3,397 research outputs found
A Catalog of Digital Images of 113 Nearby Galaxies
We present a digital catalog of images of 113 galaxies in this paper. These
galaxies are all nearby, bright, large and well resolved. All images were
recorded with charge coupled devices (CCDs) at the Palomar Observatory with the
1.5 meter telescope and at the Lowell Observatory with the 1.1 meter telescope.
At Palomar we used the Thuan--Gunn g, r and i photometric bands to take 3
images each of 31 spiral galaxies; at Lowell we used the B_J and R bands (2
images per galaxy) of the photometric system by Gullixson et al. (1995) to
observe 82 spirals and ellipticals. The galaxies were selected to span the
Hubble classification classes. All data are photometrically calibrated with
foreground stars removed. Important data on these galaxies published in the
"Third Reference Catalog of Bright Galaxies" (RC3) are recorded in the FITS
file headers. All files are available through anonymous FTP from
ftp://astro.princeton.edu/, through WWW at
http://astro.princeton.edu/~frei/galaxy_catalog.html, and Princeton University
Press will soon publish the data on CD-ROM.Comment: uuencoded compressed tar archive of postscript files (paper + 2
tables + 7 figures) Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journa
TAER Wind Conversion program /TARWON/ user's manual
Computer program for reducing radar tracking data magnetic tape numbers for data storage by editing and low pass filterin
Association of inferior vena cava filter placement for venous thromboembolic disease and a contraindication to anticoagulation with 30-day mortality
Importance: Despite the absence of data from randomized clinical trials, professional societies recommend inferior vena cava (IVC) filters for patients with venous thromboembolic disease (VTE) and a contraindication to anticoagulation therapy. Prior observational studies of IVC filters have suggested a mortality benefit associated with IVC filter insertion but have often failed to adjust for immortal time bias, which is the time before IVC filter insertion, during which death can only occur in the control group.
Objective: To determine the association of IVC filter placement with 30-day mortality after adjustment for immortal time bias.
Design, Setting, and Participants: This comparative effectiveness, retrospective cohort study used a population-based sample of hospitalized patients with VTE and a contraindication to anticoagulation using the State Inpatient Database and the State Emergency Department Database, part of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, from hospitals in California (January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2011), Florida (January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2013), and New York (January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2012). Data analysis was conducted from September 15, 2015, to March 14, 2018.
Exposure: Inferior vena cava filter placement.
Main Outcomes and Measures: Multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were constructed with IVC filters as a time-dependent variable that adjusts for immortal time bias. The Cox model was further adjusted using the propensity score as an adjustment variable.
Results: Of 126 030 patients with VTE, 61 281 (48.6%) were male and the mean (SD) age was 66.9 (16.6) years. In this cohort, 45 771 (36.3%) were treated with an IVC filter, whereas 80 259 (63.7%) did not receive a filter. In the Cox model with IVC filter status analyzed as a time-dependent variable to account for immortal time bias, IVC filter placement was associated with a significantly increased hazard ratio of 30-day mortality (1.18; 95% CI, 1.13-1.22; P \u3c .001). When the propensity score was included in the Cox model, IVC filter placement remained associated with an increased hazard ratio of 30-day mortality (1.18; 95% CI, 1.13-1.22; P \u3c .001).
Conclusions and Relevance: After adjustment for immortal time bias, IVC filter placement was associated with increased 30-day mortality in patients with VTE and a contraindication to anticoagulation. Randomized clinical trials are needed to determine the efficacy of IVC filter placement in patients with VTE and a contraindication to anticoagulation
Extreme distributions of ground winds /3 to 150 meters/ at Cape Kennedy, Florida
Statistical analysis of wind distribution probabilities at Cape Kenned
The Size Distribution of Trans-Neptunian Bodies
[Condensed] We search 0.02 deg^2 for trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) with
m<=29.2 (diameter ~15 km) using the ACS on HST. Three new objects are
discovered, roughly 25 times fewer than expected from extrapolation of the
differential sky density Sigma(m) of brighter objects. The ACS and other recent
TNO surveys show departures from a power law size distribution. Division of the
TNO sample into ``classical Kuiper belt'' (CKB) and ``Excited'' samples reveals
that Sigma(m) differs for the two populations at 96% confidence. A double power
law adequately fits all data. Implications include: The total mass of the CKB
is ~0.010 M_Earth, only a few times Pluto's mass, and is predominately in the
form of ~100 km bodies. The mass of Excited objects is perhaps a few times
larger. The Excited class has a shallower bright-end size distribution; the
largest objects, including Pluto, comprise tens of percent of the total mass
whereas the largest CKBOs are only ~2% of its mass. The predicted mass of the
largest Excited body is close to the Pluto mass; the largest CKBO is ~60 times
less massive. The deficit of small TNOs occurs for sizes subject to disruption
