180 research outputs found
Religious Freedom Restoration Acts and Sexual Minority Population Health in the United States
Religious freedom restoration acts (RFRAs) in the United States potentially facilitate discrimination against lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals (i.e., sexual minorities). In the current investigation, we explored whether a population health metric among sexual minority adults changed over time based on the presence, absence, or introduction of a state RFRA. Data are from 21 of the United States that gathered sexual orientation data from population-based samples of noninstitutionalized adults in the 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (CDC, 2015, 2016). The analytic sample included 4,911 sexual minority individuals. Time was measured in 4 3-month quarters (i.e., Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4). For each state, the prevalence of sexual minority adults reporting =14 unhealthy days/30 days was calculated. Only Indiana (the only state in the sample that passed an RFRA in 2015) exhibited significant increasing proportions over time of sexual minority adults reporting =14 unhealthy days (Q1 = 24.5%, Q2 = 34.8%, Q3 = 41.2%, Q4 = 59.5%; β = 0.50, SE = 0.23, p = .037). Post hoc analyses revealed that unhealthy days did not increase for heterosexual adults in Indiana. Indiana's RFRA could have contributed to the increasing prevalence of unhealthy days among sexual minority adults in that state during 2015. Public health surveillance tools are needed to expedite analyses of the impact of laws on minority population health
A Measurement of Time-Averaged Aerosol Optical Depth using Air-Showers Observed in Stereo by HiRes
Air fluorescence measurements of cosmic ray energy must be corrected for
attenuation of the atmosphere. In this paper we show that the air-showers
themselves can yield a measurement of the aerosol attenuation in terms of
optical depth, time-averaged over extended periods. Although the technique
lacks statistical power to make the critical hourly measurements that only
specialized active instruments can achieve, we note the technique does not
depend on absolute calibration of the detector hardware, and requires no
additional equipment beyond the fluorescence detectors that observe the air
showers. This paper describes the technique, and presents results based on
analysis of 1258 air-showers observed in stereo by the High Resolution Fly's
Eye over a four year span.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication by Astroparticle Physics
Journa
Search for Global Dipole Enhancements in the HiRes-I Monocular Data above 10^{18.5} eV
Several proposed source models for Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs)
consist of dipole distributions oriented towards major astrophysical landmarks
such as the galactic center, M87, or Centaurus A. We use a comparison between
real data and simulated data to show that the HiRes-I monocular data for
energies above 10^{18.5} eV is, in fact, consistent with an isotropic source
model. We then explore methods to quantify our sensitivity to dipole source
models oriented towards the Galactic Center, M87, and Centaurus A.Comment: 17 pages, 31 figure
Air fluorescence measurements in the spectral range 300-420 nm using a 28.5 GeV electron beam
Measurements are reported of the yield and spectrum of fluorescence, excited
by a 28.5 GeV electron beam, in air at a range of pressures of interest to
ultra-high energy cosmic ray detectors. The wavelength range was 300 - 420 nm.
System calibration has been performed using Rayleigh scattering of a nitrogen
laser beam. In atmospheric pressure dry air at 304 K the yield is 20.8 +/- 1.6
photons per MeV.Comment: 29 pages, 10 figures. Submitted to Astroparticle Physic
Mass fractionation processes of transition metal isotopes
Macromolecular Biochemistr
Measurement of Pressure Dependent Fluorescence Yield of Air: Calibration Factor for UHECR Detectors
In a test experiment at the Final Focus Test Beam of the Stanford Linear
Accelerator Center, the fluorescence yield of 28.5 GeV electrons in air and
nitrogen was measured. The measured photon yields between 300 and 400 nm at 1
atm and 29 deg C are Y(760 Torr, air) = 4.42 +/- 0.73 and Y(760 Torr, nitrogen)
= 29.2 +/- 4.8 photons per electron per meter. Assuming that the fluorescence
yield is proportional to the energy deposition of a charged particle traveling
through air, good agreement with measurements at lower particle energies is
observed.Comment: 22 pages, 14 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Astroparticle Physic
A Likelihood Method for Measuring the Ultrahigh Energy Cosmic Ray Composition
Air fluorescence detectors traditionally determine the dominant chemical
composit ion of the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray flux by comparing the averaged
slant depth of the shower maximum, , as a function of energy to the
slant depths expect ed for various hypothesized primaries. In this paper, we
present a method to make a direct measurement of the expected mean number of
protons and iron by comparing the shap es of the expected
distributions to the distribution for data. The advantages of this method
includes the use of information of the full distribution and its ability to
calculate a flux for various cosmic ray compositi ons. The same method can be
expanded to marginalize uncertainties due to choice of spectra, hadronic models
and atmospheric parameters. We demonstrate the technique with independent
simulated data samples from a parent sample of protons and iron. We accurately
predict the number of protons and iron in the parent sample and show that the
uncertainties are meaningful.Comment: 11 figures, 22 pages, accepted by Astroparticle Physic
Alternative Methods to Finding Patterns in HiRes Stereo Data
In this paper Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays UHECRs data observed by the HiRes
fluorescence detector in stereo mode is analyzed to search for events in the
sky with an arrival direction lying on a great circle. Such structure is known
as the arc structure. The arc structure is expected when the charged cosmic
rays pass through the galactic magnetic field. The arcs searched for could
represent a broad or a small scale anisotropy depending on the proposed source
model for the UHECRs. The Arcs in this paper are looked for using Hough
transform were Hough transform is a technique used to looking for patterns in
images. No statistically significant arcs were found in this study
- …