Searching for Millisecond Pulsars: Surveys, Techniques and Prospects

Searches for millisecond pulsars (which we here loosely define as those with periods $<$ 20 ms) in the Galactic field have undergone a renaissance in the past five years. New or recently refurbished radio telescopes utilizing cooled receivers and state-of-the art digital data acquisition systems are carrying out surveys of the entire sky at a variety of radio frequencies. Targeted searches for millisecond pulsars in point sources identified by the {\it Fermi} Gamma-ray Space Telescope have proved phenomenally successful, with over 50 discoveries in the past five years. The current sample of millisecond pulsars now numbers almost 200 and, for the first time in 25 years, now outnumbers their counterparts in Galactic globular clusters. While many of these searches are motivated to find pulsars which form part of pulsar timing arrays, a wide variety of interesting systems are now being found. Following a brief overview of the millisecond pulsar phenomenon, we describe these searches and present some of the highlights of the new discoveries in the past decade. We conclude with predictions and prospects for ongoing and future surveys.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Classical and Quantum gravit

Near-infrared Observations of Nova V574 Puppis (2004)

We present results obtained from extensive near-infrared spectroscopic and photometric observations of nova V574 Pup during its 2004 outburst. The observations were obtained over four months, starting from 2004 November 25 (four days after the nova outburst) to 2005 March 20. The near-IR JHK light curve is presented - no evidence is seen from it for dust formation to have occurred during our observations. In the early decline phase, the JHK spectra of the nova are dominated by emission lines of hydrogen Brackett and Paschen series, OI, CI and HeI. We also detect the fairly uncommon Fe II line at 1.6872 micron in the early part of our observations. The strengths of the HeI lines at 1.0830 micron and 2.0585 micron are found to become very strong towards the end of the observations indicating a progression towards higher excitation conditions in the nova ejecta. The width of the emission lines do not show any significant change during the course of our observations. The slope of the continuum spectrum was found to have a lambda^{-2.75} dependence in the early stages which gradually becomes flatter with time and changes to a free-free spectral dependence towards the later stages. Recombination analysis of the HI lines shows deviations from Case B conditions during the initial stages. However, towards the end of our observations, the line strengths are well simulated with case B model values with electron density n_e = 10^{9-10} cm^{-3} and a temperature equal to 10^4 K. Based on our distance estimate to the nova of 5.5 kpc and the observed free-free continuum emission in the later part of the observations, we estimate the ionized mass of the ejecta to be between 10^{-5} and 10^{-6} solar-mass.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA

Notes on the First Rearing and Introduction of Esox masquinongy in Iowa Waters

The Iowa State Conservation Commission purchased 1,535 muskellunge (3/4 to 1-inch fry) in 1960, from Kenu, a Land-O-Lakes, Wisconsin commercial fish hatchery. Siewers Spring State Fish Hatchery and rearing pond facilities were used for the experimental rearing project. Eighty-five fish survived the June 7 to September 30 rearing period. Forty fish were stocked in each of the following Iowa lakes: West Okoboji, Dickinson County and Clear Lake, Cerro Gordo County. Two specimens have subsequently been recovered and identified from each lake

Comment on 'Non-equilibrium thermodynamics of light absorption'

A recent paper by Meszéna and Westerhoff (1999 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 32 301) has aimed to address what is referred to as a principal question of biological thermodynamics, the possibility of describing photosynthesis in terms of non-equilibrium thermodynamics. The issue is associated with a misrepresentation of the fundamental photophysics involved, and as a result the analysis is invalid

A scalable method for automatically measuring pharyngeal pumping in C. elegans

Background: The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is widely used for studying small neural circuits underlying behavior. In particular, the rhythmic feeding motions collectively termed pharyngeal pumping are regulated by a nearly autonomous network of 20 neurons of 14 types. Despite much progress achieved through laser ablation, genetics, electrophysiology, and optogenetics, key questions regarding the regulation of pumping remain open. New method: We describe the implementation and application of a scalable automated method for measuring pumping in controlled environments. Our implementation is affordable and flexible: key hardware and software elements can be modified to accommodate different requirements. Results: We demonstrate prolonged measurements under controlled conditions and the resulting high quality data. We show the scalability of our method, enabling high throughput, and its suitability for maintaining static and dynamic conditions. When food availability was oscillated, pumping rates were low as compared to steady conditions and pumping activity was not reliably modulated in response to changes in food concentration. Comparison with existing method: The prevailing method for measuring rates of pumping relies on scoring by visual inspection of short recordings. Our automated method compares well with manual scoring. It enables detailed statistical characterization under experimental conditions not previously accessible and minimizes unintentional bias. Conclusions: Our approach adds a powerful tool for studying pharyngeal pumping. It enhances the experimental versatility of assaying genetic and pharmacological manipulations and the ability to characterize the resulting behavior. Both the experimental setup and the analysis can be readily adapted to additional challenging motion detection problems

