
generation surveys have significantly increased the size and quality of the
high-redshift sample, the cosmological constraints are limited by the currently
available sample of ~50 cosmologically useful nearby supernovae. The Nearby
Supernova Factory addresses this problem by discovering nearby supernovae and
observing their spectrophotometric time development. Our data sample includes
over 2400 spectra from spectral timeseries of 185 supernovae. This talk
presents results from a portion of this sample including a Hubble diagram
(relative distance vs. redshift) and a description of some analyses using this
rich dataset.Comment: Short version of proceedings for ICHEP08, Philadelphia PA, July 2008;
see v1 for full-length versio
The Nearby Supernova Factory
The Nearby Supernova Factory (SNfactory) is an ambitious project to find and
study in detail approximately 300 nearby Type Ia supernovae (SNe~Ia) at
redshifts 0.03<z<0.08. This program will provide an exceptional data set of
well-studied SNe in the nearby smooth Hubble flow that can be used as
calibration for the current and future programs designed to use SNe to measure
the cosmological parameters. The first key ingredient for this program is a
reliable supply of Hubble-flow SNe systematically discovered in unprecedented
numbers using the same techniques as those used in distant SNe searches. In
2002, 35 SNe were found using our test-bed pipeline for automated SN search and
discovery. The pipeline uses images from the asteroid search conducted by the
Near Earth Asteroid Tracking group at JPL. Improvements in our subtraction
techniques and analysis have allowed us to increase our effective SN discovery
rate to ~12 SNe/month in 2003.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures to be published in New Astronomy Review
Database computing in HEP
The major SSC experiments are expected to produce up to 1 Petabyte of data per year each. Once the primary reconstruction is completed by farms of inexpensive processors, I/O becomes a major factor in further analysis of the data. We believe that the application of database techniques can significantly reduce the I/O performed in these analyses. We present examples of such I/O reductions in prototypes based on relational and object-oriented databases of CDF data samples
Atmospheric extinction properties above Mauna Kea from the Nearby Supernova Factory spectro-photometric data set
We present a new atmospheric extinction curve for Mauna Kea spanning
3200--9700 \AA. It is the most comprehensive to date, being based on some 4285
standard star spectra obtained on 478 nights spread over a period of 7 years
obtained by the Nearby SuperNova Factory using the SuperNova Integral Field
Spectrograph. This mean curve and its dispersion can be used as an aid in
calibrating spectroscopic or imaging data from Mauna Kea, and in estimating the
calibration uncertainty associated with the use of a mean extinction curve. Our
method for decomposing the extinction curve into physical components, and the
ability to determine the chromatic portion of the extinction even on cloudy
nights, is described and verified over the wide range of conditions sampled by
our large dataset. We demonstrate good agreement with atmospheric science data
obtain at nearby Mauna Loa Observatory, and with previously published
measurements of the extinction above Mauna Kea.Comment: 22 pages, 24 figures, 6 table
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