2,841 research outputs found
EMERGING AGRICULTURAL PROBLEMS FOR THE DECADE AHEAD
Agricultural and Food Policy,
The APM Galaxy Survey III: An Analysis of Systematic Errors in the Angular Correlation Function and Cosmological Implications
We present measurements of the angular two-point galaxy correlation function,
, from the APM Galaxy Survey. The performance of various estimators
of is assessed using simulated galaxy catalogues and analytic arguments.
Several error analyses show that residual plate-to-plate errors do not bias our
estimates of by more than . Direct comparison between our
photometry and external CCD photometry of over 13,000 galaxies from the Las
Campanas Deep Redshift Survey shows that the rms error in the APM plate zero
points lies in the range 0.04-0.05 magnitudes, in agreement with our previous
estimates. We estimate the effects on of atmospheric extinction and
obscuration by dust in our Galaxy and conclude that these are negligible. We
use our best estimates of the systematic errors in the survey to calculate
corrected estimates of . Deep redshift surveys are used to determine the
selection function of the APM Galaxy Survey, and this is applied in Limber's
equation to compute how scales as a function of limiting magnitude. Our
estimates of are in excellent agreement with the scaling relation,
providing further evidence that systematic errors in the APM survey are small.
We explicitly remove large-scale structure by applying filters to the APM
galaxy maps and conclude that there is still strong evidence for more
clustering at large scales than predicted by the standard scale-invariant cold
dark matter (CDM) model. We compare the APM and the three dimensional power
spectrum derived by inverting , with the predictions of scale-invariant CDM
models. We show that the observations require in the range
0.2-0.3 and are incompatible with the value of the standard CDM
model.Comment: 102 pages, plain TeX plus 41 postscript figures. Submitted to MNRA
De novo Development and Characterization of Tetranucleotide Microsatellite Loci Markers from a Southeastern Population of the House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)
Microsatellites are short tandem repeats (e.g. TAGATAGA) of base pairs in a species’ genome. High mutation rates in these regions produce variation in the number of repeats across individuals that can be utilized to study patterns of population- and landscape-level genetics and to determine parentage genetically. In this project our objective was to develop microsatellite markers for the House Finch, Haemorhous mexicanus. This species has become one of the most well-studied species of songbirds due to its unique geographical, evolutionary, and epidemiological history. Using mist-nets we captured birds on the Arkansas Tech University campus and collected blood samples to obtain genomic DNA. Samples were processed in The Field Museum’s Pritzker Laboratory for Molecular Systematics and Evolution, where we fragmented genomic DNA and isolated fragments that contained potential microsatellites using specially designed biotin labelled probes. These DNA fragments were transformed into competent E. coli cells which were then PCR-amplified and Sanger sequenced. After sequencing DNA fragments from approximately 500 E. coli colonies, we designed and characterized a set of 13 tetranucleotide microsatellite loci. The average number of alleles and heterozygosity found in 12 individuals from Arkansas was 8.69 and 0.80, respectively. This finalized set of microsatellites can be utilized by researchers to determine parentage and characterize genetic differences across House Finch populations
The Apm Galaxy Survey IV: Redshifts of Rich Clusters of Galaxies
We present redshifts for a sample of 229 clusters selected from the APM
Galaxy Survey, 189 of which are new redshift determinations. Non-cluster galaxy
redshifts have been rejected from this sample using a likelihood ratio test
based on the projected and apparent magnitude distributions of the cluster
fields. We test this technique using cluster fields in which redshifts have
been measured for more than 10 galaxies. Our redshift sample is nearly complete
and has been used in previous papers to study the three dimensional
distribution of rich clusters of galaxies. 157 of the clusters in our sample
are listed in the Abell catalogue or supplement, and the remainder are new
cluster identifications.Comment: 15 pages UUencoded compressed postscript. Submitted to Monthly
Notices of the R.A.
