E 0336-248 : A New BL Lac Object Found by an Old Einstein

We obtained new ROSAT HRI and optical observations in the field of the Einstein X-ray source E 0336-248, which we use to identify it as a 19th magnitude BL Lacertae object at z=0.251 with an X-ray luminosity of 10^45 erg/s. It is also a 14 mJy radio source at 20 cm. An emission-line galaxy at z=0.043 that was previously considered a Seyfert identification for E 0336-248 is shown instead to be an unrelated, non-active H II region galaxy that lies 78 arcseconds from the X-ray source. The resolution of this historical case of mistaken identity illustrates that discoveries of non-AGN emission-line galaxies with high X-ray luminosity should be tested carefully. The properties of E 0336-248 are similar to those of other X-ray selected BL Lacs, including its location in an apparent group or cluster of galaxies. Somewhat unusual is the weak contribution of nonstellar optical light relative to the starlight in the spectrum of its host galaxy, which raises once again the possibility that even high-luminosity BL Lac objects may be difficult to identify in X-ray selected samples. We discuss a possible manifestation of this problem that appeared in the recent literature.Comment: To appear in the Astronomical Journal. 8 pages including figures (uses psfig.tex, also included

Stratospheric Variability and Trends in Models Used for the IPCC AR4

Atmosphere and ocean general circulation model (AOGCM) experiments for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) are analyzed to better understand model variability and assess the importance of various forcing mechanisms on stratospheric trends during the 20th century. While models represent the climatology of the stratosphere reasonably well in comparison with NCEP reanalysis, there are biases and large variability among models. In general, AOGCMs are cooler than NCEP throughout the stratosphere, with the largest differences in the tropics. Around half the AOGCMs have a top level beneath ~2 hPa and show a significant cold bias in their upper levels (~10 hPa) compared to NCEP, suggesting that these models may have compromised simulations near 10 hPa due to a low model top or insufficient stratospheric levels. In the lower stratosphere (50 hPa), the temperature variability associated with large volcanic eruptions is absent in about half of the models, and in the models that do include volcanic aerosols, half of those significantly overestimate the observed warming. There is general agreement on the vertical structure of temperature trends over the last few decades, differences between models are explained by the inclusion of different forcing mechanisms, such as stratospheric ozone depletion and volcanic aerosols. However, even when human and natural forcing agents are included in the simulations, significant differences remain between observations and model trends, particularly in the upper tropical troposphere (200 hPa–100 hPa), where, since 1979, models show a warming trend and the observations a cooling trend

Fractional Operators, Dirichlet Averages, and Splines

Fractional differential and integral operators, Dirichlet averages, and splines of complex order are three seemingly distinct mathematical subject areas addressing different questions and employing different methodologies. It is the purpose of this paper to show that there are deep and interesting relationships between these three areas. First a brief introduction to fractional differential and integral operators defined on Lizorkin spaces is presented and some of their main properties exhibited. This particular approach has the advantage that several definitions of fractional derivatives and integrals coincide. We then introduce Dirichlet averages and extend their definition to an infinite-dimensional setting that is needed to exhibit the relationships to splines of complex order. Finally, we focus on splines of complex order and, in particular, on cardinal B-splines of complex order. The fundamental connections to fractional derivatives and integrals as well as Dirichlet averages are presented

Transport in Almost Integrable Models: Perturbed Heisenberg Chains

The heat conductivity kappa(T) of integrable models, like the one-dimensional spin-1/2 nearest-neighbor Heisenberg model, is infinite even at finite temperatures as a consequence of the conservation laws associated with integrability. Small perturbations lead to finite but large transport coefficients which we calculate perturbatively using exact diagonalization and moment expansions. We show that there are two different classes of perturbations. While an interchain coupling of strength J_perp leads to kappa(T) propto 1/J_perp^2 as expected from simple golden-rule arguments, we obtain a much larger kappa(T) propto 1/J'^4 for a weak next-nearest neighbor interaction J'. This can be explained by a new approximate conservation law of the J-J' Heisenberg chain.Comment: 4 pages, several minor modifications, title change

Finite Temperature Spectral Densities of Momentum and R-Charge Correlators in N=4\N=4 Yang Mills Theory

We compute spectral densities of momentum and R-charge correlators in thermal $\N=4$ Yang Mills at strong coupling using the AdS/CFT correspondence. For $\omega \sim T$ and smaller, the spectral density differs markedly from perturbation theory; there is no kinetic theory peak. For large $\omega$, the spectral density oscillates around the zero-temperature result with an exponentially decreasing amplitude. Contrast this with QCD where the spectral density of the current-current correlator approaches the zero temperature result like $(T/\omega)^4$. Despite these marked differences with perturbation theory, in Euclidean space-time the correlators differ by only $\sim 10$ from the free result. The implications for Lattice QCD measurements of transport are discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figure

