2,378 research outputs found
Characterization and evolution of organized shallow convection in the downstream North Atlantic trades
Four previously identified patterns of meso-scale cloud organization in the trades -- called Sugar, Gravel, Flowers and Fish -- are studied using long-term records of ground-based measurements, satellite observations and reanalyses. A neural network trained to detect these patterns is applied to satellite imagery to identify periods during which a particular pattern is over the Barbados Cloud Observatory. Surface based remote sensing at the observatory is composited and shows that the patterns can be distinguished by differences in cloud macro-physical structures. Variations in total cloudiness among the patterns are dominated by variations in cloud-top cloudiness. Cloud amount near cloud base varies little. Each pattern is associated with a distinct atmospheric environment whose characteristics are traced back to origins that are not solely within the trades. Sugar air-masses are characterized by weak winds and of tropical origin. Fish are driven by convergence lines originating from synoptical disturbances. Gravel and Flowers are most native to the trades, but distinguish themselves with slightly stronger winds and stronger subsidence in the first case and greater stability in the latter. These results suggest that due to the tight bound of the patterns to wind and air-mass origin, the patterns with the higher cloud fraction, Flowers and Fish, will be disfavoured in a warming climate with more equable sea-surface temperatures and fewer mid-latitudinal disturbances
Transit Photometry with the LCOGT Network
Within a single year, we deployed and commissioned a total of seven 1m telescopes to three sites (McDonald Observatory, CTIO and SAAO). These are complemented by two existing 2m telescopes, located in the northern (Haleakala) and southern (Siding Spring Observatory) hemispheres. Before the end of 2013, one additional 1m telescope will be deployed at McDonald Observatory, and two at Siding Spring Observatory, which will complete the southern ring and enable continuous LCOGT dark time in the southern hemisphere. We present transit observations acquired at each site with currently-deployed 1m telescopes. These data demonstrate some of the network's unique capabilities, such as simultaneous transit observations from multiple sites and construction of full transits by combining partial transit light curves from two sites. Such exercises pave the path toward searching for and characterizing transits of long period exoplanets, simultaneous multi-color transit observations, as well as studying spot distributions and rotation periods of exoplanet host stars using the LCOGT network
Pre-discovery and Follow-up Observations of the Nearby SN 2009nr: Implications for Prompt Type Ia SNe
We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of the Type Ia
supernova SN 2009nr in UGC 8255 (z=0.0122). Following the discovery
announcement at what turned out to be ten days after peak, we detected it at V
~15.7 mag in data collected by the All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS) North
telescope 2 weeks prior to the peak, and then followed it up with telescopes
ranging in aperture from 10-cm to 6.5-m. Using early photometric data available
only from ASAS, we find that the SN is similar to the over-luminous Type Ia SN
1991T, with a peak at Mv=-19.6 mag, and a slow decline rate of Dm_15(B)=0.95
mag. The early post-maximum spectra closely resemble those of SN 1991T, while
the late time spectra are more similar to those of normal Type Ia SNe.
Interestingly, SN 2009nr has a projected distance of 13.0 kpc (~4.3 disk scale
lengths) from the nucleus of the small star-forming host galaxy UGC 8255. This
indicates that the progenitor of SN 2009nr is not associated with a young
stellar population, calling into question the conventional association of
luminous SNe Ia with the "prompt" component directly correlated with current
star formation. The pre-discovery observation of SN 2009nr using ASAS
demonstrates the science utility of high cadence all sky surveys conducted
using small telescopes for the discovery of nearby (d=<50 Mpc) supernovae.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ on
11/02/201
Kynurenine pathway inhibition reduces central nervous system inflammation in a model of human African trypanosomiasis
Human African trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness, is caused by the protozoan parasites <i>Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense</i> or <i>Trypanosoma brucei gambiense</i>, and is a major cause of systemic and neurological disability throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Following early-stage disease, the trypanosomes cross the blood-brain barrier to invade the central nervous system leading to the encephalitic, or late stage, infection. Treatment of human African trypanosomiasis currently relies on a limited number of highly toxic drugs, but untreated, is invariably fatal. Melarsoprol, a trivalent arsenical, is the only drug that can be used to cure both forms of the infection once the central nervous system has become involved, but unfortunately, this drug induces an extremely severe post-treatment reactive encephalopathy (PTRE) in up to 10% of treated patients, half of whom die from this complication. Since it is unlikely that any new and less toxic drug will be developed for treatment of human African trypanosomiasis in the near future, increasing attention is now being focussed on the potential use of existing compounds, either alone or in combination chemotherapy, for improved efficacy and safety. The kynurenine pathway is the major pathway in the metabolism of tryptophan. A number of the catabolites produced along this pathway show neurotoxic or neuroprotective activities, and their role in the generation of central nervous system inflammation is well documented. In the current study, Ro-61-8048, a high affinity kynurenine-3-monooxygenase inhibitor, was used to determine the effect of manipulating the kynurenine pathway in a highly reproducible mouse model of human African trypanosomiasis. It was found that Ro-61-8048 treatment had no significant effect (P = 0.4445) on the severity of the neuroinflammatory pathology in mice during the early central nervous system stage of the disease when only a low level of inflammation was present. However, a significant (P = 0.0284) reduction in the severity of the neuroinflammatory response was detected when the inhibitor was administered in animals exhibiting the more severe, late central nervous system stage, of the infection. <i>In vitro</i> assays showed that Ro-61-8048 had no direct effect on trypanosome proliferation suggesting that the anti-inflammatory action is due to a direct effect of the inhibitor on the host cells and not a secondary response to parasite destruction. These findings demonstrate that kynurenine pathway catabolites are involved in the generation of the more severe inflammatory reaction associated with the late central nervous system stages of the disease and suggest that Ro-61-8048 or a similar drug may prove to be beneficial in preventing or ameliorating the PTRE when administered as an adjunct to conventional trypanocidal chemotherap
