489 research outputs found
The Trouble with Hubble Types in the Virgo Cluster
Quantitative measures of central light concentration and star formation
activity are derived from R and Halpha surface photometry of 84 bright S0-Scd
Virgo Cluster and isolated spiral galaxies. For isolated spirals, there is a
good correlation between these two parameters and assigned Hubble types. In the
Virgo Cluster, the correlation between central light concentration and star
formation activity is significantly weaker. Virgo Cluster spirals have
systematically reduced global star formation with respect to isolated spirals,
with severe reduction in the outer disk, but normal or enhanced activity in the
inner disk. Assigned Hubble types are thus inadequate to describe the range in
morphologies of bright Virgo Cluster spirals. In particular, spirals with
reduced global star formation activity are often assigned misleading early-type
classifications, irrespective of their central light concentrations. 45+-25% of
the galaxies classified as Sa in the Virgo Cluster sample have central light
concentrations more characteristic of isolated Sb-Sc galaxies. The misleading
classification of low concentration galaxies with low star formation rates as
early-type spirals may account for part of the excess of `early-type' spiral
galaxies in clusters. Thus the morphology-density relationship is not all due
to a systematic increase in the bulge-to-disk ratio with environmental density.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters. Latex aaspp4.sty, 9 pages, 2
Postscript (embedded) figures. Also available at
http://www.astro.yale.edu/koopmann/preprint.htm
An Atlas of H-alpha and R Images and Radial Profiles of 29 Bright Isolated Spiral Galaxies
Narrow-band H-alpha+[NII] and broadband R images and surface photometry are
presented for a sample of 29 bright (M_B < -18) isolated S0-Scd galaxies within
a distance of 48 Mpc. These galaxies are among the most isolated nearby spiral
galaxies of their Hubble classifications as determined from the Nearby Galaxies
Catalog (Tully 1987a).Comment: To appear in Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 17 pages,
including 8 atlas pages in JPEG format. Version with high resolution figures
available at http://www1.union.edu/~koopmanr/preprints.htm
Direct medical costs of type 2 diabetes and its complications in Switzerland
Background: This paper analyses the direct medical costs of type 2 diabetes and its complications in Switzerland. Methods: Individual healthcare resource consumption related to type 2 diabetes and its complications was determined retrospectively in 1479 non-incident and non-dying patients over 12 months (1998-1999). Literature-derived attributable risks were used to correct for non-diabetes related macrovascular disease. Results: A total of 111 primary care physicians from 19 cantons throughout Switzerland participated. Their diabetic patients on average had 10.3 consultations per year related to this disease (95% CI: 10.0-10.7). Patients spent on average 2.7 days (95% CI: 2.2-3.3) per year in hospital due to diabetes and diabetes-related complications. Mean annual type 2 diabetes-related direct medical costs per patient amounted to CHF 3,508 / € 2,323 (95% CI: CHF 3,140-3,876 / € 2,080-2,567). They were particularly high in patients with insulin treatment or with complications. After application of attributable risks and a correction for the use of adjuvant materials, costs were CHF 3,324 / € 2,201. Assuming 250,000 patients with type 2 diabetes in Switzerland leads to an estimate of CHF 0.88 billion spent for this disease and its complications in 1998. This represents a share of about 2.2% of the country's total healthcare expenditures. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate the high economic importance of type 2 diabetes and its complications in Switzerlan
Ongoing Gas Stripping in the Virgo Cluster Spiral NGC 4522
The Virgo cluster galaxy NGC 4522 is one of the best spiral candidates for
ICM-ISM stripping in action. Optical broadband and H-alpha images from the WIYN
telescope of the highly inclined galaxy reveal a relatively undisturbed stellar
disk and a peculiar distribution of H-alpha emission. Ten percent of the
H-alpha emission arises from extraplanar HII regions which appear to lie within
filamentary structures >3 kpc long above one side of the disk. The filaments
emerge from the outer edge of a disk of bright H-alpha emission which is
abruptly truncated beyond 0.35R(25). Together the truncated H-alpha disk and
extraplanar H-alpha filaments are reminiscent of a bow shock morphology, which
strongly suggests that the interstellar medium (ISM) of NGC 4522 is being
stripped by the gas pressure of the intracluster medium (ICM). The galaxy has a
line-of-sight velocity of 1300 km/sec with respect to the mean Virgo cluster
velocity, and thus is expected to experience a strong interaction with the
intracluster gas. The existence of HII regions apparently located above the
disk plane suggests that star formation is occuring in the stripped gas, and
that newly formed stars will enter the galaxy halo and/or intracluster space.
The absence of HII regions in the disk beyond 0.35R(25), and the existence of
HII regions in the stripped gas suggest that even molecular gas has been
effectively removed from the disk of the galaxy.Comment: to appear in The Astronomical Journal, 16 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl
The Stellar Populations of Stripped Spiral Galaxies in the Virgo Cluster
(Abridged) We present an analysis of the stellar populations of the
gas-stripped outer disks of ten Virgo Cluster spiral galaxies, utilizing
SparsePak integral field spectroscopy on the WIYN 3.5m telescope and GALEX UV
photometry. The galaxies in our sample show evidence for being gas-stripped
spiral galaxies, with star formation within a truncation radius, and a passive
population beyond the truncation radius. We find that all of the galaxies with
spatially truncated star formation have outer disk stellar populations
consistent with star formation ending within the last 500 Myr. The synthesis of
optical spectroscopy and GALEX observations demonstrate that star formation was
relatively constant until the quenching time, after which the galaxies
passively evolved. Large starbursts at the time of quenching are excluded for
all galaxies. For approximately half of our galaxies, timescales derived from
our observations are consistent with galaxies being stripped in or near the
cluster core, where simple ram-pressure estimates can explain the stripping.
However, the other half of our sample galaxies were clearly stripped outside
the cluster core. Such galaxies provide evidence that the intra-cluster medium
is not static and smooth. For three of our sample galaxies, our stripping
timescales agree with those from the gas stripping simulations, suggesting that
star formation is quenched near the time of peak pressure. While the stripping
of star-forming gas in the outer disk creates a passive population in our
galaxies, there is still normal star formation in the center of our sample
galaxies. It may be that Virgo is not massive enough to completely strip these
spiral galaxies and, in a more dynamically active cluster or a cluster with a
higher density ICM, such a process would lead to passive spirals and/or S0s.Comment: 17 pages, 19 figures, accepted for publication in AJ. Replaced
submission corrects Table names and matches figure style of Journal articl
Weak- to strong pinning crossover
Material defects in hard type II superconductors pin the flux lines and thus
establish the dissipation-free current transport in the presence of a finite
magnetic field. Depending on the density and pinning force of the defects and
the vortex density, pinning is either weak-collective or strong. We analyze the
weak- to strong pinning crossover of vortex matter in disordered
superconductors and discuss the peak effect appearing naturally in this
context.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
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