Managing Multilingualism in India and South Africa: A Comparison
With a shared history of British colonialism, India and South Africa are two countries with levels of ethnic and linguistic diversity that have contributed to previous and ongoing language policy issues. Though each country has enacted policies in attempts to combat language difficulties, many of these policies have been largely regarded as ineffective, as they have either not been properly upheld or received repeated pushback from citizens. It will also be necessary to explore each country’s efforts to deal with language policies and will evaluate through this how to effectively measure a country’s success in managing multilingualism and language rights. Throughout, the essay will focus on policy analysis in the countries’ governmental and educational spheres, looking at official efforts (or lack thereof) from the governments to protect the use of certain languages within each country. As a result of this research, using these countries as case studies in linguistic policy management in multilingual states, we will gauge how well these two countries have mitigated issues stemming from their multilingual statuses as well as to evaluate if the two have achieved equitable language policies through their efforts
Redshifts in the Southern Abell Redshift Survey Clusters. I. The Data
The Southern Abell Redshift Survey contains 39 clusters of galaxies with
redshifts in the range 0.0 < z < 0.31 and a median redshift depth of z =
0.0845. SARS covers the region 0 21h (while
avoiding the LMC and SMC) with b > 40. Cluster locations were chosen from the
Abell and Abell-Corwin-Olowin catalogs while galaxy positions were selected
from the Automatic Plate Measuring Facility galaxy catalog with
extinction-corrected magnitudes in the range 15 <= b_j < 19. SARS utilized the
Las Campanas 2.5 m duPont telescope, observing either 65 or 128 objects
concurrently over a 1.5 sq deg field. New redshifts for 3440 galaxies are
reported in the fields of these 39 clusters of galaxies.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in the Astronomical
Journal, Table 2 can be downloaded in its entirety from
http://trotsky.arc.nasa.gov/~mway/SARS1/sars1-table2.cs
The Redshift Distribution of FIRST Radio Sources at 1 mJy
We present spectra for a sample of radio sources from the FIRST survey, and
use them to define the form of the redshift distribution of radio sources at
mJy levels.We targeted 365 sources and obtained 46 redshifts (13 per cent of
the sample). We find that our sample is complete in redshift measurement to R
, corresponding to . Early-type galaxies represent the
largest subset (45 per cent) of the sample and have redshifts 0.15\la z \la
0.5 ; late-type galaxies make up 15 per cent of the sample and have redshifts
0.05\la z \la 0.2; starbursting galaxies are a small fraction ( per
cent), and are very nearby (z\la 0.05). Some 9 per cent of the population
have Seyfert1/quasar-type spectra, all at z\ga 0.8, and there are 4 per cent
are Seyfert2 type galaxies at intermediate redshifts (). Using our
measurements and data from the Phoenix survey, we obtain an estimate for
at mJy and compare this with model predictions. At
variance with previous conclusions, we find that the population of starbursting
objects makes up \la 5 per cent of the radio population at S mJy.Comment: 20 pages, sumbitted to MNRA
Dependence of Galaxy Shape on Environment in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
Using a sample of galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data
Release 4, we study the trends relating surface brightness profile type and
apparent axis ratio to the local galaxy environment. We use the SDSS parameter
`fracDeV' to quantify the profile type. We find that galaxies with M_r > -18
are mostly described by exponential profiles in all environments. Galaxies with
-21 < M_r < -18 mainly have exponential profiles in low density environments
and de Vaucouleurs profiles in high density environments. The most luminous
galaxies, with M_r < -21, are mostly described by de Vaucouleurs profiles in
all environments. For galaxies with M_r < -19, the fraction of de Vaucouleurs
galaxies is a monotonically increasing function of local density, while the
fraction of exponential galaxies is monotonically decreasing. For a fixed
surface brightness profile type, apparent axis ratio is frequently correlated
with environment. As the local density of galaxies increases, we find that for
-20 < M_r < -18, galaxies of all profile types become slightly rounder, on
average; for -22 < M_r < -20, galaxies with exponential profiles tend to become
flatter, while galaxies with de Vaucouleurs profiles become rounder; for M_r <
-22, galaxies with exponential profiles become flatter, while the de
Vaucouleurs galaxies become rounder in their inner regions, yet exhibit no
change in their outer regions. We comment on how the observed trends relate to
the merger history of galaxies.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, accepted by Ap
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