Interoperability for the design and construction industry through semantic web technology
The domain of architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) has experienced significant improvements with the advent of building information modelling (BIM) applications, which allow AEC specialists to model all information concerning a building design into one three-dimensional building model. Much of these improvements are however generated by the mere availability of such an environment, whereas many more improvements were expected by achieving an appropriate interoperability of information. We are investigating why such an interoperability is not reached fully and consider the semantic web as an alternative approach to reach the targeted interoperability. In this paper, an AEC description framework based on semantic web technology is presented and compared to the BIM approach, after which we indicate how it might solve the issue of interoperability more appropriately. Our evaluation of this investigation indicates the semantic web approach as a valid alternative approach, although considerably more research is needed to show it capable of providing the targeted interoperability of information in the AEC domain
The Mass of the Black Hole in the Quasar PG 2130+099
We present the results of a recent reverberation-mapping campaign undertaken
to improve measurements of the radius of the broad line region and the central
black hole mass of the quasar PG 2130+099. Cross correlation of the 5100
angstrom continuum and H-beta emission-line light curves yields a time lag of
22.9 (+4.4 - 4.3) days, corresponding to a central black hole mass MBH= 3.8
(+/- 1.5) x 10^7 Msun. This value supports the notion that previous
measurements yielded an incorrect lag. We re-analyzed previous datasets to
investigate the possible sources of the discrepancy and conclude that previous
measurement errors were apparently caused by a combination of undersampling of
the light curves and long-term secular changes in the H-beta emission-line
equivalent width. With our new measurements, PG 2130+099 is no longer an
outlier in either the R-L or the MBH-Sigma relationships.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures; Accepted for publication in Ap
Commentary: Essential Programs and Services Model
To further discussion about the Essential Programs and Services (EPS) model for funding public education in Maine, Maine Policy Review asked eight superintendents—representing districts across the state— to provide their views. We also asked each to discuss the needs of his district and whether additional state policy options were necessary to tackle the most pressing issues. The districts represented by these superintendents are a cross section of urban and rural high-receivers and low-receivers. Still, several commonalities emerge: the need for a state commitment that does not wax and wane with the business cycle; the urgency of professional development for new and experienced teachers; and, the importance of linking student outcomes with student assessment measures and student funding. In short, EPS is not seen as a solution to the state’s ongoing debate over public-education funding, but is recognized as a necessary first step
Follow-Up Observations of PTFO 8-8695: A 3 MYr Old T-Tauri Star Hosting a Jupiter-mass Planetary Candidate
We present Spitzer 4.5\micron\ light curve observations, Keck NIRSPEC radial
velocity observations, and LCOGT optical light curve observations of
PTFO~8-8695, which may host a Jupiter-sized planet in a very short orbital
period (0.45 days). Previous work by \citet{vaneyken12} and \citet{barnes13}
predicts that the stellar rotation axis and the planetary orbital plane should
precess with a period of days. As a consequence, the observed
transits should change shape and depth, disappear, and reappear with the
precession. Our observations indicate the long-term presence of the transit
events ( years), and that the transits indeed do change depth, disappear
and reappear. The Spitzer observations and the NIRSPEC radial velocity
observations (with contemporaneous LCOGT optical light curve data) are
consistent with the predicted transit times and depths for the $M_\star = 0.34\
M_\odot$ precession model and demonstrate the disappearance of the transits. An
LCOGT optical light curve shows that the transits do reappear approximately 1
year later. The observed transits occur at the times predicted by a
straight-forward propagation of the transit ephemeris. The precession model
correctly predicts the depth and time of the Spitzer transit and the lack of a
transit at the time of the NIRSPEC radial velocity observations. However, the
precession model predicts the return of the transits approximately 1 month
later than observed by LCOGT. Overall, the data are suggestive that the
planetary interpretation of the observed transit events may indeed be correct,
but the precession model and data are currently insufficient to confirm firmly
the planetary status of PTFO~8-8695b.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa
Velocity autocorrelation function of a Brownian particle
In this article, we present molecular dynamics study of the velocity
autocorrelation function (VACF) of a Brownian particle. We compare the results
of the simulation with the exact analytic predictions for a compressible fluid
from [6] and an approximate result combining the predictions from hydrodynamics
at short and long times. The physical quantities which determine the decay were
determined from separate bulk simulations of the Lennard-Jones fluid at the
same thermodynamic state point.We observe that the long-time regime of the VACF
compares well the predictions from the macroscopic hydrodynamics, but the
intermediate decay is sensitive to the viscoelastic nature of the solvent.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
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