EXIST's Gamma-Ray Burst Sensitivity

We use semi-analytic techniques to evaluate the burst sensitivity of designs for the EXIST hard X-ray survey mission. Applying these techniques to the mission design proposed for the Beyond Einstein program, we find that with its very large field-of-view and faint gamma-ray burst detection threshold, EXIST will detect and localize approximately two bursts per day, a large fraction of which may be at high redshift. We estimate that EXIST's maximum sensitivity will be ~4 times greater than that of Swift's Burst Alert Telescope. Bursts will be localized to better than 40 arcsec at threshold, with a burst position as good as a few arcsec for strong bursts. EXIST's combination of three different detector systems will provide spectra from 3 keV to more than 10 MeV. Thus, EXIST will enable a major leap in the understanding of bursts, their evolution, environment, and utility as cosmological probes.Comment: 25 pages, 10 figures, accepted by Ap

Pheasants in Asia 1989

Section 1: Studies of Pheasants in China Distribution and Status An overview of research on pheasants in China, 1978-88, Cheng Tso-Hsin Pheasant conservation in Asia:Ssome introductory remarks, Keith Howman and Lew Young The distribution of pheasants and partridges in China, Tang Chan-Zhu The ecological and geographical distribution of pheasants in Wolong Nature Reserve, Deng Wei Jie The gamebirds of Boaxing, Sichuan, China, He Fen-Qi and Cui Xie-Zhen Galliformes of Yunnan Province in China, Yang Lan Pheasant and partridge species of the Nu River Autonomous Region, Northwestern Yunnan, China, He Fen-Qi, Gao Ying-Xing and Zheng Yang-Zhi Pheasants on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, Li De Hao Studies of geographical variation of Strauch\u27s ring-necked pheasant, Liu Naifa Current status of the Reeves or white-crowned long-tailed pheasant in China, Xu Weishu and Wu Zhikang Ecology Preliminary studies on the ecology and biology of the Himalayan snowcock in Mt. Tian, Xinjiang, China, Huang Ren-Xin, Ma Li, Shao Hong Guang and Tiang Tao Ecological studies of the Himalayan snowcock, Liu Naifa, Chang Cheng and Wang Xiangting The ecology of the Daurian partridge, Yang Xue-Ming Numbers and population structure of Cabot\u27s tragopan, Zhang Junping and Zheng Guang-mei The use of radiotelemetry to study Cabot\u27s tragopan in Wuyanling Nature Reserve, China, Zheng Guang-mei, Zhang Zheng-Wang, Lew Young, Qian Fa-Wen and Sun Yue-Hua Nest site selection and nest mortality of Cabot\u27s tragopan in Wuyanling Nature Reserve, China, Zhang Zheng-Wang and Zheng Guangmei The breeding of Cabot\u27s tragopan in captivity, Zhao Xin-Ru, Ding Chang-Qing, Zheng Guangmei and Li Fu-Lai Winter ecology of crimson-bellied tragopans, Li Xiangtao and Lu Xiaoyi The ecology of Elliot\u27s pheasant in the wild, Ding Ping and Zhuge Yang The ecology of the Joretian koklas pheasant, Han De-Min The ecology of the silver pheasant in Dinghushan Biosphere Reserve, Gao Yuren and Zhang Youchang A preliminary study on the distributive quantity of feeding habits of the black-necked bar-tailed pheasant in Guangxi, Liu Xiaohua, Zhou Fang, Pan Guoping, Lai Yuemei, Zheng Yichnan, Liu Zimin and Ao Deliang Habitat selection and feeding behaviour of the brown-eared pheasant, Ren Jianqiang and Hu Yue Preliminary studies on breeding behaviour of the black-necked bar-tailed pheasant, Liu Xiaohua Zhou Fang, Pan Guoping, Lai Yuemei, Zheng Yichnan, Liu Zimin and Ao Deliang The breeding ecology of ring-necked pheasants, Zhao Zhengjie Ecological habits of the ring-necked pheasant, Yan An-huo Observations of wild breeding ecology of Lady Amherst\u27s pheasant, Han Linxian, Yang Lan and Zheng Baolai Ecological studies of the white-browed hill partridge, Li Xiao-liu, Tan Hong-zhi, Cheng Cai-An and Zhang Ali-Li Taxonomy Pheasants reared in Chinese zoos since the 1950s, Li Fu-Lai Chromosome polymorphism in the common quail, Zeng Yang-Zhi and He Fen-Qi A study of chromosome complement in the Sclater\u27s monal, Zheng Yang-Zhi and He Fen-Qi The characteristics of karyotypes of Phasianini, Zou Zhao-Fen, Huang Shi-Qiang and Li Fu-Lai Comparative studies of the skeletal systems of ring necked and ruffed pheasants, Wen Xianji and Yang Lan Notes on the distribution and ecology of the three species of eared pheasant, Lu Tai-Chun, Liu Ru-sun, He Fen-Qi and Lu Chun-Lei Feather eating by captive brown-eared pheasants. 