5,695 research outputs found
Evaluation and Management of Sleep Disorders in the Hand Surgery Patient.
Despite posing a significant public health threat, sleep disorders remain poorly understood and often underdiagnosed and mismanaged. Although sleep disorders are seemingly unrelated, hand surgeons should be mindful of these because numerous conditions of the upper extremity have known associations with sleep disturbances that can adversely affect patient function and satisfaction. In addition, patients with sleep disorders are at significantly higher risk for severe, even life-threatening medical comorbidities, further amplifying the role of hand surgeons in the recognition of this condition
PSR J1909-3744, a Binary Millisecond Pulsar with a Very Small Duty Cycle
We report the discovery of PSR J1909-3744, a 2.95 millisecond pulsar in a
nearly circular 1.53 day orbit. Its narrow pulse width of 43 microseconds
allows pulse arrival times to be determined with great accuracy. We have
spectroscopically identified the companion as a moderately hot (T = 8500 K)
white dwarf with strong absorption lines. Radial velocity measurements of the
companion will yield the mass ratio of the system. Our timing data suggest the
presence of Shapiro delay; we expect that further timing observations, combined
with the mass ratio, will allow the first accurate determination of a
millisecond pulsar mass. We have measured the timing parallax and proper motion
for this pulsar which indicate a transverse velocity of 140 (+80/-40) km/s.
This pulsar's stunningly narrow pulse profile makes it an excellent candidate
for precision timing experiments that attempt to detect low frequency
gravitational waves from coalescing supermassive black hole binaries.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ
Discovery of Five Recycled Pulsars in a High Galactic Latitude Survey
We present five recycled pulsars discovered during a 21-cm survey of
approximately 4,150 deg^2 between 15 deg and 30 deg from the galactic plane
using the Parkes radio telescope. One new pulsar, PSR J1528-3146, has a 61 ms
spin period and a massive white dwarf companion. Like many recycled pulsars
with heavy companions, the orbital eccentricity is relatively high (~0.0002),
consistent with evolutionary models that predict less time for circularization.
The four remaining pulsars have short spin periods (3 ms < P < 6 ms); three of
these have probable white dwarf binary companions and one (PSR J2010-1323) is
isolated. PSR J1600-3053 is relatively bright for its dispersion measure of
52.3 pc cm^-3 and promises good timing precision thanks to an intrinsically
narrow feature in its pulse profile, resolvable through coherent dedispersion.
In this survey, the recycled pulsar discovery rate was one per four days of
telescope time or one per 600 deg^2 of sky. The variability of these sources
implies that there are more millisecond pulsars that might be found by
repeating this survey.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Computer Evaluation of Real-Time X-Ray and Acoustic Images
The weakest link in the inspection process is the subjective interpretation of data by inspectors. To overcome this troublesome fact computer based analysis systems have been developed. In the field of nondestructive evaluation (NDE) there is a large class of inspections that can benefit from computer analysis. X-ray images (both film and fluoroscopic) and acoustic images lend themselves to automatic analysis as do the one-dimensional signals associated with ultrasonic, eddy current and acoustic emission testing.
Computer analysis can enhance and evaluate subtle details. Flaws can be located and measured, and acceptance decisions made by computer in a consistent and objective manner.
This paper describes the interactive, computer-based analysis of real-time x-ray images and acoustic images of graphite/epoxy adhesively bonded structures
Optical Detection of Two Intermediate Mass Binary Pulsar Companions
We report the detection of probable optical counterparts for two Intermediate
Mass Binary Pulsar (IMBP) systems, PSR J1528-3146 and PSR J1757-5322. Recent
radio pulsar surveys have uncovered a handful of these systems with putative
massive white dwarf companions, thought to have an evolutionary history
different from that of the more numerous class of Low Mass Binary Pulsars
(LMBPs) with He white dwarf companions. The study of IMBP companions via
optical observations offers us several new diagnostics: the evolution of main
sequence stars near the white-dwarf-neutron star boundary, the physics of white
dwarfs close to the Chandrasekhar limit, and insights into the recycling
process by which old pulsars are spun up to high rotation frequencies. We were
unsuccessful in our attempt to detect optical counterparts of PSR J1141-6545,
PSR J1157-5112, PSR J1435-6100, and PSR J1454-5846.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ
Calibrating Type Ia Supernovae using the Planetary Nebula Luminosity Function I. Initial Results
We report the results of an [O III] lambda 5007 survey for planetary nebulae
(PN) in five galaxies that were hosts of well-observed Type Ia supernovae: NGC
524, NGC 1316, NGC 1380, NGC 1448 and NGC 4526. The goals of this survey are to
better quantify the zero-point of the maximum magnitude versus decline rate
relation for supernovae Type Ia and to validate the insensitivity of Type Ia
luminosity to parent stellar population using the host galaxy Hubble type as a
surrogate. We detected a total of 45 planetary nebulae candidates in NGC 1316,
44 candidates in NGC 1380, and 94 candidates in NGC 4526. From these data, and
the empirical planetary nebula luminosity function (PNLF), we derive distances
of 17.9 +0.8/-0.9 Mpc, 16.1 +0.8/-1.1 Mpc, and 13.6 +1.3/-1.2 Mpc respectively.
Our derived distance to NGC 4526 has a lower precision due to the likely
presence of Virgo intracluster planetary nebulae in the foreground of this
galaxy. In NGC 524 and NGC 1448 we detected no planetary nebulae candidates
down to the limiting magnitudes of our observations. We present a formalism for
setting realistic distance limits in these two cases, and derive robust lower
limits of 20.9 Mpc and 15.8 Mpc, respectively.
