76 research outputs found
Astronomical Data Management
We present a summary of the major contributions to the Special Session on
Data Management held at the IAU General Assembly in Prague in 2006. While
recent years have seen enormous improvements in access to astronomical data,
and the Virtual Observatory aims to provide astronomers with seamless access to
on-line resources, more attention needs to be paid to ensuring the quality and
completeness of those resources. For example, data produced by telescopes are
not always made available to the astronomical community, and new instruments
are sometimes designed and built with insufficient planning for data
management, while older but valuable legacy data often remain undigitised. Data
and results published in journals do not always appear in the data centres, and
astronomers in developing countries sometimes have inadequate access to on-line
resources. To address these issues, an 'Astronomers Data Manifesto' has been
formulated with the aim of initiating a discussion that will lead to the
development of a 'code of best practice' in astronomical data management.Comment: Proceedings of Special Session SPS6 (Astronomical Data Management) at
the IAU GA 2006. To appear in Highlights of Astronomy, Volume 14, ed. K.A.
van der Huch
Proliferative Tumor Doubling Times of Prostatic Carcinoma
Prostate cancer (PCa) has a variable biology ranging from latent cancer to extremely aggressive tumors. Proliferative activities of cancers may indicate their biological potential. A flow cytometric assay to calculate maximum proliferative doubling times (Tmax) of PCa in radical prostatectomy specimens after preoperative in vivo bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) infusion is presented. Only 4/17 specimens had tumors large enough for flow cytometric analysis. The
Tmax
of tumors was similar and ranged from 0.6 to 3.6 months. Tumors had calculated doubling times 2- to 25-fold faster than their matched normal tissue. Variations in labeling index and
Tmax
were observed within a tumor as well as between different Gleason grades. The observed PSA doubling times (PSA-DT) ranged from 18.4 to 32.0 months, considerably slower than the corresponding
Tmax
of tumors involved. While lack of data for apoptotic rates is a limitation, apparent biological differences between latent versus aggressive PCa may be attributable to variations in apoptotic rates of these tumors rather than their cell proliferative rates
Very Small Array observations of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect in nearby galaxy clusters
We present VSA observations (~34GHz) on scales ~20 arcmin towards a complete,
X-ray-flux-limited sample of seven clusters at redshift z<0.1. Four have
significant SZ detections in the presence of CMB primordial anisotropy. We use
a bayesian MCMC method for inference from the VSA data, with X-ray priors on
cluster positions and temperatures, and radio priors on sources. We make
assumptions of beta-model gas distributions and of hydrostatic equilibrium, to
evaluate probability densities for the gas mass and total mass out to r_200.
Our combined estimate of the gas fraction is 0.08^{+0.06}_{-0.04}h^{-1} The
random errors are poor (note that the errors are higher than would have been
obtained with the usual chi-squared method) but the control of bias is good. We
have described the MCMC analysis method specifically in terms of SZ but hope
the description will be of more general use. We find that the effects of
primordial CMB contamination tend to be similar in the estimates of both the
gas mass and total mass over our narrow range of angular scales, so that there
is little effect of primordials on the gas fraction determination. Using our
total mass estimates we find a normalisation of the mass-temperature relation
based on the profiles from the VSA cluster pressure maps that is in good
agreement with recent M-T determinations from X-ray cluster measurements.Comment: Replaces earlier version. 16 pages, 5 figures, LaTeX. Minor revisions
to content, accepted by MNRAS for publicatio
Searching for non-Gaussianity in the VSA data
We have tested Very Small Array (VSA) observations of three regions of sky
for the presence of non-Gaussianity, using high-order cumulants, Minkowski
functionals, a wavelet-based test and a Bayesian joint power
spectrum/non-Gaussianity analysis. We find the data from two regions to be
consistent with Gaussianity. In the third region, we obtain a 96.7% detection
of non-Gaussianity using the wavelet test. We perform simulations to
characterise the tests, and conclude that this is consistent with expected
residual point source contamination. There is therefore no evidence that this
detection is of cosmological origin. Our simulations show that the tests would
be sensitive to any residual point sources above the data's source subtraction
level of 20 mJy. The tests are also sensitive to cosmic string networks at an
rms fluctuation level of (i.e. equivalent to the best-fit observed
value). They are not sensitive to string-induced fluctuations if an equal rms
of Gaussian CDM fluctuations is added, thereby reducing the fluctuations due to
the strings network to rms . We especially highlight the usefulness
of non-Gaussianity testing in eliminating systematic effects from our data.Comment: Minor corrections; accepted for publication to MNRA
Estimating the bispectrum of the Very Small Array data
We estimate the bispectrum of the Very Small Array data from the compact and
extended configuration observations released in December 2002, and compare our
results to those obtained from Gaussian simulations. There is a slight excess
of large bispectrum values for two individual fields, but this does not appear
when the fields are combined. Given our expected level of residual point
sources, we do not expect these to be the source of the discrepancy. Using the
compact configuration data, we put an upper limit of 5400 on the value of f_NL,
the non-linear coupling parameter, at 95 per cent confidence. We test our
bispectrum estimator using non-Gaussian simulations with a known bispectrum,
and recover the input values.Comment: 17 pages, 16 figures, replaced with version accepted by MNRAS.
Primordial bispectrum recalculated and figure 11 change
CMB observations from the CBI and VSA: A comparison of coincident maps and parameter estimation methods
We present coincident observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)
from the Very Small Array (VSA) and Cosmic Background Imager (CBI) telescopes.
