6,925 research outputs found
Investigation of peak shapes in the MIBETA experiment calibrations
In calorimetric neutrino mass experiments, where the shape of a beta decay
spectrum has to be precisely measured, the understanding of the detector
response function is a fundamental issue. In the MIBETA neutrino mass
experiment, the X-ray lines measured with external sources did not have
Gaussian shapes, but exhibited a pronounced shoulder towards lower energies. If
this shoulder were a general feature of the detector response function, it
would distort the beta decay spectrum and thus mimic a non-zero neutrino mass.
An investigation was performed to understand the origin of the shoulder and its
potential influence on the beta spectrum. First, the peaks were fitted with an
analytic function in order to determine quantitatively the amount of events
contributing to the shoulder, also depending on the energy of the calibration
X-rays. In a second step, Montecarlo simulations were performed to reproduce
the experimental spectrum and to understand the origin of its shape. We
conclude that at least part of the observed shoulder can be attributed to a
surface effect
WATCAT: a tale of wide-angle tailed radio galaxies
We present a catalog of 47 wide-angle tailed radio galaxies (WATs), the
WATCAT; these galaxies were selected by combining observations from the
National Radio Astronomy Observatory/Very Large Array Sky Survey (NVSS), the
Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters (FIRST), and the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), and mainly built including a radio morphological
classification. We included in the catalog only radio sources showing two-sided
jets with two clear "warmspots" (i.e., jet knots as bright as 20% of the
nucleus) lying on the opposite side of the radio core, and having classical
extended emission resembling a plume beyond them. The catalog is limited to
redshifts z 0.15, and lists only sources with radio emission extended
beyond 30 kpc from the host galaxy. We found that host galaxies of WATCAT
sources are all luminous (-20.5 Mr -23.7), red early-type
galaxies with black hole masses in the range M M. The spectroscopic classification indicates that they
are all low-excitation galaxies (LEGs). Comparing WAT multifrequency properties
with those of FRI and FRII radio galaxies at the same redshifts, we conclude
that WATs show multifrequency properties remarkably similar to FRI radio
galaxies, having radio power of typical FRIIs
Nonlinear Dynamics of a Bose-Einstein Condensate in a Magnetic Waveguide
We have studied the internal and external dynamics of a Bose-Einstein
condensate in an anharmonic magnetic waveguide. An oscillating condensate
experiences a strong coupling between the center of mass motion and the
internal collective modes. Due to the anharmonicity of the magnetic potential,
not only the center of mass motion shows harmonic frequency generation, but
also the internal dynamics exhibit nonlinear frequency mixing. We describe the
data with a theoretical model to high accuracy. For strong excitations we test
the experimental data for indications of a chaotic behavior.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Thermal Instability and the Formation of Clumpy Gas Clouds
The radiative cooling of optically thin gaseous regions and the formation of
a two-phase medium and of cold gas clouds with a clumpy substructure is
investigated. In optically thin clouds, the growth rate of small isobaric
density perturbations is independent of their length scale. However, the growth
of a perturbation is limited by its transition from isobaric to isochoric
cooling. The temperature at which this transition occurs decreases with the
length scale of the perturbation. Consequently small scale perturbations have
the potential to reach higher amplitudes than large scale perturbations. When
the amplitude becomes nonlinear, advection overtakes the pressure gradient in
promoting the compression resulting in an accelerated growth of the
disturbance. The critical temperature for transition depends on the initial
amplitude. The fluctuations which can first reach nonlinearity before their
isobaric to isochoric transition will determine the characteristic size and
mass of the cold dense clumps which would emerge from the cooling of an
initially nearly homogeneous region of gas. Thermal conduction is in general
very efficient in erasing isobaric, small-scale fluctuations, suppressing a
cooling instability. A weak, tangled magnetic field can however reduce the
conductive heat flux enough for low-amplitude fluctuations to grow isobarically
and become non-linear if their length scales are of order 0.01 pc. Finally, we
demonstrate how a 2-phase medium, with cold clumps being pressure confined in a
diffuse hot residual background component, would be sustained if there is
adequate heating to compensate the energy loss.Comment: 26 pages, Latex, 10 postscript figures, ApJ, in pres
Development of a decision analytic model to support decision making and risk communication about thrombolytic treatment
Background
Individualised prediction of outcomes can support clinical and shared decision making. This paper describes the building of such a model to predict outcomes with and without intravenous thrombolysis treatment following ischaemic stroke.
