5,489 research outputs found
Spectroscopy of blue horizontal branch stars in NGC 6656 (M22)
Recent investigations revealed very peculiar properties of blue horizontal
branch (HB) stars in \omega Centauri, which show anomalously low surface
gravity and mass compared to other clusters and to theoretical models. \omega
Centauri, however, is a very unusual object, hosting a complex mix of multiple
stellar populations with different metallicity and chemical abundances. We
measured the fundamental parameters (temperature, gravity, and surface helium
abundance) of a sample of 71 blue HB stars in M22, with the aim of clarifying
if the peculiar results found in \omega Cen are unique to this cluster. M22
also hosts multiple sub-populations of stars with a spread in metallicity,
analogous to \omega Cen. The stellar parameters were measured on low-resolution
spectra fitting the Balmer and helium lines with a grid of synthetic spectra.
From these parameters, the mass and reddening were estimated. Our results on
the gravities and masses agree well with theoretical expectations, matching the
previous measurements in three "normal" clusters. The anomalies found in \omega
Cen are not observed among our stars. A mild mass underestimate is found for
stars hotter than 14\,000 K, but an exact analogy with \omega Cen cannot be
drawn. We measured the reddening in the direction of M22 with two independent
methods, finding E(B-V)=0.35 \pm 0.02 mag, with semi-amplitude of the maximum
variation \Delta(E(B-V))=0.06 mag, and an rms intrinsic dispersion of
\sigma(E(B-V))=0.03 mag.Comment: 11 pages, 9 Postscript figure
Temporal Oscillation of Conductances in Quantum Hall Effect of Bloch Electrons
We study a nonadiabatic effect on the conductances in the quantum Hall effect
of two-dimensional electrons with a periodic potential. We found that the Hall
and longitudinal conductances oscillate in time with a very large frequencies
due to quantum fluctuation.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Influence of firing mechanisms on gain modulation
We studied the impact of a dynamical threshold on the f-I curve-the
relationship between the input and the firing rate of a neuron-in the presence
of background synaptic inputs. First, we found that, while the leaky
integrate-and-fire model cannot reproduce the f-I curve of a cortical neuron,
the leaky integrate-and-fire model with dynamical threshold can reproduce it
very well. Second, we found that the dynamical threshold modulates the onset
and the asymptotic behavior of the f-I curve. These results suggest that a
cortical neuron has an adaptation mechanism and that the dynamical threshold
has some significance for the computational properties of a neuron.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, conference proceeding
A hot horizontal branch star with a close K-type main-sequence companion
Dynamical interactions in binary systems are thought to play a major role in
the formation of extreme horizontal branch stars (EHBs) in the Galactic field.
However, it is still unclear if the same mechanisms are at work in globular
clusters, where EHBs are predominantly single stars. Here we report on the
discovery of a unique close binary system (period ~1.61 days) in the globular
cluster NGC6752, comprising an EHB and a main-sequence companion of 0.63+-0.05
Msun. Such a system has no counterpart among nearly two hundred known EHB
binaries in the Galactic field. Its discovery suggests that either field
studies are incomplete, missing this type of systems possibly because of
selection effects, or that a particular EHB formation mechanism is active in
clusters but not in the field
Ca II Triplet Spectroscopy of Small Magellanic Cloud Red Giants. III. Abundances and Velocities for a Sample of 14 Clusters
We obtained spectra of red giants in 15 Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) clusters
in the region of the CaII lines with FORS2 on the Very Large Telescope (VLT).
