1,836 research outputs found
Variability in X-ray line ratios in helium-like ions of massive stars: the radiation-driven case
Line ratios in "fir" triplets of helium-like ions have proven to be a
powerful diagnostic of conditions in X-ray emitting gas surrounding massive
stars. Recent observations indicate that these ratios can be variable with
time.
The possible causes of variation in line ratios are limited: changes in the
radiation field or changes in density, and changes in mass-loss or geometry. In
this paper, we investigate the ability of changes in the radiation field to
induce variability in the ratio R=f/i.
To isolate the radiative effect, we use a heuristic model of temperature and
radius changes in variable stars in the B and O range with low-density,
steady-state winds. We model the changes in emissivity of X-ray emitting gas
close to the star due to differences in level-pumping from available UV photons
at the location of the gas.
We find that under these conditions, variability in R is dominated by the
stellar temperature. Although the relative amplitude of variability is roughly
comparable for most lines at most temperatures, detectable variations are
limited to a few lines for each spectral type. We predict that variable values
in R due to stellar variability must follow predictable trends found in our
simulations.
Our model uses radial pulsations as a mode of stellar variability that
maximizes the amplitude of variation in R. This model is robust enough to show
which ions will provide the best opportunity for observing variability in the
f/i ratio at different stellar temperatures, and the correlation of that
variability with other observable parameters. In real systems, the effects
would be more complex than in our model, with differences in phase and
suppressed amplitude in the presence of non-radial pulsations. This suggests
that changes in R across many lines concurrently are not likely to be produced
by a variable radiation field.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure
Commuting in small towns in rural areas: the case of St Andrews.
Since many rural commuters depend on the private car due to lack of convenient public transport, car reduction policies designed for large cities with ample public transport may be unsuitable for smaller towns. In particular, pricing policies designed to encourage public transport use may be less effective, as commuters with no convenient substitute to driving will be unable to switch. This paper develops multinomial and mixed logit models of commuters’ mode choice using data from a survey of commuters in the University of St Andrews. We find that the direct elasticities of the car mode are comparable to estimates reported in studies of commuting in larger urban areas, while the demand for public transport is considerably more elastic. The value of in-vehicle time is found to be about half of the UK average, reflecting that the roads in the St Andrews area are relatively uncongested.Mode choice, Rural commuting, Discrete choice models
Nonaxisymmetric, multi-region relaxed magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium solutions
We describe a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) constrained energy functional for
equilibrium calculations that combines the topological constraints of ideal MHD
with elements of Taylor relaxation.
Extremizing states allow for partially chaotic magnetic fields and
non-trivial pressure profiles supported by a discrete set of ideal interfaces
with irrational rotational transforms.
Numerical solutions are computed using the Stepped Pressure Equilibrium Code,
SPEC, and benchmarks and convergence calculations are presented.Comment: Submitted to Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion for publication
with a cluster of papers associated with workshop: Stability and Nonlinear
Dynamics of Plasmas, October 31, 2009 Atlanta, GA on occasion of 65th
birthday of R.L. Dewar. V2 is revised for referee
Multi-region relaxed magnetohydrodynamics with anisotropy and flow
We present an extension of the multi-region relaxed magnetohydrodynamics
(MRxMHD) equilibrium model that includes pressure anisotropy and general plasma
flows. This anisotropic extension to our previous isotropic model is motivated
by Sun and Finn's model of relaxed anisotropic magnetohydrodynamic equilibria.
We prove that as the number of plasma regions becomes infinite, our anisotropic
extension of MRxMHD reduces to anisotropic ideal MHD with flow. The
continuously nested flux surface limit of our MRxMHD model is the first
variational principle for anisotropic plasma equilibria with general flow
fields.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with
arXiv:1401.307
Sparse Bayesian information filters for localization and mapping
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution February 2008This thesis formulates an estimation framework for Simultaneous Localization and
Mapping (SLAM) that addresses the problem of scalability in large environments.
We describe an estimation-theoretic algorithm that achieves significant gains in computational
efficiency while maintaining consistent estimates for the vehicle pose and
the map of the environment.
We specifically address the feature-based SLAM problem in which the robot represents
the environment as a collection of landmarks. The thesis takes a Bayesian
approach whereby we maintain a joint posterior over the vehicle pose and feature
states, conditioned upon measurement data. We model the distribution as Gaussian
and parametrize the posterior in the canonical form, in terms of the information
(inverse covariance) matrix. When sparse, this representation is amenable to computationally
efficient Bayesian SLAM filtering. However, while a large majority of the
elements within the normalized information matrix are very small in magnitude, it is
fully populated nonetheless. Recent feature-based SLAM filters achieve the scalability
benefits of a sparse parametrization by explicitly pruning these weak links in an effort
to enforce sparsity. We analyze one such algorithm, the Sparse Extended Information
Filter (SEIF), which has laid much of the groundwork concerning the computational
benefits of the sparse canonical form. The thesis performs a detailed analysis of the
process by which the SEIF approximates the sparsity of the information matrix and
reveals key insights into the consequences of different sparsification strategies. We
demonstrate that the SEIF yields a sparse approximation to the posterior that is inconsistent,
suffering from exaggerated confidence estimates. This overconfidence has
detrimental effects on important aspects of the SLAM process and affects the higher
level goal of producing accurate maps for subsequent localization and path planning.