Methods
A decision analytic model (DAM) was constructed to establish the likely balance of benefits and risks of treating acute ischaemic stroke with thrombolysis. Probability of independence, (modified Rankin score mRS ≤ 2), dependence (mRS 3 to 5) and death at three months post-stroke was based on a calibrated version of the Stroke-Thrombolytic Predictive Instrument using data from routinely treated stroke patients in the Safe Implementation of Treatments in Stroke (SITS-UK) registry. Predictions in untreated patients were validated using data from the Virtual International Stroke Trials Archive (VISTA). The probability of symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage in treated patients was incorporated using a scoring model from Safe Implementation of Thrombolysis in Stroke-Monitoring Study (SITS-MOST) data.
Results
The model predicts probabilities of haemorrhage, death, independence and dependence at 3-months, with and without thrombolysis, as a function of 13 patient characteristics. Calibration (and inclusion of additional predictors) of the Stroke-Thrombolytic Predictive Instrument (S-TPI) addressed issues of under and over prediction. Validation with VISTA data confirmed that assumptions about treatment effect were just. The C-statistics for independence and death in treated patients in the DAM were 0.793 and 0.771 respectively, and 0.776 for independence in untreated patients from VISTA.
Conclusions
We have produced a DAM that provides an estimation of the likely benefits and risks of thrombolysis for individual patients, which has subsequently been embedded in a computerised decision aid to support better decision-making and informed consent
Diffraction of a Bose-Einstein condensate from a Magnetic Lattice on a Micro Chip
We experimentally study the diffraction of a Bose-Einstein condensate from a
magnetic lattice, realized by a set of 372 parallel gold conductors which are
micro fabricated on a silicon substrate. The conductors generate a periodic
potential for the atoms with a lattice constant of 4 microns. After exposing
the condensate to the lattice for several milliseconds we observe diffraction
up to 5th order by standard time of flight imaging techniques. The experimental
data can be quantitatively interpreted with a simple phase imprinting model.
The demonstrated diffraction grating offers promising perspectives for the
construction of an integrated atom interferometer.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Advanced subsonic transport propulsion
A brief review of the current NASA Energy Efficient Engine (E(3)) Project is presented. Included in this review are the factors that influenced the design of these turbofan engines and the advanced technology incorporated in them to reduce fuel consumption and improve environmental characteristics. In addition, factors such as the continuing spiral in fuel cost, that could influence future aircraft propulsion systems beyond those represented by the E(3) engines, are also discussed. Advanced technologies that will address these influencing factors and provide viable future propulsion systems are described. The potential importance of other propulsion system types, such as geared fans and turboshaft engines, is presented
The Hard X-Ray View of Reflection, Absorption, and the Disk-Jet Connection in the Radio-Loud AGN 3C 33
We present results from Suzaku and Swift observations of the nearby radio
galaxy 3C 33, and investigate the nature of absorption, reflection, and jet
production in this source. We model the 0.5-100 keV nuclear continuum with a
power law that is transmitted either through one or more layers of pc-scale
neutral material, or through a modestly ionized pc-scale obscurer. The standard
signatures of reflection from a neutral accretion disk are absent in 3C 33:
there is no evidence of a relativistically blurred Fe K emission line,
and no Compton reflection hump above 10 keV. We find the upper limit to the
neutral reflection fraction is R<0.41 for an e-folding energy of 1 GeV. We
observe a narrow, neutral Fe K line, which is likely to originate at
least 2,000 R_s from the black hole. We show that the weakness of reflection
features in 3C 33 is consistent with two interpretations: either the inner
accretion flow is highly ionized, or the black-hole spin configuration is
retrograde with respect to the accreting material.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in Ap
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