239 research outputs found
The properties of highly luminous IRAS galaxies
From a complete sample of 154 galaxies identified with IRAS sources in a 304 sq deg area centered on the South Galactic Pole, a subsample of 58 galaxies with L sub IR/L sub B > 3 was chosen. Low resolution spectra were obtained for 30% of the subsample and redshifts and relative emission line intensities were derived. As a class these galaxies are very luminous with = 2.9 x 10 to the 11th power L sub 0 and (L sub IR) max = 1.3 x 10 to the 12th power L sub 0. CCD images and JHK photometry were obtained for many of the subsample. The galaxies are for the most part newly identified and are optically faint, with a majority showing evidence of a recent interaction. Radio continuum observations of all galaxies of the subsample were recently obtained at 20 cm VLA with about 75% being detected in a typical integration time of about 10 minutes
An Incremental Learning Method to Support the Annotation of Workflows with Data-to-Data Relations
Workflow formalisations are often focused on the representation of a process with the primary objective to support execution. However, there are scenarios where what needs to be represented is the effect of the process on the data artefacts involved, for example when reasoning over the corresponding data policies. This can be achieved by annotating the workflow with the semantic relations that occur between these data artefacts. However, manually producing such annotations is difficult and time consuming. In this paper we introduce a method based on recommendations to support users in this task. Our approach is centred on an incremental rule association mining technique that allows to compensate the cold start problem due to the lack of a training set of annotated workflows. We discuss the implementation of a tool relying on this approach and how its application on an existing repository of workflows effectively enable the generation of such annotations
BioCatalogue: a universal catalogue of web services for the life sciences
The use of Web Services to enable programmatic access to on-line bioinformatics is becoming increasingly important in the Life Sciences. However, their number, distribution and the variable quality of their documentation can make their discovery and subsequent use difficult. A Web Services registry with information on available services will help to bring together service providers and their users. The BioCatalogue (http://www.biocatalogue.org/) provides a common interface for registering, browsing and annotating Web Services to the Life Science community. Services in the BioCatalogue can be described and searched in multiple ways based upon their technical types, bioinformatics categories, user tags, service providers or data inputs and outputs. They are also subject to constant monitoring, allowing the identification of service problems and changes and the filtering-out of unavailable or unreliable resources. The system is accessible via a human-readable âWeb 2.0â-style interface and a programmatic Web Service interface. The BioCatalogue follows a community approach in which all services can be registered, browsed and incrementally documented with annotations by any member of the scientific community
Systematic identification of IRAS point sources
A large scale program was initiated to identify IRAS point sources. At ROE the ideal facilities are at hand to undertake such a large program, viz. the rapid scanning capabilities of the COSMOS measuring machine to exploit the depth and resolution of the U.K. Schmidt Telescope J survey plates. Sources in 44 Schmidt plate areas were identified including 1300 sources and covering 1100 square degrees. The identification comprise 700 galaxy identifications and 600 stellar identifications. There are also about 40 sources with no obvious identification but which can be most easily explained by cirrus, confusion between two sources or sources just outside the 2 sigma error box. A major aim with the galaxy identification is to provide a data base from which sound statistical analyses can be made. Accurate blue magnitudes and morphological classifications for each identification were produced
Clear vision: a step towards unravelling student recruitment in English universities?
