14,550 research outputs found
Language skills of profoundly deaf children who received cochlear implants under 12 months of age: a preliminary study
Conclusion. This study demonstrated that children who receive a cochlear implant below the age of 2 years obtain higher mean receptive and expressive language scores than children implanted over the age of 2 years. Objective. The purpose of this study was to compare the receptive and expressive language skills of children who received a cochlear implant before 1 year of age to the language skills of children who received an implant between 1 and 3 years of age. Subjects and methods. Standardized language measures, the Reynell Developmental Language Scale (RDLS) and the Preschool Language Scale (PLS), were used to assess the receptive and expressive language skills of 91 children who received an implant before their third birthday. Results. The mean receptive and expressive language scores for the RDLS and the PLS were slightly higher for the children who were implanted below the age of 2 years compared with the children who were implanted over 2 years old. For the PLS, both the receptive and expressive mean standard scores decreased with increasing age at implantation
Evidence for nonlinear diffusive shock acceleration of cosmic-rays in the 2006 outburst of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi
Spectroscopic observations of the 2006 outburst of the recurrent nova RS
Ophiuchi at both infrared (IR) and X-ray wavelengths have shown that the blast
wave has decelerated at a higher rate than predicted by the standard
test-particle adiabatic shock-wave model. Here we show that the observed
evolution of the nova remnant can be explained by the diffusive shock
acceleration of particles at the blast wave and the subsequent escape of the
highest energy ions from the shock region. Nonlinear particle acceleration can
also account for the difference of shock velocities deduced from the IR and
X-ray data. The maximum energy that accelerated electrons and protons can have
achieved in few days after outburst is found to be as high as a few TeV. Using
the semi-analytic model of nonlinear diffusive shock acceleration developed by
Berezhko & Ellison, we show that the postshock temperature of the shocked gas
measured with RXTE/PCA and Swift/XRT imply a relatively moderate acceleration
efficiency.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ
On the size of the Fe II emitting region in the AGN Akn 120
We present a reverberation analysis of the strong, variable optical Fe II
emission bands in the spectrum of Akn 120, a low-redshift AGN which is one of
the best candidates for such a study. On time scales of several years the Fe II
line strengths follow the variations in the continuum strength. However, we are
unable to measure a clear reverberation lag time for these Fe II lines on any
time scale. This is due to the very broad and flat-topped nature of the Fe II
cross correlation functions, as compared to the H-beta response which is much
more sharply localized in time. Although there is some suggestion in the light
curve of a 300-day response time, our statistical analysis does not pick up
such a feature. We conclude that the optical Fe II emission does not come from
a photoionization-powered region similar in size to the H-beta emitting region,
but we cannot say for sure where it does come from. Our results are generally
consistent either with emission from a photoionized region several times larger
than the H-beta zone, or with emission from gas heated by some other means,
perhaps responding only indirectly to the continuum variations.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Ap
Cosmic-ray Acceleration at Ultrarelativistic Shock Waves: Effects of a "Realistic" Magnetic Field Structure
First-order Fermi acceleration processes at ultrarelativistic shocks are
studied with Monte Carlo simulations. The accelerated particle spectra are
derived by integrating the exact particle trajectories in a turbulent magnetic
field near the shock. ''Realistic'' features of the field structure are
included. We show that the main acceleration process at superluminal shocks is
the particle compression at the shock. Formation of energetic spectral tails is
possible in a limited energy range only for highly perturbed magnetic fields,
with cutoffs occuring at low energies within the resonance energy range
considered. These spectral features result from the anisotropic character of
particle transport in the downstream magnetic field, where field compression
produces effectively 2D perturbations. Because of the downstream field
compression, the acceleration process is inefficient in parallel shocks for
larger turbulence amplitudes, and features observed in oblique shocks are
recovered. For small-amplitude turbulence, wide-energy range particle spectra
are formed and modifications of the process due to the existence of long-wave
perturbations are observed. In both sub- and superluminal shocks, an increase
of \gamma leads to steeper spectra with lower cut-off energies. The spectra
obtained for the ``realistic'' background conditions assumed here do not
converge to the ``universal'' spectral index claimed in the literature. Thus
the role of the first-order Fermi process in astrophysical sources hosting
relativistic shocks requires serious reanalysis.Comment: submitted to Ap
Experimental archeology and serious games: challenges of inhabiting virtual heritage
Experimental archaeology has long yielded valuable insights into the tools and techniques that featured in past peoplesâ relationship with the material world around them. However, experimental archaeology has, hitherto, confined itself to rigid, empirical and quantitative questions. This paper applies principles of experimental archaeology and serious gaming tools in the reconstructions of a British Iron Age Roundhouse. The paper explains a number of experiments conducted to look for quantitative differences in movement in virtual vs material environments using both âvirtualâ studio reconstruction as well as material reconstruction. The data from these experiments was then analysed to look for differences in movement which could be attributed to artefacts and/or environments. The paper explains the structure of the experiments, how the data was generated, what theories may make sense of the data, what conclusions have been drawn and how serious gaming tools can support the creation of new experimental heritage environments
Locally Optimally Emitting Clouds and the Origin of Quasar Emission Lines
The similarity of quasar line spectra has been taken as an indication that
the emission line clouds have preferred parameters, suggesting that the
environment is subject to a fine tuning process. We show here that the observed
spectrum is a natural consequence of powerful selection effects. We computed a
large grid of photoionization models covering the widest possible range of
cloud gas density and distance from the central continuum source. For each line
only a narrow range of density and distance from the continuum source results
in maximum reprocessing efficiency, corresponding to ``locally
optimally-emitting clouds'' (LOC). These parameters depend on the ionization
and excitation potentials of the line, and its thermalization density. The mean
QSO line spectrum can be reproduced by simply adding together the full family
of clouds, with an appropriate covering fraction distribution. The observed
quasar spectrum is a natural consequence of the ability of various clouds to
reprocess the underlying continuum, and can arise in a chaotic environment with
no preferred pressure, gas density, or ionization parameter.Comment: 9 pages including 1 ps figure. LaTeX format using aaspp4.st
On the nonthermal X-ray emission in blazar jets
We consider particle acceleration to high energy via diffusive shock
acceleration in a simple, self-consistent shock in jet model for blazars.
Electrons are assumed to be accelerated at a shock front in relativistic jets
and radiate synchrotron emission in a post-shock region. The full time, space
and momentum dependence of the electron distribution function is used for a
calculation of the nonthermal synchrotron spectra. We discuss the evolution of
the spectral index by varying the rate at which particles enter the
acceleration process. The results indicate that the synchrotron spectral index
displays a characteristic looplike behaviour with intensity (as has been
observed in several blazars), where the orientation of the loop depends on
whether the acceleration time scale is comparable to the synchrotron cooling
time scale or not. We show that our model provides a good fit to the observed
evolution of the spectral index of Mkn 421 during a flare in 1994.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, conference proceedin
Particle Acceleration at Relativistic Shocks
I review the current status of Fermi acceleration theory at relativistic
shocks. I first discuss the relativistic shock jump conditions, then describe
the non-relativistic Fermi mechanism and the differences introduced by
relativistic flows. I present numerical calculations of the accelerated
particle spectrum, and examine the maximum energy attainable by this process. I
briefly consider the minimum energy for Fermi acceleration, and a possible
electron pre-acceleration mechanism.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures. To appear in "Relativistic Flows in
Astrophysics", A.W. Guthmann, M. Georganopoulos, A. Marcowith and K.
Manolokou, eds., Lecture Notes in Pysics, Springer Verla
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