Arrival directions of cosmic rays of E .4 EeV

The anisotropy of cosmic rays observed by the Utah Fly's Eye detector has been studied. Emphasis has been placed on examining distributions of events in galactic coordinates. No statistically significant departure from isotropy has been observed for energies greater than 0.4 EeV (1 EeV = 10 to the 18th power eV). Results of the standard harmonic analysis in right ascension are also presented

Long-term stability of TES satellite radiance measurements

The utilization of Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) Level 2 (L2) retrieval products for the purpose of assessing long term changes in atmospheric trace gas composition requires knowledge of the overall radiometric stability of the Level 1B (L1B) radiances. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the stability of the radiometric calibration of the TES instrument by analyzing the difference between measured and calculated brightness temperatures in selected window regions of the spectrum. The Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) profiles for temperature and water vapor and the Real-Time Global Sea Surface Temperature (RTGSST) are used as input to the Optimal Spectral Sampling (OSS) radiative transfer model to calculate the simulated spectra. The TES reference measurements selected cover a 4-year period of time from mid 2005 through mid 2009 with the selection criteria being; observation latitudes greater than −30° and less than 30°, over ocean, Global Survey mode (nadir view) and retrieved cloud optical depth of less than or equal to 0.01. The TES cloud optical depth retrievals are used only for screening purposes and no effects of clouds on the radiances are included in the forward model. This initial screening results in over 55 000 potential reference spectra spanning the four year period. Presented is a trend analysis of the time series of the residuals (observation minus calculations) in the TES 2B1, 1B2, 2A1, and 1A1 bands, with the standard deviation of the residuals being approximately equal to 0.6 K for bands 2B1, 1B2, 2A1, and 0.9 K for band 1A1. The analysis demonstrates that the trend in the residuals is not significantly different from zero over the 4-year period. This is one method used to demonstrate that the relative radiometric calibration is stable over time, which is very important for any longer term analysis of TES retrieved products (L2), particularly well-mixed species such as carbon dioxide and methane

Piezoelectricity: Quantized Charge Transport Driven by Adiabatic Deformations

We study the (zero temperature) quantum piezoelectric response of Harper-like models with broken inversion symmetry. The charge transport in these models is related to topological invariants (Chern numbers). We show that there are arbitrarily small periodic modulations of the atomic positions that lead to nonzero charge transport for the electrons.Comment: Latex, letter. Replaced version with minor change in style. 1 fi

Review of high-contrast imaging systems for current and future ground- and space-based telescopes I. Coronagraph design methods and optical performance metrics

The Optimal Optical Coronagraph (OOC) Workshop at the Lorentz Center in September 2017 in Leiden, the Netherlands gathered a diverse group of 25 researchers working on exoplanet instrumentation to stimulate the emergence and sharing of new ideas. In this first installment of a series of three papers summarizing the outcomes of the OOC workshop, we present an overview of design methods and optical performance metrics developed for coronagraph instruments. The design and optimization of coronagraphs for future telescopes has progressed rapidly over the past several years in the context of space mission studies for Exo-C, WFIRST, HabEx, and LUVOIR as well as ground-based telescopes. Design tools have been developed at several institutions to optimize a variety of coronagraph mask types. We aim to give a broad overview of the approaches used, examples of their utility, and provide the optimization tools to the community. Though it is clear that the basic function of coronagraphs is to suppress starlight while maintaining light from off-axis sources, our community lacks a general set of standard performance metrics that apply to both detecting and characterizing exoplanets. The attendees of the OOC workshop agreed that it would benefit our community to clearly define quantities for comparing the performance of coronagraph designs and systems. Therefore, we also present a set of metrics that may be applied to theoretical designs, testbeds, and deployed instruments. We show how these quantities may be used to easily relate the basic properties of the optical instrument to the detection significance of the given point source in the presence of realistic noise.Comment: To appear in Proceedings of the SPIE, vol. 1069

Small Open Chemical Systems Theory and Its Implications to Darwinian Evolutionary Dynamics, Complex Self-Organization and Beyond

The study of biological cells in terms of mesoscopic, nonequilibrium, nonlinear, stochastic dynamics of open chemical systems provides a paradigm for other complex, self-organizing systems with ultra-fast stochastic fluctuations, short-time deterministic nonlinear dynamics, and long-time evolutionary behavior with exponentially distributed rare events, discrete jumps among punctuated equilibria, and catastrophe.Comment: 15 page

Search for Anisotropy of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays with the Telescope Array Experiment

We study the anisotropy of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray (UHECR) events collected by the Telescope Array (TA) detector in the first 40 months of operation. Following earlier studies, we examine event sets with energy thresholds of 10 EeV, 40 EeV, and 57 EeV. We find that the distributions of the events in right ascension and declination are compatible with an isotropic distribution in all three sets. We then compare with previously reported clustering of the UHECR events at small angular scales. No significant clustering is found in the TA data. We then check the events with E>57 EeV for correlations with nearby active galactic nuclei. No significant correlation is found. Finally, we examine all three sets for correlations with the large-scale structure of the Universe. We find that the two higher-energy sets are compatible with both an isotropic distribution and the hypothesis that UHECR sources follow the matter distribution of the Universe (the LSS hypothesis), while the event set with E>10 EeV is compatible with isotropy and is not compatible with the LSS hypothesis at 95% CL unless large deflection angles are also assumed. We show that accounting for UHECR deflections in a realistic model of the Galactic magnetic field can make this set compatible with the LSS hypothesis.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure

Rapid Responders to Frovatriptan in Acute Migraine Treatment: Results from a Long-Term, Open-Label Study

Background. the Chronic Nature of Migraine and the Reliance on Acute Treatment Constitute the Basis of the Present Long-Term, Open-Label Study. Objectives. First, Assessment of the Tolerability and Safety of Frovatriptan, 2.5-7.5 Mg Taken Orally over 24 Hours, for the Acute Treatment of Migraine, Repeatedly over a 12-Month Period. Second, Assessment of the Efficacy and Tolerability of a Second, Double-Blind Dose of 2.5-Mg Frovatriptan, Compared with Placebo, for Nonresponse at 2 Hours after Treatment of Moderate or Severe Headache with 2.5-Mg Frovatriptan. Results. with Regard to the First Attack Treated, 173 (36%) of the 486 Subjects in the Study Did Not Take a Second Dose at 2 Hours for Nonresponse. at 2 Hours and 4 Hours, These Rapid Responders Experienced a Decrease in Headache Intensity from Moderate or Severe to Mild or No Pain in 84% and 98%, Respectively ( Headache Response ). Six Percent of Them Experienced Recurrence of Moderate or Severe Headache within 24 Hours Following a Response at 4 Hours and 12% Took Rescue Medication. the Response, Measured in Terms of Median Time to Complete Migraine Relief, Was Maintained over 30 Subsequent Migraine Attacks, Treated from Attack 2 Onwards over the Course of 12 Months. Conclusion. Frovatriptan Provides a Remarkably Fast and High Headache Response in a Subgroup of More Than One-Third of Migraineurs, with a Very Low 24-Hour Headache Recurrence and Low Rescue Medication Intake. © 2009 American Academy of Pain Medicine

Resection of the liver for colorectal carcinoma metastases - A multi-institutional study of long-term survivors

In this review of a collected series of patients undergoing hepatic resection for colorectal metastases, 100 patients were found to have survived greater than five years from the time of resection. Of these 100 long-term survivors, 71 remain disease-free through the last follow-up, 19 recurred prior to five years, and ten recurred after five years. Patient characteristics that may have contributed to survival were examined. Procedures performed included five trisegmentectomies, 32 lobectomies, 16 left lateral segmentectomies, and 45 wedge resections. The margin of resection was recorded in 27 patients, one of whom had a positive margin, nine of whom had a less than or equal to 1-cm margin, and 17 of whom had a greater than 1-cm margin. Eighty-one patients had a solitary metastasis to the liver, 11 patients had two metastases, one patient had three metastases, and four patients had four metastases. Thirty patients had Stage C primary carcinoma, 40 had Stage B primary carcinoma, and one had Stage A primarycarcinoma. The disease-free interval from the time of colon resection to the time of liver resection was less than one year in 65 patients, and greater than one year in 34 patients. Three patients had bilobar metastases. Four of the patients had extrahepatic disease resected simultaneously with the liver resection. Though several contraindications to hepatic resection have been proposed in the past, five-year survival has been found in patients with extrahepatic disease resected simultaneously, patients with bilobar metastases, patients with multiple metastases, and patients with positive margins. Five-year disease-free survivors are also present in each of these subsets. It is concluded that five-year survival is possible in the presence of reported contraindications to resection, and therefore that the decision to resect the liver must be individualized. © 1988 American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons

Estimate low- and high-order wavefront using P1640 calibrator measurements

P1640 high contrast imaging system on the Palomar 200 inch Telescope consists of an apodized-pupil Lyot coronagraph, the PALM-3000 adaptive optics (P3K-AO), and P1640 Calibrator (CAL). Science images are recorded by an integral field spectrograph covering J-H bands for detecting and characterizing stellar companions. With aberrations from atmosphere corrected by the P3K-AO, instrument performance is limited mainly by the quasi-static speckles due to noncommon path wavefront aberrations for the light to propagate to the P3K-AO wavefront sensor and to the coronagraph mask. The non-common path wavefront aberrations are sensed by CAL, which measures the post-coronagraph E-field using interferometry, and can be effectively corrected by offsetting the P3K-AO deformable mirror target position accordingly. Previously, we have demonstrated using CAL measurements to correct high order wavefront aberrations, which is directly connected to the static speckles in the image plane. Low order wavefront, on the other hand, usually of larger amplitudes, causes light to leak through the coronagraph making the whole image plane brighter. Knowledge error in low order wavefront aberrations can also affect the estimation of the high order wavefront. Even though, CAL is designed to sense efficiently high order wavefront aberrations, the low order wavefront front can be inferred with less sensitivity. Here, we describe our method for estimating both low and high order wavefront aberrations using CAL measurements by propagating the post-coronagraph E-field to a pupil before the coronagraph. We present the results from applying this method to both simulated and experiment data