After combining these results with other distances from the PNLF, Cepheid,
and Surface Brightness Fluctuations distance indicators, we calibrate the
optical and near-infrared relations for supernovae Type Ia and we find that the
Hubble constants derived from each of the three methods are broadly consistent,
implying that the properties of supernovae Type Ia do not vary drastically as a
function of stellar population. We determine a preliminary Hubble constant of
H_0 = 77 +/- 3 (random) +/- 5 (systematic) km/s/Mpc for the PNLF, though more
nearby galaxies with high-quality observations are clearly needed.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication by the Astrophysical
Journal. Figures degraded to comply with limit. Full paper is available at:
http://www.as.ysu.edu/~jjfeldme/pnlf_Ia.pd
The Cosmological Constant is Back
A diverse set of observations now compellingly suggest that Universe
possesses a nonzero cosmological constant. In the context of quantum-field
theory a cosmological constant corresponds to the energy density of the vacuum,
and the wanted value for the cosmological constant corresponds to a very tiny
vacuum energy density. We discuss future observational tests for a cosmological
constant as well as the fundamental theoretical challenges---and
opportunities---that this poses for particle physics and for extending our
understanding of the evolution of the Universe back to the earliest moments.Comment: latex, 8 pages plus one ps figure available as separate compressed
uuencoded fil
The Relative Contributions of Experiential Avoidance and Distress Tolerance to OC Symptoms
Background: Obsessive beliefs account for substantial (but not all) obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms. Intolerance of internal experiences (IIE), which encompasses the constructs of experiential avoidance (EA) and distress tolerance (DT), refers to difficulty managing unwanted thoughts, emotions, and other internal states, and might add to current explanatory models. Although IIE appears to be conceptually relevant to obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms, scant research has examined this relationship empirically. Aim: The present study examined the relative contributions of EA and DT as predictors of OC symptom dimensions. Method: A nonclinical sample ( n = 496) completed self-report questionnaires measuring general distress, EA, DT and OC symptom dimensions. Results: All variables of interest were significantly (all p s ≤ .001) correlated with one another, such that higher general distress, higher EA, and lower DT were associated with greater OC symptom severity for all symptom dimensions; however, only EA independently predicted obsessional symptoms, but not other OC symptom dimensions. Conclusions: One's willingness to endure (i.e. EA), rather than their ability to tolerate (i.e. DT) unpleasant internal experiences best predicts obsessional symptoms (i.e. obsessing) above and beyond general distress. Potential implications for understanding, assessing, and treating OC symptoms are discussed
Global Health and Economic Impacts of Future Ozone Pollution
Abstract and PDF report are also available on the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change website (http://globalchange.mit.edu/).We assess the human health and economic impacts of projected 2000-2050 changes in ozone pollution using the MIT Emissions Prediction and Policy Analysis-Health Effects (EPPA-HE) model, in combination with results from the GEOS-Chem global tropospheric chemistry model that simulated climate and chemistry effects of IPCC SRES emissions. We use EPPA to assess the human health damages (including acute mortality and morbidity outcomes) caused by ozone pollution and quantify their economic impacts in sixteen world regions. We compare the costs of ozone pollution under scenarios with 2000 and 2050 ozone precursor and greenhouse gas emissions (SRES A1B scenario). We estimate that health costs due to global ozone pollution above pre-industrial levels by 2050 will be ) and that acute mortalities will exceed 2 million. We find that previous methodologies underestimate costs of air pollution by more than a third because they do not take into account the long-term, compounding effects of health costs. The economic effects of emissions changes far exceed the influence of climate alone.United States Department of Energy, Office of
Science (BER) grants DE-FG02-94ER61937 and DE-FG02-93ER61677, the United States
Environmental Protection Agency grant EPA-XA-83344601-0, and the industrial and foundation
sponsors of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change
The Timing of Nine Globular Cluster Pulsars
We have used the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope to time nine previously
known pulsars without published timing solutions in the globular clusters M62,
NGC 6544, and NGC 6624. We have full timing solutions that measure the spin,
astrometric, and (where applicable) binary parameters for six of these pulsars.
The remaining three pulsars (reported here for the first time) were not
detected enough to establish solutions. We also report our timing solutions for
five pulsars with previously published solutions, and find good agreement with
past authors, except for PSR J1701-3006B in M62. Gas in this system is probably
responsible for the discrepancy in orbital parameters, and we have been able to
measure a change in the orbital period over the course of our observations.
Among the pulsars with new solutions we find several binary pulsars with very
low mass companions (members of the so-called "black widow" class) and we are
able to place constraints on the mass-to-light ratio in two clusters. We
confirm that one of the pulsars in NGC 6624 is indeed a member of the rare
class of non-recycled pulsars found in globular clusters. We also have measured
the orbital precession and Shapiro delay for a relativistic binary in NGC 6544.
If we assume that the orbital precession can be described entirely by general
relativity, which is likely, we are able to measure the total system mass
(2.57190(73) M_sun) and companion mass (1.2064(20) M_sun), from which we derive
the orbital inclination [sin(i) = 0.9956(14)] and the pulsar mass (1.3655(21)
M_sun), the most precise such measurement ever obtained for a millisecond
pulsar. The companion is the most massive known around a fully recycled pulsar.Comment: Published in ApJ; 33 pages, 5 figures, 7 table
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