by present-day collisions, suggesting extensive depletion by collisions. Both
accretion and erosion appearing to have proceeded to more advanced stages in
the Excited class than the CKB. The absence of distant TNOs implies that any
distant (60 AU) population must have less than the CKB mass in the form of
objects 40 km or larger. The CKB population is sparser than theoretical
estimates of the required precursor population for short period comets, but the
Excited population could be a viable precursor population.Comment: Revised version accepted to the Astronomical Journal. Numerical
results are very slightly revised. Implications for the origins of
short-period comets are substantially revised, and tedious material on
statistical tests has been collected into a new Appendi
Discovery of a Galaxy Cluster via Weak Lensing
We report the discovery of a cluster of galaxies via its weak gravitational
lensing effect on background galaxies, the first spectroscopically confirmed
cluster to be discovered through its gravitational effects rather than by its
electromagnetic radiation. This fundamentally different selection mechanism
promises to yield mass-selected, rather than baryon or photon-selected, samples
of these important cosmological probes. We have confirmed this cluster with
spectroscopic redshifts of fifteen members at z=0.276, with a velocity
dispersion of 615 km/s. We use the tangential shear as a function of source
photometric redshift to estimate the lens redshift independently and find z_l =
0.30 +- 0.08. The good agreement with the spectroscopy indicates that the
redshift evolution of the mass function may be measurable from the imaging data
alone in shear-selected surveys.Comment: revised version with minor changes, to appear in ApJ
Wide-field weak lensing by RXJ1347-1145
We present an analysis of weak lensing observations for RXJ1347-1145 over a
43' X 43' field taken in B and R filters on the Blanco 4m telescope at CTIO.
RXJ1347-1145 is a massive cluster at redshift z=0.45. Using a population of
galaxies with 20<R<26, we detect a weak lensing signal at the p<0.0005 level,
finding best-fit parameters of \sigma_v=1400^{+130}_{-140} km s^{-1} for a
singular isothermal sphere model and r_{200} = 3.5^{+0.8}_{-0.2} Mpc with c =
15^{+64}_{-10} for a NFW model in an \Omega_m = 0.3, \Omega_\Lambda = 0.7
cosmology. In addition, a mass to light ratio M/L_R =90 \pm 20 M_\odot /
L_{R\odot} was determined. These values are consistent with the previous weak
lensing study of RXJ1347--1145 by Fischer and Tyson, 1997, giving strong
evidence that systemic bias was not introduced by the relatively small field of
view in that study. Our best-fit parameter values are also consistent with
recent X-ray studies by Allen et al, 2002 and Ettori et al, 2001, but are not
consistent with recent optical velocity dispersion measurements by Cohen and
Kneib, 2002.Comment: accepted to ApJ, tentative publication 10 May 2005, v624
LSST optical beam simulator
We describe a camera beam simulator for the LSST which is capable of
illuminating a 60mm field at f/1.2 with realistic astronomical scenes, enabling
studies of CCD astrometric and photometric performance. The goal is to fully
simulate LSST observing, in order to characterize charge transport and other
features in the thick fully depleted CCDs and to probe low level systematics
under realistic conditions. The automated system simulates the centrally
obscured LSST beam and sky scenes, including the spectral shape of the night
sky. The doubly telecentric design uses a nearly unit magnification design
consisting of a spherical mirror, three BK7 lenses, and one beam-splitter
window. To achieve the relatively large field the beam-splitter window is used
twice. The motivation for this LSST beam test facility was driven by the need
to fully characterize a new generation of thick fully-depleted CCDs, and assess
their suitability for the broad range of science which is planned for LSST. Due
to the fast beam illumination and the thick silicon design [each pixel is 10
microns wide and over 100 microns deep] at long wavelengths there can be
effects of photon transport and charge transport in the high purity silicon.
The focal surface covers a field more than sufficient for a 40x40 mm LSST CCD.
Delivered optical quality meets design goals, with 50% energy within a 5 micron
circle. The tests of CCD performance are briefly described.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure
Measuring Baryon Acoustic Oscillations with Millions of Supernovae
Since type Ia Supernovae (SNe) explode in galaxies, they can, in principle,
be used as the same tracer of the large-scale structure as their hosts to
measure baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs). To realize this, one must obtain a
dense integrated sampling of SNe over a large fraction of the sky, which may
only be achievable photometrically with future projects such as the Large
Synoptic Survey Telescope. The advantage of SN BAOs is that SNe have more
uniform luminosities and more accurate photometric redshifts than galaxies, but
the disadvantage is that they are transitory and hard to obtain in large number
at high redshift. We find that a half-sky photometric SN survey to redshift z =
0.8 is able to measure the baryon signature in the SN spatial power spectrum.
Although dark energy constraints from SN BAOs are weak, they can significantly
improve the results from SN luminosity distances of the same data, and the
combination of the two is no longer sensitive to cosmic microwave background
priors.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, ApJL accepte
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