Linear Thermal Expansion Coefficient of the NaCl Phase of CsCl

Cesium chloride undergoes a phase change from the low-temperature CsCI structure to the high-temperature NaCI structure at about 469°C.l There is a volume increase of about 16% when the NaCI structure appears.1 The nature of the transition is of interest, as are the physical properties of the high-temperature phase. If sufficient high-temperature phase data are available for CsCI, calculations of the heat of transition can be made more accurately

Modeling inflammation and oxidative stress in gastrointestinal disease development using novel organotypic culture systems.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), Barrett's esophagus (BE), graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), and inflammatory bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease are common human gastrointestinal diseases that share inflammation as a key driver for their development. A general outcome resulting from these chronic inflammatory conditions is increased oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is caused by the generation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species that are part of the normal inflammatory response, but are also capable of damaging cellular DNA, protein, and organelles. Damage to DNA can include DNA strand breaks, point mutations due to DNA adducts, as well as alterations in methylation patterns leading to activation of oncogenes or inactivation of tumor suppressors. There are a number of significant long-term consequences associated with chronic oxidative stress, most notably cancer. Infiltrating immune cells and stromal components of tissue including fibroblasts contribute to dynamic changes occurring in tissue related to disease development. Immune cells can potentiate oxidative stress, and fibroblasts have the capacity to contribute to advanced growth and proliferation of the epithelium and any resultant cancers. Disease models for GERD, BE, GVHD, and ulcerative colitis based on three-dimensional human cell and tissue culture systems that recapitulate in vivo growth and differentiation in inflammatory-associated microphysiological environments would enhance our understanding of disease progression and improve our ability to test for disease-prevention strategies. The development of physiologically relevant, human cell-based culture systems is therefore a major focus of our research. These novel models will be of enormous value, allowing us to test hypotheses and advance our understanding of these disorders, and will have a translational impact allowing us to more rapidly develop therapeutic and chemopreventive agents. In summary, this work to develop advanced human cell-based models of inflammatory conditions will greatly improve our ability to study, prevent, and treat GERD, BE, GVHD, and inflammatory bowel disease. The work will also foster the development of novel therapeutic and preventive strategies that will improve patient care for these important clinical conditions

Some 5-13 micrometer airborne observations of Comet Wilson 1986l: Preliminary results

Comet Wilson was observed from the Kuiper Airborne Observatory approximately 23.6 and 25.7 Apr. 1987, UT (approx. 3 to 5 days after perihelion) using the NASA-Ames Faint Object Grating Spectrometer. Spectrophotometric data were observed with a 21 inch aperture between 5 and 13 micrometer and with a spectral resolution of 50 to 100. Spectra of the inner coma and nucleus reveal a fairly smooth continuum with little evidence of silicate emission. The 5 to 8 micrometer color temperature of the comet was 300 + or - 15 K, approx. 15 percent higher than the equilibrium blackbody temperature. All three spectra of the nucleus show a new emission feature at approx. 12.25 micrometer approx. two channels (.22 micrometer) wide. Visual and photographic observations made during the time of these observations showed a broad faint, possible two component tail. No outburst activity was observed

CE17015

In the southwest of Ireland and the Celtic Sea (ICES Divisions VIIaS, g & j), herring are an important commercial species to the pelagic and polyvalent fleet. For a period in the 1970s and1980s, larval surveys were conducted for herring in this area. However, since 1989, acoustic surveys have been carried out, and currently are the only tuning indices available for this stock. In the Celtic Sea and VIIj, herring acoustic surveys have been carried out since 1989. Since 2004 the survey has been fixed in October and carried out onboard the RV Celtic Explorer. The geographical confines of the annual 21 day survey have been modified in recent years to include areas to the south of the main winter spawning grounds in an effort to identify the whereabouts of winter spawning fish before the annual inshore spawning migration. Spatial resolution of acoustic transects has been increased over the entire south coast survey area. The acoustic component of the survey has been further complemented since 2004 by detailed hydrographic, marine mammal and seabird surveys