5,484 research outputs found
Distances and parallax bias in Gaia DR2
We derive Bayesian distances for all stars in the radial velocity sample of Gaia DR2, and use the statistical method of SchĂśnrich, Binney & Asplund to validate the distances and test the Gaia parallaxes. In contrast to other methods, which rely on special sources, our method directly tests the distances to all stars in our sample. We find clear evidence for a near-linear trend of distance bias f with distance s, proving a parallax offset δp. On average, we find δp=â0.054mas (parallaxes in Gaia DR2 need to be increased) when accounting for the parallax uncertainty underestimate in the Gaia set (compared to δp=â0.048mas on the raw parallax errors), with negligible formal error and a systematic uncertainty of about 0.006masâ . The value is in concordance with results from asteroseismic measurements, but differs from the much lower bias found on quasar samples. We further use our method to compile a comprehensive set of quality cuts in colour, apparent magnitude, and astrometric parameters. Lastly, we find that for this sample δp appears to strongly depend on Ďp (when including the additional 0.043masâ ) with a statistical confidence far in excess of 10Ď and a proportionality factor close to 1, though the dependence varies somewhat with Ďp. Correcting for the Ďp dependence also resolves otherwise unexplained correlations of the offset with the number of observation periods nvis and ecliptic latitude. Every study using Gaia DR2 parallaxes/distances should investigate the sensitivity of its results on the parallax biases described here and â for fainter samples â in the DR2 astrometry paper
Preoperative systemic inflammation predicts postoperative infectious complications in patients undergoing curative resection for colorectal cancer
The presence of systemic inflammation before surgery, as evidenced by the glasgow prognostic score (mGPS), predicts poor long-term survival in colorectal cancer. The aim was to examine the relationship between the preoperative mGPS and the development of postoperative complications in patients undergoing potentially curative resection for colorectal cancer. Patients (n=455) who underwent potentially curative resections between 2003 and 2007 were assessed consecutively, and details were recorded in a database. The majority of patients presented for elective surgery (85%) were over the age of 65 years (70%), were male (58%), were deprived (53%), and had TNM stage I/II disease (61%), had preoperative haemoglobin (56%), white cell count (87%) and mGPS 0 (58%) in the normal range. After surgery, 86 (19%) patients developed a postoperative complication; 70 (81%) of which were infectious complications. On multivariate analysis, peritoneal soiling (P<0.01), elevated preoperative white cell count (P<0.05) and mGPS (P<0.01) were independently associated with increased risk of developing a postoperative infection. In elective patients, only the mGPS (OR=1.75, 95% CI=1.17-2.63, P=0.007) was significantly associated with increased risk of developing a postoperative infection. Preoperative elevated mGPS predicts increased postoperative infectious complications in patients undergoing potentially curative resection for colorectal cancer
Digital Twins in Civil Infrastructure Systems
This research explores the existing definitions, concepts and applications surrounding the efficient implementation and use of digital twins (DTs) within civil infrastructure systems (CISs). The CISs within the scope of this research are as follows: transportation, energy, telecommunications, water and waste, as well as Smart Cities, which encompasses all of the previous. The research methodology consists of a review of current literature, a series of semi-structured interviews and a detailed survey. The outcome of this work is a refined definition of DTs within CISs, in addition to a set of recommendations for both future academic research and industry best practice
Properties of the superconducting state in a two-band model
Eliashberg theory is used to investigate the range of thermodynamic
properties possible within a two-band model for s-wave superconductivity and to
identify signatures of its two-band nature. We emphasize dimensionless BCS
ratios (those for the energy gaps, the specific heat jump and the negative of
its slope near Tc, the thermodynamic critical field Hc(0), and the normalized
slopes of the critical field and the penetration depth near Tc), which are no
longer universal even in weak coupling. We also give results for
temperature-dependent quantities, such as the penetration depth and the energy
gap. Results are presented both for microscopic parameters appropriate to MgB2
and for variations away from these. Strong coupling corrections are identified
and found to be significant. Analytic formulas are provided which show the role
played by the anisotropy in coupling in some special limits. Particular
emphasis is placed on small interband coupling and on the opposite limit of no
diagonal coupling. The effect of impurity scattering is considered,
particularly for the interband case.Comment: 20 pages, 14 figures, final version accepted in PR
Two-Band-Type Superconducting Instability in MgB2
Using the tight-binding method for the -bands in MgB, the Hubbard
on-site Coulomb interaction on two inequivalent boron -orbitals is
transformed into expressions in terms of -band operators. For scattering
processes relevant to the problemin which a wave vector {\bf q} is parallel to
, it is found to take a relatively simple form consisting of
intra-band Coulomb scattering, interband pair scattering etc. with large
constant coupling constants. This allows to get a simple expression for the
amplitude of interband pair scattering between two -bands, which diverges
if the interband polarization function in it becomes large enough.The latter
was approximately evaluated and found to be largely enhanced in the band
structure in MgB. These results lead to a divergent interband pair
scattering, meaning two-band-type superconducting instability with enhanced
. Adding a subsidiary BCS attractive interaction in each band into
consideration, a semi-quantitative gap equation is given, and and isotope
exponent are derived. The present instability is asserted to be the
origin of high in MgB.Comment: 4 pages, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. vol. 70, No.
Tunneling spectra of strongly coupled superconductors: Role of dimensionality
We investigate numerically the signatures of collective modes in the
tunneling spectra of superconductors. The larger strength of the signatures
observed in the high-Tc superconductors, as compared to classical low-Tc
materials, is explained by the low dimensionality of these layered compounds.
We also show that the strong-coupling structures are dips (zeros in the d2I/dV2
spectrum) in d-wave superconductors, rather than the steps (peaks in d2I/dV2)
observed in classical s-wave superconductors. Finally we question the
usefulness of effective density of states models for the analysis of tunneling
data in d-wave superconductors.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
Random Fixed Point of Three-Dimensional Random-Bond Ising Models
The fixed-point structure of three-dimensional bond-disordered Ising models
is investigated using the numerical domain-wall renormalization-group method.
It is found that, in the +/-J Ising model, there exists a non-trivial fixed
point along the phase boundary between the paramagnetic and ferromagnetic
phases. The fixed-point Hamiltonian of the +/-J model numerically coincides
with that of the unfrustrated random Ising models, strongly suggesting that
both belong to the same universality class. Another fixed point corresponding
to the multicritical point is also found in the +/-J model. Critical properties
associated with the fixed point are qualitatively consistent with theoretical
predictions.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Journal of the Physical
Society of Japa
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