94 Gai Qiang and Ji Wenxiao The taxonomy of ruffed pheasants, Liu Rusun and Lu Taichun Behaviour Comparative courtship behaviour of pheasants, Pang Bingzhang Section 2: The Application of Field techniques Planning Fieldwork Strategy and planning in field research on pheasants, A. J. Gaston and David Jenkins Status and Distribution surveys Status survey techniques, Peter J. Garson Pheasant surveys in Vietnam: A report on the 1988 expedition, J. Eames, C. R. Robson and J. A. Wolstencroft The use of calls to determine status in the Malaysian peacock pheasant, P. McGowan Using call count surveys to obtain comparative population figures for western tragopan in NWFP, Pakistan. G. Duke Status of pheasants of Kashmir with special reference to endangered species, M. Y. Qadri, Rahul Kaul and M. Iqbal Using calls, footprints and sightings to survey green peafowl in western Thailand, J. Stewart-Cox and R. Quinnell The use of broadcast recorded calls for determining cheer pheasant distribution. L. Young, Rahul Kaul and V. Sharma Status surveys of cheer and western tragopan in Shimla Hills of 139 Himachal Pradesh, India, V. Sharma, Peter J. Garson and S. Khera Trapping, Marking and Radiotracking Trapping, marking and radiotagging, P. A. Robertson and R. E. Kenward Radio-tracking to reveal movement in the Malaysian peacock pheasant: Is it feasible? P. McGowan Radiotracking in mountainous areas, L. Young Trapping, marking and radiotracking white-crested kalij pheasant, V. Sharma, S. Khera and Peter J. Garson Monitoring Breeding Success and Mortality Monitoring reproduction and mortality in Galliformes, J. P. Carroll A comparison of the behaviour and survival of released hand-reared and wild grey partridges in Britain, Simon D. Dowell Breeding success of wild and hand-reared ring-necked pheasants, David A. Hill and P. A. Robertson Measuring reproduction in ring-necked pheasants and grey partridges, John P. Carroll Studying Behaviour Studying pheasant behaviour for conservation, G. W. H. Davison Functions of winter flocking in the cheer pheasant, Rahul Kaul Using hand-reared birds in field studies, J. D. Bland and S. A. Temple Field observations of behavioural ecology of white-crested kalij pheasant in Garhwal, Himalaya, A. Chandola-Saklani, U. Singh, P. Lakhera, D. Bhatt and K. Pant The development of anti-predator responses in grey partridges and common pheasants, S. D. Dowell Assessing Habitat Use Assessing vegetation in pheasant habitats, David A. Hill and C. Evans Habitat selection and predation-risk in Himalayan snowcock, J. D. Bland and S. A. Temple Himalayan monal pheasant: current status and habitat utilization in Kedarnath Sanctuary, Garhwal Himalaya, India, M. Bisht, P. Lakhera and A. Chandola-Saklani Analysis of microhabitat use in the Malaysian peacock pheasant, P. McGowan The ecology and behaviour of Mikado and Swinhoe\u27s pheasants, L. L. Severinghaus and S. R. Severinghaus Monitoring Food Supply and Analysing Faeces Monitoring invertebrate food supply, K. A. Raw Invertebrate abundance, monsoon commencement and hatching-time of the cheer pheasant, Rahul Kaul Identification of plants in the diet of adult cheer pheasant, Rahul Kaul Collecting information on disease and.parasites from wild pheasants, N. Hillgarth Re-introductions The value to conservation of bird re-introduction, M. Ounsted Reintroduction of cheer pheasant in Margalla Hills National Park : Release of cheer poults and their survival (1978-1989), M. Hussain The effects of releasing hand-reared birds on the British pheasant population, P. A. Robertson Summary of discussions on captive breeding for reintroduction, with special reference to the cheer pheasant in Pakistan, Peter J. Garson Section 3: Aviculture, Education and Reserves Aviculture and Education Studbooks, their history, organisation and uses, P. J. S. Olney Recent developments in incubation, A. F. Anderson-Brown Breeding of the koklas pheasant in captivity, J. P. Holsheimer Diseases of pheasants and other galliform birds in captivity, J. E. Cooper and N. Hillgarth Chick-rearing methods for pheasant re-introductions, L. Young and M. Hussain Gamebird diseases in Great Britain, J. V. Beer The role of education in the conservation of pheasants, T. Gardiner Legal and ethical considerations in respect of pheasants, M. E. Cooper Genetic problems in captive populations, P. M. Bennett Reserve Areas and Habitat Conservation Habitat conservation: The key to threatened species management and the maintenance of biological diversity, M. R. W. Rands Monitoring populations and reserve management: A review, Dvid A. Hill The western tragopan of Palas Valley and the \u27Pakistan\u27s Himalayan Jungle\u27 project, G. Duke A Summing Up, G. M. Dunne

