4,704 research outputs found
A Bayesian Approach to Estimate the Size and Structure of the Broad-line Region in Active Galactic Nuclei Using Reverberation Mapping Data
This is the first paper in a series devoted to systematic study of the size
and structure of the broad-line region (BLR) in active galactic nuclei (AGNs)
using reverberation mapping (RM) data. We employ a recently developed Bayesian
approach that statistically describes the variabibility as a damped random walk
process and delineates the BLR structure using a flexible disk geometry that
can account for a variety of shapes, including disks, rings, shells, and
spheres. We allow for the possibility that the line emission may respond
non-linearly to the continuum, and we detrend the light curves when there is
clear evidence for secular variation. We use a Markov Chain Monte Carlo
implementation based on Bayesian statistics to recover the parameters and
uncertainties for the BLR model. The corresponding transfer function is
obtained self-consistently. We tentatively constrain the virial factor used to
estimate black hole masses; more accurate determinations will have to await
velocity-resolved RM data. Application of our method to RM data with Hbeta
monitoring for about 40 objects shows that the assumed BLR geometry can
reproduce quite well the observed emission-line fluxes from the continuum light
curves. We find that the Hbeta BLR sizes obtained from our method are on
average ~20% larger than those derived from the traditional cross-correlation
method. Nevertheless, we still find a tight BLR size-luminosity relation with a
slope of alpha=0.55\pm0.03 and an intrinsic scatter of ~0.18 dex. In
particular, we demonstrate that our approach yields appropriate BLR sizes for
some objects (such as Mrk 142 and PG 2130+099) where traditional methods
previously encountered difficulties.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables; minor reversion to match the
published versio
Local Cyber-physical Attack with Leveraging Detection in Smart Grid
A well-designed attack in the power system can cause an initial failure and
then results in large-scale cascade failure. Several works have discussed power
system attack through false data injection, line-maintaining attack, and
line-removing attack. However, the existing methods need to continuously attack
the system for a long time, and, unfortunately, the performance cannot be
guaranteed if the system states vary. To overcome this issue, we consider a new
type of attack strategy called combinational attack which masks a line-outage
at one position but misleads the control center on line outage at another
position. Therefore, the topology information in the control center is
interfered by our attack. We also offer a procedure of selecting the vulnerable
lines of its kind. The proposed method can effectively and continuously deceive
the control center in identifying the actual position of line-outage. The
system under attack will be exposed to increasing risks as the attack
continuously. Simulation results validate the efficiency of the proposed attack
strategy.Comment: Accepted by IEEE SmartGridComm 201
Determinants and Impacts of the Relative Use of Depository Receipts and Euro Convertible Bonds by High-tech Corporations: An Empirical Study
This paper adopts Taiwan's high-tech companies as the sample to address and examine four new determinants of various foreign financing instruments and test their impacts on the issuing firms. Our empirical findings are consistent with the following notions. First, the firms with higher foreign holding and foreign investment will be likely to adopt foreign financing policy. Moreover, the firms with higher stock dividend payment in Taiwan will adopt both of ECB (Euro convertible bond) and DR (depository receipt). Firm managers with better education background will prefer DR. Second, the use of DR can effectively decrease the volatility of stock returns but also pronounce a negative influence on the mean of stock returns. In contrast, the use of ECB can effectively increase the mean but can not significantly decrease the volatility.
Fuzzy Spheres in AdS/CFT Correspondence and Holography from Noncommutativity
We show that the existent fuzzy S^2 and S^4 models are natural candidates for
the quantum geometry on the corresponding spheres in AdS/CFT correspondence.
These models fit nicely the data from the dipole mechanism for the stringy
exclusion principle. In the AdS_2 X S^2 case, we show that a wrapped fractional
membrane can be used to count for the large ground state degeneracy. We also
propose a fuzzy AdS_2 model whose fundamental commutation relation may underlie
the UV/IR connection.Comment: 17 pages, one comment and reference adde
The Association between Traditional Chinese Dietary and Herbal Therapies and Uterine Involution in Postpartum Women
Background. Traditional Chinese postpartum care is believed to help in the recovery of women after delivery. Objective. This study investigated the association of elements in dietary and herbal therapy with uterine involution. Methods. Indices of uterine involution were measured ultrasonographically in 127 postpartum women between 4-6 weeks after delivery. A self-reported retrospective questionnaire was used to query women about their frequencies of taking herbal medicines and consuming special diets during the first month after delivery. Correlation coefficients were calculated to identify the associations, then the regression models were used to identify the predictors. Result. Among the herbal medicines and diet, consumption of Eucommia ulmoides (E. ulmoides) negatively correlated with the AP diameter of the uterus and the cavity. E. ulmoides was also the only predictor of maximum AP diameter of the uterus, AP diameter of the uterus 5 cm from the fundus, and the maximum AP diameter of the cavity. Moreover, consumption of Sheng-hau-tang was significantly correlated with anteverted uterus and was a predictor of anteverted uterus. Conclusion. E. ulmoides and Sheng-hau-tang positively correlated with the degree of uterine involution after delivery, implying that both therapies might possess the pharmacological efficacy of uterine contraction in postpartum women
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