Purpose The recruitment of undergraduate students within English universities is of vital importance to both the academic success and the financial stability of the organisation. Despite the primacy of the task, there has been a dearth of research looking at related performance and how to ensure that the process is optimised. The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree of variation both within a university and between different universities. The reliance that individual programmes and/or universities place on the Clearing process is key; given its uncertainty, resource demands and timing shortly before students take up their places. Design/methodology/approach The Nomogramma di Gandy diagrammatical approach utilises readily available data to analyse universitiesâ performance in recruiting students to different programmes, and the degree to which they each rely of the Clearing process. Inter-university performance was investigated on a whole-student intake basis for a sample of English universities, representative of type and region. Findings The study found that there were disparate patterns for the many programmes within the pilot university and also disparate patterns between different types of universities across England. Accordingly, universities should internally benchmark their programmes to inform both strategic and tactical decision-making. Similarly, Universities and Colleges Admissions Service benchmarking inter-university patterns could inform the overall sector. Originality/value The approach and findings provide lessons for analysing student recruitment which could be critical to universitiesâ academic and financial health, in an increasingly competitive environment
Error Analysis for Dual-Beam Optical Linear Polarimetry
In this paper we present an error analysis for polarimetric data obtained
with dual-beam instruments. After recalling the basic concepts, we introduce
the analytical expressions for the uncertainties of polarization degree and
angle. These are then compared with the results of Monte-Carlo simulations,
which are also used to briefly discuss the statistical bias. Then we approach
the problem of background subtraction and the errors introduced by a
non-perfect Wollaston prism, flat-fielding and retarder plate defects. We
finally investigate the effects of instrumental polarization and we propose a
simple test to detect and characterize it. The application of this method to
real VLT-FORS1 data has shown the presence of a spurious polarization, which is
of the order of 1.5% at the edges of the field of view. The cause of this
effect has been identified with the presence of rather curved lenses in the
collimator, combined with the non complete removal of reflections by the
coatings. This problem is probably common to all focal-reducer instruments
equipped with a polarimetric mode. An additional spurious and asymmetric
polarization field, whose cause is still unclear, is visible in the B band.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in PAS
Evidence For A Precessing Accretion Disk in the Nucleus of NGC 1097
We present new spectroscopic observations of the LINER (and now Seyfert 1)
nucleus of NGC 1097, and discuss the evolution of its broad, double-peaked
Balmer lines. When originally discovered in 1991, the red peak of the
double-peaked H-alpha line was stronger than the blue, while by 1994 the
H-alpha profile had become almost symmetric and the integrated line flux had
decreased to half its original value. Our new spectrum, taken in 1996, shows
that the broad, double-peaked lines have returned to almost their original
strengths, the profiles of H-beta and H-alpha are identical to within errors,
and the broad-line emitting region is unreddened. However, the profile of the
Balmer lines is now such that the blue peak is stronger than the red, opposite
to the asymmetry observed in 1991. Various models are considered for the
observed behavior, all assuming that the emission lines originate in an
accretion disk. We present a refined version of the precessing, planar,
elliptical accretion ring model proposed by Storchi-Bergmann et al. and
Eracleous et al. This model provides an acceptable fit to the line profiles. We
also consider the possibility that the line profile evolution results from a
precessing warp in the disk, induced by irradiation from the center, and show
that the range of radii and precession time scales expected in this model are
consistent with the observations. The sudden appearance of the "disk-like"
broad line profiles in NGC 1097 could have resulted from the formation of a new
accretion disk due to, for example, the tidal disruption of a star, or the
illumination of a pre-existing disk by a transient ionizing source at the
center of the disk.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. TeX file with
5 postscript figures embeded using psfig.tex, 13 page
The Far-Infrared Spectral Energy Distributions of X-ray-selected Active Galaxies
[Abridged] We present ISO far-infrared (IR) observations of 21 hard X-ray
selected AGN from the HEAO-1 A2 sample. We compare the far-IR to X-ray spectral
energy distributions (SEDs) of this sample with various radio and optically
selected AGN samples. The hard-X-ray selected sample shows a wider range of
optical/UV shapes extending to redder near-IR colors. The bluer objects are
Seyfert 1s, while the redder AGN are mostly intermediate or type 2 Seyferts.
This is consistent with a modified unification model in which the amount of
obscuring material increases with viewing angle and may be clumpy. Such a
scenario, already suggested by differing optical/near-IR spectroscopic and
X-ray AGN classifications, allows for different amounts of obscuration of the
continuum emission in different wavebands and of the broad emission line region
which results in a mixture of behaviors for AGN with similar optical emission
line classifications. The resulting limits on the column density of obscuring
material through which we are viewing the redder AGN are 100 times lower than
for the standard optically thick torus models. The resulting decrease in
optical depth of the obscuring material allows the AGN to heat more dust at
larger radial distances. We show that an AGN-heated, flared, dusty disk with
mass 10^9 solar and size of few hundred pc is able to generate optical-far-IR
SEDs which reproduce the wide range of SEDs present in our sample with no need
for an additional starburst component to generate the long-wavelength, cooler
part of the IR continuum.Comment: 40 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysical
Journal, V. 590, June 10, 200
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