2,609 research outputs found
Pointing calibration of the MKIVA DSN antennas Voyager 2 Uranus encounter operations support
The MKIVA DSN introduced significant changes to the pointing systems of the 34-meter and 64-meter diameter antennas. To support the Voyager 2 Uranus Encounter, the systems had to be accurately calibrated. Reliable techniques for use of the calibrations during intense mission support activity had to be provided. This article describes the techniques used to make the antenna pointing calibrations and to demonstrate their operational use. The results of the calibrations are summarized
The Ethno- and Research History of the Lake Louise Field Station, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA
The history of the Lake Louise Field Station, from its 1951 purchase by George Leiby to its acquisition in 2009 by Valdosta State University, provides an interesting and varied look into the stewardship critical to teaching and research and the role played by the station in the development of the fields of paleoecology, paleotempestology and ethnohistory. During this 58-year period several individuals played critical roles in the development of this 76.9 hectare field station as a natural area for teaching and research. Notable among them were George and Louise Leiby who, working with Leo Lorenzo and Clyde Connell, set aside the station as a natural area for teaching and research. From the 1960s to the present, WA Watts, H Grissino-Mayer, J Tepper, D Hyatt, and J Pascarella and others have conducted research that has provided critical insight into the history and ecology of the area extending to 47,000 BP
The Overlooked Potential of Generalized Linear Models in Astronomy-III: Bayesian Negative Binomial Regression and Globular Cluster Populations
In this paper, the third in a series illustrating the power of generalized
linear models (GLMs) for the astronomical community, we elucidate the potential
of the class of GLMs which handles count data. The size of a galaxy's globular
cluster population is a prolonged puzzle in the astronomical
literature. It falls in the category of count data analysis, yet it is usually
modelled as if it were a continuous response variable. We have developed a
Bayesian negative binomial regression model to study the connection between
and the following galaxy properties: central black hole mass,
dynamical bulge mass, bulge velocity dispersion, and absolute visual magnitude.
The methodology introduced herein naturally accounts for heteroscedasticity,
intrinsic scatter, errors in measurements in both axes (either discrete or
continuous), and allows modelling the population of globular clusters on their
natural scale as a non-negative integer variable. Prediction intervals of 99%
around the trend for expected comfortably envelope the data,
notably including the Milky Way, which has hitherto been considered a
problematic outlier. Finally, we demonstrate how random intercept models can
incorporate information of each particular galaxy morphological type. Bayesian
variable selection methodology allows for automatically identifying galaxy
types with different productions of GCs, suggesting that on average S0 galaxies
have a GC population 35% smaller than other types with similar brightness.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Relation of vertebral deformities to bone density, structure, and strength.
Because they are not reliably discriminated by areal bone mineral density (aBMD) measurements, it is unclear whether minimal vertebral deformities represent early osteoporotic fractures. To address this, we compared 90 postmenopausal women with no deformity (controls) with 142 women with one or more semiquantitative grade 1 (mild) deformities and 51 women with any grade 2-3 (moderate/severe) deformities. aBMD was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), lumbar spine volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) and geometry by quantitative computed tomography (QCT), bone microstructure by high-resolution peripheral QCT at the radius (HRpQCT), and vertebral compressive strength and load-to-strength ratio by finite-element analysis (FEA) of lumbar spine QCT images. Compared with controls, women with grade 1 deformities had significantly worse values for many bone density, structure, and strength parameters, although deficits all were much worse for the women with grade 2-3 deformities. Likewise, these skeletal parameters were more strongly associated with moderate to severe than with mild deformities by age-adjusted logistic regression. Nonetheless, grade 1 vertebral deformities were significantly associated with four of the five main variable categories assessed: bone density (lumbar spine vBMD), bone geometry (vertebral apparent cortical thickness), bone strength (overall vertebral compressive strength by FEA), and load-to-strength ratio (45-degree forward bending ÷ vertebral compressive strength). Thus significantly impaired bone density, structure, and strength compared with controls indicate that many grade 1 deformities do represent early osteoporotic fractures, with corresponding implications for clinical decision making
Short small-polaron lifetime in the mixed-valence perovskite CsAuI from high-pressure pump-probe experiments
We study the ultrafast phonon response of mixed-valence perovskite
CsAuI using pump-probe spectroscopy under high-pressure in a
diamond anvil cell. We observed a remarkable softening and broadening of the Au
- I stretching phonon mode with both applied pressure and photoexcitation.
Using a double-pump scheme we measured a lifetime of the charge transfer
excitation into single valence Au of less than 4 ps, which is an
indication of the local character of the Au excitation. Furthermore, the
strong similarity between the pressure and fluence dependence of the phonon
softening shows that the inter-valence charge transfer plays an important role
in the structural transition.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Age-Dependence of Femoral Strength in White Women and Men
Although age-related variations in areal bone mineral density (aBMD) and the prevalence of osteoporosis have been well characterized, there is a paucity of data on femoral strength in the population. Addressing this issue, we used finite-element analysis of quantitative computed tomographic scans to assess femoral strength in an age-stratified cohort of 362 women and 317 men, aged 21 to 89 years, randomly sampled from the population of Rochester, MN, and compared femoral strength with femoral neck aBMD. Percent reductions over adulthood were much greater for femoral strength (55% in women, 39% in men) than for femoral neck aBMD (26% in women, 21% in men), an effect that was accentuated in women. Notable declines in strength started in the mid-40s for women and one decade later for men. At advanced age, most of the strength deficit for women compared with men was a result of this decade-earlier onset of strength loss for women, this factor being more important than sex-related differences in peak bone strength and annual rates of bone loss. For both sexes, the prevalence of “low femoral strength” (<3000 N) was much higher than the prevalence of osteoporosis (femoral neck aBMD T-score of −2.5 or less). We conclude that age-related declines in femoral strength are much greater than suggested by age-related declines in femoral neck aBMD. Further, far more of the elderly may be at high risk of hip fracture because of low femoral strength than previously assumed based on the traditional classification of osteoporosis. © 2010 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
Magnetic field driven 2D-3D crossover in the S=12 frustrated chain magnet LiCuVO4
We report on a heat-capacity study of high-quality single-crystal samples of LiCuVO4 — a frustrated spin S = 1/2 chain system—in a magnetic field amounting to 3/4 of the saturation field. A detailed examination of magnetic phase transitions observed in this field range shows that although the low-field helical state clearly has three-dimensional properties, the field-induced spin-modulated phase turns out to be quasi-two-dimensional. The model proposed in this paper allows one to qualitatively understand this crossover, thus eliminating the presently existing contradictions in the interpretations of NMR and neutron-scattering measurements
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