7,979 research outputs found
Accretion column eclipses in the X-ray pulsars GX 1+4 and RX J0812.4-3114
Sharp dips observed in the pulse profiles of three X-ray pulsars (GX 1+4, RX
J0812.4-3114 and A 0535+26) have previously been suggested to arise from
partial eclipses of the emission region by the accretion column occurring once
each rotation period. We present pulse-phase spectroscopy from Rossi X-ray
Timing Explorer satellite observations of GX 1+4 and RX J0812.4-3114 which for
the first time confirms this interpretation. The dip phase corresponds to the
closest approach of the column axis to the line of sight, and the additional
optical depth for photons escaping from the column in this direction gives rise
to both the decrease in flux and increase in the fitted optical depth measured
at this phase. Analysis of the arrival time of individual dips in GX~1+4
provides the first measurement of azimuthal wandering of a neutron star
accretion column. The column longitude varies stochastically with standard
deviation 2-6 degrees depending on the source luminosity. Measurements of the
phase width of the dip both from mean pulse profiles and individual eclipses
demonstrates that the dip width is proportional to the flux. The variation is
consistent with that expected if the azimuthal extent of the accretion column
depends only upon the Keplerian velocity at the inner disc radius, which varies
as a consequence of the accretion rate Mdot.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, accepted by MNRAS. Included reference
The optical counterpart of SAX J1808.4-3658, the transient bursting millisecond X-ray pulsar
A set of CCD images have been obtained during the decline of the X-ray
transient SAX J1808.4-3658 during April-June 1998. The optical counterpart has
been confirmed by several pieces of evidence. The optical flux shows a
modulation on several nights which is consistent with the established X-ray
binary orbit period of 2 hours. This optical variability is roughly in
antiphase with the weak X-ray modulation. The source mean magnitude of V=16.7
on April 18 declined rapidly after April 22. From May 2 onwards the magnitude
was more constant at around V=18.45 but by June 27 was below our sensitivity
limit. The optical decline precedes the rapid second phase of the X-ray
decrease by 3 +/- 1 days. The source has been identified on a 1974 UK Schmidt
plate at an estimated magnitude of ~20. The nature of the optical companion is
discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; published in MNRAS, March 15th 199
STOCHSIMGPU Parallel stochastic simulation for the Systems\ud Biology Toolbox 2 for MATLAB
Motivation: The importance of stochasticity in biological systems is becoming increasingly recognised and the computational cost of biologically realistic stochastic simulations urgently requires development of efficient software. We present a new software tool STOCHSIMGPU which exploits graphics processing units (GPUs)for parallel stochastic simulations of biological/chemical reaction systems and show that significant gains in efficiency can be made. It is integrated into MATLAB and works with the Systems Biology Toolbox 2 (SBTOOLBOX2) for MATLAB.\ud
\ud
Results: The GPU-based parallel implementation of the Gillespie stochastic simulation algorithm (SSA), the logarithmic direct method (LDM), and the next reaction method (NRM) is approximately 85 times faster than the sequential implementation of the NRM on a central processing unit (CPU). Using our software does not require any changes to the user’s models, since it acts as a direct replacement of the stochastic simulation software of the SBTOOLBOX2
Producing poultry meat for profit - Part 2
Because the profit per bird is usually small, large numbers must be reared and marketed to give a worthwhile income from poultry meat production. Factors such as feed and labour costs, the degree of cheapness or availability of other meats— and similar influences over which the poultry meat producer has little or no control— are liable to bring about unpredictable variations in returns over a period
Seven factors in profitable poultry farming
Profitable poultry farming depends upon getting the greatest number of eggs from the birds by good breeding and management, and carrying enough birds to give a reasonable income
Is Tsallis thermodynamics nonextensive?
Within the Tsallis thermodynamics' framework, and using scaling properties of
the entropy, we derive a generalization of the Gibbs-Duhem equation. The
analysis suggests a transformation of variables that allows standard
thermodynamics to be recovered. Moreover, we also generalize Einstein's formula
for the probability of a fluctuation to occur by means of the maximum
statistical entropy method. The use of the proposed transformation of variables
also shows that fluctuations within Tsallis statistics can be mapped to those
of standard statistical mechanics.Comment: 4 pages, no figures, revised version, new title, accepted in PR
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