1,912 research outputs found
SKA HI end2end simulation
The current status of the HI simulation efforts is presented, in which a self
consistent simulation path is described and basic equations to calculate array
sensitivities are given. There is a summary of the SKA Design Study (SKADS) sky
simulation and a method for implementing it into the array simulator is
presented. A short overview of HI sensitivity requirements is discussed and
expected results for a simulated HI survey are presented.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figues, need skads2009.cls file to late
WHO criteria for measles elimination: A critique with reference to criteria for polio elimination
Smallpox was formally declared as eradicated in 1979. Smallpox is the only infectious disease of humans that has ever been eradicated. Poliomyelitis has been eliminated from three of the six World Health Organization (WHO) regions although not all countries within those regions always meet the elimination criteria. Elimination criteria for measles are being discussed. We use poliomyelitis and measles as examples to illustrate our assertion that the current approach to documenting measles elimination relies too heavily on criteria for surveillance quality, disadvantaging countries with long established and relatively inflexible surveillance systems. We propose an alternative approach to documenting measles elimination, with the two key criteria being molecular evidence to confirm the lack of a circulating endemic genotype for at least one year and maintenance of 95% coverage of one dose of measles-containing vaccine, with an opportunity for a second dose. Elimination status should be reviewed annually. We suggest four principles that should guide development of final criteria to document measles elimination: countries that have eliminated measles should be able to meet the elimination criteria; quality surveillance criteria are necessary but not sufficient to define elimination; quality surveillance criteria should be guided by elimination criteria, not the other way around; and elimination criteria should not differ between the WHO regions without good reason
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All-Solid-State Batteries Using Rationally Designed Garnet Electrolyte Frameworks
Functioning bulk-type all-solid-state batteries in a practical form factor with composite positive electrodes, using Al-substituted Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO) as the solid electrolyte, have been demonstrated for the first time. The devices incorporate bilayers composed of dense LLZO membranes and porous LLZO scaffolds infiltrated with LiNi0.6Mn0.2Co0.2O2 and other components as positive electrodes, combined with lithium anodes. The porous scaffolds are prepared using an easily scaled freeze-tape-casting method. The unidirectional pores of the scaffold facilitate infiltration of cathode components and shorten lithium ion diffusion path lengths, while the addition of a soft ionically conductive solid to the scaffold ensures good contact among the components
The Stripe 82 1-2 GHz Very Large Array Snapshot Survey: Multiwavelength Counterparts
We have combined spectrosopic and photometric data from the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey (SDSS) with GHz radio observations, conducted as part of the
Stripe 82 GHz Snapshot Survey using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array
(VLA), which covers sq degrees, to a flux limit of 88 Jy rms.
Cross-matching the radio source components with optical data via
visual inspection results in a final sample of cross-matched objects,
of which have spectroscopic redshifts and objects have
photometric redshifts. Three previously undiscovered Giant Radio Galaxies
(GRGs) were found during the cross-matching process, which would have been
missed using automated techniques. For the objects with spectroscopy we
separate radio-loud Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and star-forming galaxies
(SFGs) using three diagnostics and then further divide our radio-loud AGN into
the HERG and LERG populations. A control matched sample of HERGs and LERGs,
matched on stellar mass, redshift and radio luminosity, reveals that the host
galaxies of LERGs are redder and more concentrated than HERGs. By combining
with near-infrared data, we demonstrate that LERGs also follow a tight
relationship. These results imply the LERG population are hosted by population
of massive, passively evolving early-type galaxies. We go on to show that
HERGs, LERGs, QSOs and star-forming galaxies in our sample all reside in
different regions of a WISE colour-colour diagram. This cross-matched sample
bridges the gap between previous `wide but shallow' and `deep but narrow'
samples and will be useful for a number of future investigations.Comment: 17 pages, 19 figures. Resubmitted to MNRAS after the initial comment
Goonhilly: a new site for e-MERLIN and the EVN
The benefits for the e-MERLIN and EVN arrays of using antennae at the
satellite communication station at Goonhilly in Cornwall are discussed. The
location of this site - new to astronomy - will provide an almost equal
distribution of long baselines in the east-west- and north-south directions,
and opens up the possibility to get significantly improved observations of
equatorial fields with e-MERLIN. These additional baselines will improve the
sensitivity on a set of critical spatial scales and will increase the angular
resolution of e-MERLIN by a factor of two. e-MERLIN observations, including
many allocated under the e-MERLIN Legacy programme, will benefit from the
