75 research outputs found
A 15.65 solar mass black hole in an eclipsing binary in the nearby spiral galaxy Messier 33
Stellar-mass black holes are discovered in X-ray emitting binary systems,
where their mass can be determined from the dynamics of their companion stars.
Models of stellar evolution have difficulty producing black holes in close
binaries with masses >10 solar masses, which is consistent with the fact that
the most massive stellar black holes known so all have masses within 1 sigma of
10 solar masses. Here we report a mass of 15.65 +/- 1.45 solar masses for the
black hole in the recently discovered system M33 X-7, which is located in the
nearby galaxy Messier 33 (M33) and is the only known black hole that is in an
eclipsing binary. In order to produce such a massive black hole, the progenitor
star must have retained much of its outer envelope until after helium fusion in
the core was completed. On the other hand, in order for the black hole to be in
its present 3.45 day orbit about its 70.0 +/- 6.9 solar mass companion, there
must have been a ``common envelope'' phase of evolution in which a significant
amount of mass was lost from the system. We find the common envelope phase
could not have occured in M33 X-7 unless the amount of mass lost from the
progenitor during its evolution was an order of magnitude less than what is
usually assumed in evolutionary models of massive stars.Comment: To appear in Nature October 18, 2007. Four figures (one color figure
degraded). Differs slightly from published version. Supplementary Information
follows in a separate postin
Structural analysis of the factors pertaining to attitudes toward and consciousness of organ donation : Comparison between Japanese and Americans
The purpose of this study is to analyze the background factors relating to opinions on organ donation through factorial and structural comparisons between Japanese and Americans. The data were obtained from responses to a questionnaire (371 Japanese and 41 Americans).
The main findings are as follows:
1. Most of the factors, ‘a will for organ donation depending on a recipient’, ‘view of remains’, ‘understanding of brain death’ and so on showed significant differences between Japanese and Americans.
2. Japanese had a better understanding of brain death. On the other hand, the ratio of Americans who were willing to donate an organ was higher than that of Japanese.
3. It was revealed that “the approval of organ donation for the third person, not only for one's family” had an impact for having donor card showing the approval for organ donation. Furthermore, as underlying factors generating differences on organ transplant opinions, differences were found among Japanese between “approval of organ transplant” and the attitude assuming that oneself or a member of one's family was the person concerned with organ transplantation. There were also differences between Japanese and Americans on ideas about a view for life and death such as soul existence or view of remains.
The argument for transplantation in Japan should consider these structural differences
Youth and Nigeria’s Internal Security Management
One of the major challenges confronting Nigeria is insecurity which hinders national
development. The problem of insecurity includes menace of ethnic militias across the
country, insurgency in the north, militancy in the Niger Delta, kidnapping, armed
robbery and cultism all over the country. The government and other partners recognise
that national security is a precondition for maintaining the survival, growth and
development of a State. It is also well known that the army of unemployed and idle
youth population of the country is the major group perpetrating these security
problems across the country. Given the realisation of the government that the problem
of insecurity needs to be tackled as panacea to the socio-economic development of the
country, several solutions have been applied. The option of youth empowerment is
believed to possess the capacity of not only keeping the youth busy but putting food on
their table and thereby making incentive to engage in actions that promote insecurity
unattractive. The youth empowerment programmes including the Amnesty
Programme, YouWin and N-Power, among others, were some of the programmes
implemented. What is the impact of these programmes as a strategy of managing
insecurity in the country? To what extent are these programmes impacting on the
socio-political and economic development of the country? What are the challenges in
the implementation of these programmes? This chapter attempts to provide answers to
these questions. The data used in this chapter were collected largely from documentary
materials and analysed using descriptive analysis
Phono-spectrographic analysis of heart murmur in children
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens
Interferometric Observations of Rapidly Rotating Stars
Optical interferometry provides us with a unique opportunity to improve our
understanding of stellar structure and evolution. Through direct observation of
rotationally distorted photospheres at sub-milliarcsecond scales, we are now
able to characterize latitude dependencies of stellar radius, temperature
structure, and even energy transport. These detailed new views of stars are
leading to revised thinking in a broad array of associated topics, such as
spectroscopy, stellar evolution, and exoplanet detection. As newly advanced
techniques and instrumentation mature, this topic in astronomy is poised to
greatly expand in depth and influence.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&AR
Ammonia losses from surface-placed mixtures of urea-calcium-potassium salts in the presence of phosphorus
Effect of magnesium sulphate addition to urea on nitrogen loss due to ammonia volatilization
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