We determined the mean metallicity and radial velocity with mean errors of 0.05
dex and 2.6 km/s, respectively, from a mean of 6.5 members per cluster. One
cluster (B113) was too young for a reliable metallicity determination and was
excluded from the sample. We combined the sample studied here with 15 clusters
previously studied by us using the same technique, and with 7 clusters whose
metallicities determined by other authors are on a scale similar to ours. This
compilation of 36 clusters is the largest SMC cluster sample currently
available with accurate and homogeneously determined metallicities. We found a
high probability that the metallicity distribution is bimodal, with potential
peaks at -1.1 and -0.8 dex. Our data show no strong evidence of a metallicity
gradient in the SMC clusters, somewhat at odds with recent evidence from CaT
spectra of a large sample of field stars Dobbie et al. (2014). This may be
revealing possible differences in the chemical history of clusters and field
stars. Our clusters show a significant dispersion of metallicities, whatever
age is considered, which could be reflecting the lack of a unique AMR in this
galaxy. None of the chemical evolution models currently available in the
literature satisfactorily represents the global chemical enrichment processes
of SMC clusters.Comment: 49 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication in A
Detailed abundances in stars belonging to ultra-faint dwarf spheroidal galaxies
We report preliminary results concerning the detailed chemical composition of
metal poor stars belonging to close ultra-faint dwarf galaxies (hereafter
UfDSphs). The abundances have been determined thanks to spectra obtained with
X-Shooter, a high efficiency spectrograph installed on one of the ESO VLT
units. The sample of ultra-faint dwarf spheroidal stars have abundance ratios
slightly lower to what is measured in field halo star of the same
metallicity.We did not find extreme abundances in our Hercules stars as the one
found by Koch for his 2 Hercules stars. The synthesis of the neutron capture
elements Ba and Sr seems to originate from the same nucleosynthetic process in
operation during the early stages of the galactic evolution.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure; OMEG11 conference (Tokyo, Nov 2011
Holistic Interventions to address pain, anxiety, and distressing behaviours in long-term care residents
Context: Residents experiencing pain, anxiety, and distressing behaviours, often in conjunction with mental health diagnoses and dementia, can be challenging for staff in long-term care facilities and may result in jeopardising resident and staff safety, quality of life, staff delivery of care, and overuse of psychotropic medications. Objective: Describe the effects of three holistic interventions (hand portion of the ‘M’ Technique®, aromatherapy, and energy healing) to reduce pain, anxiety, and distressing behaviours in long-term care residents. Method: Pragmatic secondary analysis of pre- and post-intervention quantitative and qualitative data. Findings: Staff administered a total of 363 individual sessions using the ‘M’ Technique® for hands, aromatherapy, and/or energy healing to 75 residents who were able to indicate their pain and/or anxiety levels before and after a session. Results indicate significant differences in decreased pain by session, decreased anxiety by session, decreased pain by person, and decreased anxiety by person. Qualitative results, primarily gathered from an additional 1,024 sessions in which residents were unable to use pain and anxiety scales, indicate a decrease in distressing behaviours and overall improvement of milieu. Limitations: We collected data as part of a quality improvement programme without the intent of being published as a research study. It is difficult to assess the reliability and validity of self-reported quantitative pain and anxiety scales for people with dementia. Implications: Holistic interventions, including the ‘M’ Technique for hands, aromatherapy, and/or energy healing, show promise in reducing pain, anxiety, and distressing behaviours in residents of long-term care facilities, along with improvements in the facilities’ environment
Age Determination of Fifteen Old to Intermediate-Age Small Magellanic Cloud Star Clusters
We present CMDs in the V and I bands for fifteen star clusters in the Small
Magellanic Cloud (SMC) based on data taken with the Very Large Telescope (VLT,
Chile). We selected these clusters from our previous work, wherein we derived
cluster radial velocities and metallicities from Calcium II infrared triplet
(CaT) spectra also taken with the VLT. We discovered that the ages of six of
our clusters have been appreciably underestimated by previous studies, which
used comparatively small telescopes, graphically illustrating the need for
large apertures to obtain reliable ages of old and intermediate-age SMC star
clusters. In particular, three of these clusters, L4, L6 and L110, turn out to
be amongst the oldest SMC clusters known, with ages of 7.9 +- 1.1, 8.7 +- 1.2
and 7.6 +- 1.0 Gyr, respectively, helping to fill a possible "SMC cluster age
gap" (Glatt et al. 2008). Using the present ages and metallicities from Parisi
et al. (2009), we analyze the age distribution, age gradient and age
metallicity relation (AMR) of a sample of SMC clusters measured homogeneously.
There is a suggestion of bimodality in the age distribution but it does not
show a constant slope for the first 4 Gyr (Piatti 2011), and we find no
evidence for an age gradient. Due to the improved ages of our cluster sample,
we find that our AMR is now better represented in the intermediate/old period
than that we derived in Parisi et al. (2009), where we simply took ages
available in the literature. Additionally, clusters younger than aprox. 4 Gyr
now show better agreement with the bursting model, but we confirm that this
model is not a good representation of the AMR during the intermediate-age/old
period. A more complicated model is needed to explain the SMC chemical
evolution in that period.Comment: 76 pages, 32 figures. Accepted for publication in A
Transient Oscillation of Currents in Quantum Hall Effect of Bloch Electrons
We consider the quantum Hall effect of two-dimensional electrons with a
periodic potential and study the time dependence of the Hall and longitudinal
currents when the electric field is applied abruptly. We find that the currents
oscillate in time with very large frequencies because of quantum fluctuation
and the oscillations eventually vanish, for their amplitudes decay as 1/t.Comment: 16 pages and 8 figure
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