Analysis of XMRV integration sites from human prostate cancer tissues suggests PCR contamination rather than genuine human infection

XMRV is a gammaretrovirus associated in some studies with human prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome. Central to the hypothesis of XMRV as a human pathogen is the description of integration sites in DNA from prostate tumour tissues. Here we demonstrate that 2 of 14 patient-derived sites are identical to sites cloned in the same laboratory from experimentally infected DU145 cells. Identical integration sites have never previously been described in any retrovirus infection. We propose that the patient-derived sites are the result of PCR contamination. This observation further undermines the notion that XMRV is a genuine human pathogen

The Proposed High Energy Telescope (HET) for EXIST

The hard X-ray sky now being studied by INTEGRAL and Swift and soon by NuSTAR is rich with energetic phenomena and highly variable non-thermal phenomena on a broad range of timescales. The High Energy Telescope (HET) on the proposed Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) mission will repeatedly survey the full sky for rare and luminous hard X-ray phenomena at unprecedented sensitivities. It will detect and localize (<20", at 5 sigma threshold) X-ray sources quickly for immediate followup identification by two other onboard telescopes - the Soft X-ray imager (SXI) and Optical/Infrared Telescope (IRT). The large array (4.5 m^2) of imaging (0.6 mm pixel) CZT detectors in the HET, a coded-aperture telescope, will provide unprecedented high sensitivity (~0.06 mCrab Full Sky in a 2 year continuous scanning survey) in the 5 - 600 keV band. The large field of view (90 deg x 70 deg) and zenith scanning with alternating-orbital nodding motion planned for the first 2 years of the mission will enable nearly continuous monitoring of the full sky. A 3y followup pointed mission phase provides deep UV-Optical-IR-Soft X-ray and Hard X-ray imaging and spectroscopy for thousands of sources discovered in the Survey. We review the HET design concept and report the recent progress of the CZT detector development, which is underway through a series of balloon-borne wide-field hard X-ray telescope experiments, ProtoEXIST. We carried out a successful flight of the first generation of fine pixel large area CZT detectors (ProtoEXIST1) on Oct 9, 2009. We also summarize our future plan (ProtoEXIST2 & 3) for the technology development needed for the HET.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figures, 2 tables, SPIE Conference "Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation 2010"; to appear in Proceedings SPIE (2010

Design and tests of the hard X-ray polarimeter X-Calibur

X-ray polarimetry promises to give qualitatively new information about high-energy astrophysical sources, such as binary black hole systems, micro-quasars, active galactic nuclei, and gamma-ray bursts. We designed, built and tested a hard X-ray polarimeter X-Calibur to be used in the focal plane of the InFOCuS grazing incidence hard X-ray telescope. X-Calibur combines a low-Z Compton scatterer with a CZT detector assembly to measure the polarization of 10-80 keV X-rays making use of the fact that polarized photons Compton scatter preferentially perpendicular to the electric field orientation. X-Calibur achieves a high detection efficiency of order unity.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, conference proceedings: SPIE 2011 (San Diego