The consistency of the full datasets is tested in the map plane and the Fourier
plane, prior to the usual compression of CMB data into flat bandpowers. Of the
three mosaics observed by each group, two are found to be in excellent
agreement. In the third mosaic, there is a 2 sigma discrepancy between the
correlation of the data and the level expected from Monte Carlo simulations.
This is shown to be consistent with increased phase calibration errors on VSA
data during summer observations. We also consider the parameter estimation
method of each group. The key difference is the use of the variance window
function in place of the bandpower window function, an approximation used by
the VSA group. A re-evaluation of the VSA parameter estimates, using bandpower
windows, shows that the two methods yield consistent results.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. Final version. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Cosmological parameter estimation using Very Small Array data out to l=1500
We estimate cosmological parameters using data obtained by the Very Small
Array (VSA) in its extended configuration, in conjunction with a variety of
other CMB data and external priors. Within the flat CDM model, we find
that the inclusion of high resolution data from the VSA modifies the limits on
the cosmological parameters as compared to those suggested by WMAP alone, while
still remaining compatible with their estimates. We find that , , , , and
for WMAP and VSA when no external prior is
included.On extending the model to include a running spectral index of density
fluctuations, we find that the inclusion of VSA data leads to a negative
running at a level of more than 95% confidence (),
something which is not significantly changed by the inclusion of a stringent
prior on the Hubble constant. Inclusion of prior information from the 2dF
galaxy redshift survey reduces the significance of the result by constraining
the value of . We discuss the veracity of this result in the
context of various systematic effects and also a broken spectral index model.
We also constrain the fraction of neutrinos and find that at
95% confidence which corresponds to when all neutrino
masses are the equal. Finally, we consider the global best fit within a general
cosmological model with 12 parameters and find consistency with other analyses
available in the literature. The evidence for is only marginal
within this model
High sensitivity measurements of the CMB power spectrum with the extended Very Small Array
We present deep Ka-band ( GHz) observations of the CMB made
with the extended Very Small Array (VSA). This configuration produces a
naturally weighted synthesized FWHM beamwidth of arcmin which covers
an -range of 300 to 1500. On these scales, foreground extragalactic
sources can be a major source of contamination to the CMB anisotropy. This
problem has been alleviated by identifying sources at 15 GHz with the Ryle
Telescope and then monitoring these sources at 33 GHz using a single baseline
interferometer co-located with the VSA. Sources with flux densities \gtsim 20
mJy at 33 GHz are subtracted from the data. In addition, we calculate a
statistical correction for the small residual contribution from weaker sources
that are below the detection limit of the survey.
The CMB power spectrum corrected for Galactic foregrounds and extragalactic
point sources is presented. A total -range of 150-1500 is achieved by
combining the complete extended array data with earlier VSA data in a compact
configuration. Our resolution of allows the first 3
acoustic peaks to be clearly delineated. The is achieved by using mosaiced
observations in 7 regions covering a total area of 82 sq. degrees. There is
good agreement with WMAP data up to where WMAP data run out of
resolution. For higher -values out to , the agreement in
power spectrum amplitudes with other experiments is also very good despite
differences in frequency and observing technique.Comment: 16 pages. Accepted in MNRAS (minor revisions
Morbidade do sarampo no período de 2010-2020 no estado de São Paulo: relação entre a baixa cobertura vacinal e reemergência / Measles morbidity in the period 2010-2020 in the state of São Paulo: relationship between low vaccination coverage and reemergence
O presente estudo terá por objetivo principal analisar a cobertura vacinal do Estado de São Paulo, ressaltando a participação da Macrorregião de Piracicaba (RRAS 14) e do município de Araras, sede da Faculdade São Leopoldo Mandic, onde os estudantes de medicina da instituição atuam mais ativamente. Ademais, tem por objetivo específico relacionar a baixa cobertura vacinal do Sarampo com a reemergência da doença, além de destacar o seu alto grau de contagiosidade. Para isso, serão utilizados dados do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE), dados do Sistema de Informação do Programa Nacional de Imunização (SI-PNI) contidos no Departamento de Informática do Sistema Único de Saúde (DATASUS) dentre o período de 2010 a 2020 e também dados do Sistema de Informação da Atenção Básica (SI-ABS) contidos no DATASUS. Essas bases de dados serão utilizadas para a análise das seguintes variáveis: morbidade em relação ao sarampo e a sua relação com a cobertura vacinal, também serão avaliadas nas variáveis, ano, localidade e escolaridade. Será construído então um estudo descritivo de abordagem quantitativa, utilizando dados secundários. Procurar-se-á destacar como o movimento antivacinas tem impactado na cobertura vacinal negativamente, assim como destacar suas possíveis origens históricas e repercussão. Será analisada também como se encontra a situação vacinal no Estado de São Paulo, na Macrorregião de Piracicaba (RRAS 14) e no município de Araras, assim como qual seria o panorama desejado e os desafios para alcançá-lo. Além, claro, de propor medidas para que essa meta se realize, destacando o papel de cada setor nesse processo, incluindo dos estudantes de medicina
The CMB power spectrum out to l=1400 measured by the VSA
We have observed the cosmic microwave background (CMB) in three regions of
sky using the Very Small Array (VSA) in an extended configuration with antennas
of beamwidth 2 degrees at 34 GHz. Combined with data from previous VSA
observations using a more compact array with larger beamwidth, we measure the
power spectrum of the primordial CMB anisotropies between angular multipoles l
= 160 - 1400. Such measurements at high l are vital for breaking degeneracies
in parameter estimation from the CMB power spectrum and other cosmological
data. The power spectrum clearly resolves the first three acoustic peaks, shows
the expected fall off in power at high l and starts to constrain the position
and height of a fourth peak.Comment: 6 pages with 5 figures, MNRAS in press (minor corrections
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