4,942 research outputs found
Improving efficiency in radio surveys for gravitational lenses
Many lens surveys have hitherto used observations of large samples of
background sources to select the small minority which are multiply imaged by
lensing galaxies along the line of sight. Recently surveys such as SLACS and
OLS have improved the efficiency of surveys by pre-selecting double-redshift
systems from SDSS. We explore other ways to improve survey efficiency by
optimum use of astrometric and morphological information in existing
large-scale optical and radio surveys. The method exploits the small position
differences between FIRST radio positions of lensed images and the SDSS lens
galaxy positions, together with the marginal resolution of some larger
gravitational lens systems by the FIRST beam. We present results of a small
pilot study with the VLA and MERLIN, and discuss the desirable criteria for
future surveys.Comment: Accepted by MNRAS. 9 pages, 5 figure
Radio and optical orientations of galaxies
We investigate the correlations between optical and radio isophotal position
angles for 14302 SDSS galaxies with magnitudes brighter than 18 and which
have been associated with extended FIRST radio sources. We identify two
separate populations of galaxies using the colour, concentration and their
principal components. Surprisingly strong statistical alignments are found:
late-type galaxies are overwhelmingly biased towards a position angle
differences of and early-type galaxies to . The
late-type alignment can be easily understood in terms of the standard picture
in which the radio emission is intimately related to areas of recent
star-formation. In early-type galaxies the radio emission is expected to be
driven by accretion on to a nuclear black hole. We argue that the observed
correlation of the radio axis with the minor axis of the large-scale stellar
distribution gives a fundamental insight into the structure of elliptical
galaxies, for example, whether or not the nuclear kinematics are decoupled form
the rest of the galaxy. Our results imply that the galaxies are oblate
spheroids with their radio emission aligned with the minor axis. Remarkably the
strength of the correlation of the radio major axis with the optical minor axis
depends on radio loudness. Those objects with a low ratio of FIRST radio flux
density to total stellar light show a strong minor axis correlation while the
stronger radio sources do not. This may reflect different formation histories
for the different objects and we suggest we may be seeing the different
behaviour of rationally supported and non-rotationally supported ellipticals.Comment: Version to appear in MNRA
The colour of the narrow line Sy1-blazar 0324+3410
Aims. We investigate the properties of the host galaxy of the blazar
J0324+3410 (B2 0321+33) by the analysis of B and R images obtained with the NOT
under good photometric conditions. Methods: The galaxy was studied using
different methods: Sersic model fitting, unsharp-masked images, B-R image and
B-R profile analysis. Results: The images show that the host galaxy has a
ring-like morphology. The B-R colour image reveals two bluish zones: one that
coincides with the nuclear region, interpreted as the signature of emission
related to the active nucleus, the other zone is extended and is located in the
host ring-structure. We discuss the hypothesis that the later is thermal
emission from a burst of star formation triggered by an interacting/merging
process
NICMOS and VLBA observations of the gravitational lens system B1933+503
NICMOS observations of the complex gravitational lens system B1933+503 reveal
infrared counterparts to two of the inverted spectrum radio images. The
infrared images have arc-like structures. The corresponding radio images are
also detected in a VLBA map made at 1.7 GHz with a resolution of 6 mas. We fail
to detect two of the four inverted radio spectrum components with the VLBA even
though they are clearly visible in a MERLIN map at the same frequency at a
different epoch. The absence of these two components could be due to rapid
variability on a time-scale less than the time delay, or to broadening of the
images during propagation of the radio waves through the ISM of the lensing
galaxy to an extent that they fall below the surface brightness detectability
threshold of the VLBA observations. The failure to detect the same two images
with NICMOS is probably due to extinction in the ISM of the lensing galaxy.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to MNRA
Can guidelines improve referral to elective surgical specialties for adults? A systematic review
Aim To assess effectiveness of guidelines for referral for
elective surgical assessment.
Method Systematic review with descriptive synthesis.
Data sources Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL and Cochrane
database up to 2008. Hand searches of journals and
websites.
Selection of studies Studies evaluated guidelines for
referral from primary to secondary care, for elective
surgical assessment for adults.
Outcome measures Appropriateness of referral (usually
measured as guideline compliance) including clinical
appropriateness, appropriateness of destination and of
pre-referral management (eg, diagnostic investigations),
general practitioner knowledge of referral
appropriateness, referral rates, health outcomes and
costs.
Results 24 eligible studies (5 randomised control trials,
6 cohort, 13 case series) included guidelines from UK,
Europe, Canada and the USA for referral for
musculoskeletal, urological, ENT, gynaecology, general
surgical and ophthalmological conditions. Interventions
varied from complex (âone-stop shopsâ) to simple
guidelines. Four randomized control trials reported
increases in appropriateness of pre-referral care
(diagnostic investigations and treatment). No evidence
was found for effects on practitioner knowledge. Mixed
evidence was reported on rates of referral and costs
(rates and costs increased, decreased or stayed the
same). Two studies reported on health outcomes finding
no change.
Conclusions Guidelines for elective surgical referral can
improve appropriateness of care by improving prereferral
investigation and treatment, but there is no
strong evidence in favour of other beneficial effects
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