Doubled haploid ramets via embryogenesis of haploid tissue cultures

Tissue culture in the oil palm business is generally concerned with the multiplication (clonal production) of dura, pisifera and tenera palms. These are all normal diploids (2n=2x=36). Sumatra Bioscience has pioneered haploid tissue culture of oil palm (n=x=18). Haploid oil palm is the first step in producing doubled haploid palms which in turn provide parental lines for F1 hybrid production. Chromosome doubling is known to occur during embryogenesis in other haploid cultures, e.g. barley anther culture. Haploid tissue cultures in oil palm were therefore set up to investigate and exploit spontaneous chromosome doubling during embryogenesis. Flow cytometry of embryogenic tissue showed the presence of both haploid (n) and doubled haploid (2n) cells indicating spontaneous doubling. Completely doubled haploid ramets were regenerated suggesting that doubling occurred during the first mitoses of embryogenesis. This is the first report of doubled haploid production in oil palm via haploid tissue culture. The method provides a means of producing a range of doubled haploids in oil palm from the 1,000 plus haploids available at Sumatra Bioscience, in addition the method also produced doubled haploid (and haploid) clones. 1

Resting state correlates of subdimensions of anxious affect

Resting state fMRI may help identify markers of risk for affective disorder. Given the comorbidity of anxiety and depressive disorders and the heterogeneity of these disorders as defined by DSM, an important challenge is to identify alterations in resting state brain connectivity uniquely associated with distinct profiles of negative affect. The current study aimed to address this by identifying differences in brain connectivity specifically linked to cognitive and physiological profiles of anxiety, controlling for depressed affect. We adopted a two-stage multivariate approach. Hierarchical clustering was used to independently identify dimensions of negative affective style and resting state brain networks. Combining the clustering results, we examined individual differences in resting state connectivity uniquely associated with subdimensions of anxious affect, controlling for depressed affect. Physiological and cognitive subdimensions of anxious affect were identified. Physiological anxiety was associated with widespread alterations in insula connectivity, including decreased connectivity between insula subregions and between the insula and other medial frontal and subcortical networks. This is consistent with the insula facilitating communication between medial frontal and subcortical regions to enable control of physiological affective states. Meanwhile, increased connectivity within a frontoparietal-posterior cingulate cortex-precunous network was specifically associated with cognitive anxiety, potentially reflecting increased spontaneous negative cognition (e.g., worry). These findings suggest that physiological and cognitive anxiety comprise subdimensions of anxiety-related affect and reveal associated alterations in brain connectivity

Universality of One-Dimensional Heat Conductivity

We show analytically that the heat conductivity of oscillator chains diverges with system size N as N^{1/3}, which is the same as for one-dimensional fluids. For long cylinders, we use the hydrodynamic equations for a crystal in one dimension. This is appropriate for stiff systems such as nanotubes, where the eventual crossover to a fluid only sets in at unrealistically large N. Despite the extra equation compared to a fluid, the scaling of the heat conductivity is unchanged. For strictly one-dimensional chains, we show that the dynamic equations are those of a fluid at all length scales even if the static order extends to very large N. The discrepancy between our results and numerical simulations on Fermi-Pasta-Ulam chains is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure

The size-star formation relation of massive galaxies at 1.5<z<2.5

We study the relation between size and star formation activity in a complete sample of 225 massive (M > 5 x 10^10 Msun) galaxies at 1.5<z<2.5, selected from the FIREWORKS UV-IR catalog of the CDFS. Based on stellar population synthesis model fits to the observed restframe UV-NIR SEDs, and independent MIPS 24 micron observations, 65% of galaxies are actively forming stars, while 35% are quiescent. Using sizes derived from 2D surface brightness profile fits to high resolution (FWHM_{PSF}~0.45 arcsec) groundbased ISAAC data, we confirm and improve the significance of the relation between star formation activity and compactness found in previous studies, using a large, complete mass-limited sample. At z~2, massive quiescent galaxies are significantly smaller than massive star forming galaxies, and a median factor of 0.34+/-0.02 smaller than galaxies of similar mass in the local universe. 13% of the quiescent galaxies are unresolved in the ISAAC data, corresponding to sizes <1 kpc, more than 5 times smaller than galaxies of similar mass locally. The quiescent galaxies span a Kormendy relation which, compared to the relation for local early types, is shifted to smaller sizes and brighter surface brightnesses and is incompatible with passive evolution. The progenitors of the quiescent galaxies, were likely dominated by highly concentrated, intense nuclear star bursts at z~3-4, in contrast to star forming galaxies at z~2 which are extended and dominated by distributed star formation.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Ap