This thesis proposes an alternative scalable filter that maintains sparsity while
preserving the consistency of the distribution. We leverage insights into the natural
structure of the feature-based canonical parametrization and derive a method that
actively maintains an exactly sparse posterior. Our algorithm exploits the structure
of the parametrization to achieve gains in efficiency, with a computational cost that
scales linearly with the size of the map. Unlike similar techniques that sacrifice
consistency for improved scalability, our algorithm performs inference over a posterior
that is conservative relative to the nominal Gaussian distribution. Consequently, we
preserve the consistency of the pose and map estimates and avoid the effects of an
overconfident posterior.
We demonstrate our filter alongside the SEIF and the standard EKF both in simulation
as well as on two real-world datasets. While we maintain the computational
advantages of an exactly sparse representation, the results show convincingly that
our method yields conservative estimates for the robot pose and map that are nearly
identical to those of the original Gaussian distribution as produced by the EKF, but
at much less computational expense.
The thesis concludes with an extension of our SLAM filter to a complex underwater
environment. We describe a systems-level framework for localization and mapping
relative to a ship hull with an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) equipped
with a forward-looking sonar. The approach utilizes our filter to fuse measurements
of vehicle attitude and motion from onboard sensors with data from sonar images of
the hull. We employ the system to perform three-dimensional, 6-DOF SLAM on a
ship hull
Relaxed plasma equilibria and entropy-related plasma self-organization principles
The concept of plasma relaxation as a constrained energy minimization is reviewed. Recent work by the authors on generalizing this approach to partially relaxed threedimensional plasma systems in a way consistent with chaos theory is discussed, with a view to clarifying the thermodynamic aspects of the variational approach used. Other entropy-related approaches to finding long-time steady states of turbulent or chaotic plasma systems are also briefly reviewed
An X-ray Study of Two B+B Binaries: AH Cep and CW Cep
AH Cep and CW Cep are both early B-type binaries with short orbital periods
of 1.8~d and 2.7~d, respectively. All four components are B0.5V types. The
binaries are also double-lined spectroscopic and eclipsing. Consequently,
solutions for orbital and stellar parameters make the pair of binaries ideal
targets for a study of the colliding winds between two B~stars. {\em Chandra}
ACIS-I observations were obtained to determine X-ray luminosities. AH~Cep was
detected with an unabsorbed X-ray luminosity at a 90\% confidence interval of
erg s, or ,
relative to the combined Bolometric luminosities of the two components. While
formally consistent with expectations for embedded wind shocks, or binary wind
collision, the near-twin system of CW~Cep was a surprising non-detection. For
CW~Cep, an upper limit was determined with , again
for the combined components. One difference between these two systems is that
AH~Cep is part of a multiple system. The X-rays from AH~Cep may not arise from
standard wind shocks nor wind collision, but perhaps instead from magnetism in
any one of the four components of the system. The possibility could be tested
by searching for cyclic X-ray variability in AH~Cep on the short orbital period
of the inner B~stars.Comment: Astrophysical Journal, accepte
Cryptococcus neoformans chitin synthase 3 plays a critical role in dampening host inflammatory responses
Cryptococcus neoformans is the most common disseminated fungal pathogen in AIDS patients, resulting in ∼200,000 deaths each year. There is a pressing need for new treatments for this infection, as current antifungal therapy is hampered by toxicity and/or the inability of the host’s immune system to aid in resolution of the disease. An ideal target for new therapies is the fungal cell wall. The cryptococcal cell wall is different from the cell walls of many other pathogenic fungi in that it contains chitosan. Strains that have decreased chitosan are less pathogenic and strains that are deficient in chitosan are avirulent and can induce protective responses. In this study, we investigated the host responses to a chs3Δ strain, a chitosan-deficient strain, and found that mice inoculated with the chs3Δ strain all died within 36 h and that death was associated with an aberrant hyperinflammatory immune response driven by neutrophils, indicating that chitosan is critical in modulating the immune response to Cryptococcus.Cryptococcus neoformans infections are significant causes of morbidity and mortality among AIDS patients and the third most common invasive fungal infection in organ transplant recipients. One of the main interfaces between the fungus and the host is the fungal cell wall. The cryptococcal cell wall is unusual among human-pathogenic fungi in that the chitin is predominantly deacetylated to chitosan. Chitosan-deficient strains of C. neoformans were found to be avirulent and rapidly cleared from the murine lung. Moreover, infection with a chitosan-deficient C. neoformans strain lacking three chitin deacetylases (cda1Δcda2Δcda3Δ) was found to confer protective immunity to a subsequent challenge with a virulent wild-type counterpart. In addition to the chitin deacetylases, it was previously shown that chitin synthase 3 (Chs3) is also essential for chitin deacetylase-mediated formation of chitosan. Mice inoculated with the chs3Δ strain at a dose previously shown to induce protection with the cda1Δcda2Δcda3Δ strain die within 36 h after installation of the organism. Mortality was not dependent on viable fungi, as mice inoculated with a heat-killed preparation of the chs3Δ strain died at the same rate as mice inoculated with a live chs3Δ strain, suggesting that the rapid onset of death was host mediated, likely caused by an overexuberant immune response. Histology, cytokine profiling, and flow cytometry indicate a massive neutrophil influx in the mice inoculated with the chs3Δ strain. Mice depleted of neutrophils survived chs3Δ inoculation, indicating that death was neutrophil mediated. Altogether, these studies lead us to conclude that Chs3, along with chitosan, plays critical roles in dampening cryptococcus-induced host inflammatory responses
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