enhanced angular resolution and imaging capability especially for sources close
to or below the celestial equator (where ESO facilities such as ALMA will
operate) of including the Goonhilly telescopes. Furthermore, the baselines
formed between Goonhilly and the existing stations will close the gap between
the baselines of e-MERLIN and those of the European VLBI Network (EVN) and
therefore enhance the legacy value of e-MERLIN datasets.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figue
Expanding e-MERLIN with the Goonhilly Earth Station
A consortium of universities has recently been formed with the goal of using
the decommissioned telecommunications infrastructure at the Goonhilly Earth
Station in Cornwall, UK, for astronomical purposes. One particular goal is the
introduction of one or more of the ~30-metre parabolic antennas into the
existing e-MERLIN radio interferometer. This article introduces this scheme and
presents some simulations which quantify the improvements that would be brought
to the e-MERLIN system. These include an approximate doubling of the spatial
resolution of the array, an increase in its N-S extent with strong implications
for imaging the most well-studied equatorial fields, accessible to ESO
facilities including ALMA. It also increases the overlap between the e-MERLIN
array and the European VLBI Network. We also discuss briefly some niche science
areas in which an e-MERLIN array which included a receptor at Goonhilly would
be potentially world-leading, in addition to enhancing the existing potential
of e-MERLIN in its role as a Square Kilometer Array pathfinder instrument.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the proceedings of "Astronomy with
megastructures: Joint science with the E-ELT and SKA", 10-14 May 2010, Crete,
Greece (Eds: Isobel Hook, Dimitra Rigopoulou, Steve Rawlings and Aris
Karastergiou
A close-pair binary in a distant triple supermassive black-hole system
Galaxies are believed to evolve through merging, which should lead to
multiple supermassive black holes in some. There are four known triple black
hole systems, with the closest pair being 2.4 kiloparsecs apart (the third
component is more distant at 3 kiloparsecs), which is far from the
gravitational sphere of influence of a black hole with mass 10
M (about 100 parsecs). Previous searches for compact black hole systems
concluded that they were rare, with the tightest binary system having a
separation of 7 parsecs. Here we report observations of a triple black hole
system at redshift z=0.39, with the closest pair separated by 140
parsecs. The presence of the tight pair is imprinted onto the properties of the
large-scale radio jets, as a rotationally-symmetric helical modulation, which
provides a useful way to search for other tight pairs without needing extremely
high resolution observations. As we found this tight pair after searching only
six galaxies, we conclude that tight pairs are more common than hitherto
believed, which is an important observational constraint for low-frequency
gravitational wave experiments.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures. Published online by Nature on 25 June 2014.
Extremely minor differences with published version exis
Existential Contextuality and the Models of Meyer, Kent and Clifton
It is shown that the models recently proposed by Meyer, Kent and Clifton
(MKC) exhibit a novel kind of contextuality, which we term existential
contextuality. In this phenomenon it is not simply the pre-existing value but
the actual existence of an observable which is context dependent. This result
confirms the point made elsewhere, that the MKC models do not, as the authors
claim, ``nullify'' the Kochen-Specker theorem. It may also be of some
independent interest.Comment: Revtex, 7 pages, 1 figure. Replaced with published versio
The preferentially magnified active nucleus in IRAS F10214+4724 - III. VLBI observations of the radio core
We report 1.7GHz very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations of IRAS F10214+4724, a lensed z = 2.3 obscured quasar with prodigious star formation. We detect what we argue to be the obscured active nucleus with an effective angular resolution of 1dex) and therefore distort our view of high-redshift, gravitationally lensed galaxies.Department of HE and Training approved lis
Preliminary data on microcharacters and chromosome number in Tornabenea species (Apiaceae) from Cape Verde islands
Tornabenea is a small Apiaceae genus that is endemic to the Cape Verde Islands. Its species differentiation is based just on a
few macromorphological characters: leaf shape, number and shape of umbel bracts and mericarp ribs. These characters vary
within each species and show high plasticity. Thus, in recent taxonomic data of the genus, there are different viewpoints as to
the number of species. Here, in order to improve the taxonomy of the genus, microcharacters of the vegetative and
reproductive structures of three taxa—T. insularis, T. annua and T. tenuissima—have been examined. The shape and
arrangement of hairs on the surface of the mericarps, and the presence and structure of starch grains are the only different
microcharacters noted in T. insularis and T. annua. Chromosome number of the latter two species is 2n¼18. Our
preliminary results disagree with the existing classifications of the genus Tornabenea. In fact, they do not lead to a clear
separation between T. insularis and T. annua. By contrast, it is easy to distinguish between these species and T. tenuissima,
which possesses more peculiar microcharacter
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