4,971 research outputs found
MAGMO: Coherent magnetic fields in the star forming regions of the Carina-Sagittarius spiral arm tangent
We present the pilot results of the `MAGMO' project, targeted observations of
ground-state hydroxyl masers towards sites of 6.7-GHz methanol maser emission
in the Carina-Sagittarius spiral arm tangent, Galactic longitudes 280 degrees
to 295 degrees. The `MAGMO' project aims to determine if Galactic magnetic
fields can be traced with Zeeman splitting of masers associated with star
formation. Pilot observations of 23 sites of methanol maser emission were made,
with the detection of ground-state hydroxyl masers towards 11 of these and six
additional offset sites. Of these 17 sites, nine are new detections of sites of
1665-MHz maser emission, three of them accompanied by 1667-MHz emission. More
than 70% of the maser features have significant circular polarization, whilst
only ~10% have significant linear polarization (although some features with up
to 100% linear polarization are found). We find 11 Zeeman pairs across six
sites of high-mass star formation with implied magnetic field strengths between
-1.5 mG and +3.8 mG and a median field strength of +1.6 mG. Our measurements of
Zeeman splitting imply that a coherent field orientation is experienced by the
maser sites across a distance of 5.3+/-2.0 kpc within the Carina-Sagittarius
spiral arm tangent.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Description and catalog of ionospheric F-region data, Jicamarca Radar Observatory, November 1966 - April 1969
Equatorial ionospheric F-region data reduced from the Jicamarca Radar Observatory (JRO) incoherent scatter observations for particular periods is described. It lists in catalog form the times of the observations made during those periods. These F-region data include the electron concentration and the electron and ion temperatures. The data were inferred from the incoherent scatter observations of JRO
Fitting Together the HI Absorption and Emission in the SGPS
In this paper we study 21-cm absorption spectra and the corresponding
emission spectra toward bright continuum sources in the test region (326deg< l
< 333 deg) of the Southern Galactic Plane Survey. This survey combines the high
resolution of the Australia Telescope Compact Array with the full brightness
temperature information of the Parkes single dish telescope. In particular, we
focus on the abundance and temperature of the cool atomic clouds in the inner
galaxy. The resulting mean opacity of the HI, , is measured as a
function of Galactic radius; it increases going in from the solar circle, to a
peak in the molecular ring of about four times its local value. This suggests
that the cool phase is more abundant there, and colder, than it is locally.
The distribution of cool phase temperatures is derived in three different
ways. The naive, ``spin temperature'' technique overestimates the cloud
temperatures, as expected. Using two alternative approaches we get good
agreement on a histogram of the cloud temperatures, T(cool), corrected for
blending with warm phase gas. The median temperature is about 65 K, but there
is a long tail reaching down to temperatures below 20 K. Clouds with
temperatures below 40 K are common, though not as common as warmer clouds (40
to 100 K).
Using these results we discuss two related quantities, the peak brightness
temperature seen in emission surveys, and the incidence of clouds seen in HI
self-absorption. Both phenomena match what would be expected based on our
measurements of and T(cool).Comment: 50 pages, 20 figure
A quantum mechanical approach to establishing the magnetic field orientation from a maser Zeeman profile
Recent comparisons of magnetic field directions derived from maser Zeeman
splitting with those derived from continuum source rotation measures have
prompted new analysis of the propagation of the Zeeman split components, and
the inferred field orientation. In order to do this, we first review differing
electric field polarization conventions used in past studies. With these
clearly and consistently defined, we then show that for a given Zeeman
splitting spectrum, the magnetic field direction is fully determined and
predictable on theoretical grounds: when a magnetic field is oriented away from
the observer, the left-hand circular polarization is observed at higher
frequency and the right-hand polarization at lower frequency. This is
consistent with classical Lorentzian derivations. The consequent interpretation
of recent measurements then raises the possibility of a reversal between the
large-scale field (traced by rotation measures) and the small-scale field
(traced by maser Zeeman splitting).Comment: 10 pages, 5 Figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
HI Absorption Toward HII Regions at Small Galactic Longitudes
We make a comprehensive study of HI absorption toward HII regions located
within Galactic longitudes less than 10 degrees. Structures in the extreme
inner Galaxy are traced using the longitude-velocity space distribution of this
absorption. We find significant HI absorption associated with the Near and Far
3kpc Arms, the Connecting Arm, Banias Clump 1 and the H I Tilted Disk. We also
constrain the line of sight distances to HII regions, by using HI absorption
spectra together with the HII region velocities measured by radio recombination
lines.Comment: Complete figure set available in online version of journal. Accepted
by ApJ August 8, 201
Relationship between cardiovascular risk and lipid testing in one health care system: a retrospective cohort study.
BackgroundThe US Preventive Services Taskforce (USPSTF) recommends routine lipid screening beginning age 35 for men [1]. For women age 20 and older, as well as men age 20-34, screening is recommended if cardiovascular risk factors are present. Prior research has focused on underutilization but not overuse of lipid testing. The objective is to document over- and under-use of lipid testing in an insured population of persons at low, moderate and high cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk for persons not already on statins.MethodsThe study is a retrospective cohort study that included all adults without prior CVD who were continuously enrolled in a large integrated healthcare system from 2005 to 2010. Measures included lipid test frequency extracted from administrative data and Framingham cardiovascular risk equations applied using electronic medical record data. Five year lipid testing patterns were examined by age, sex and CVD risk. Generalized linear models were used to estimate the relative risk for over testing associated with patient characteristics.ResultsAmong males and females for whom testing is not recommended, 35.8 % and 61.5 % received at least one lipid test in the prior 5 years and 8.4 % and 24.4 % had two or more. Over-testing was associated with age, race, comorbidity, primary care use and neighborhood income. Among individuals at moderate and high-risk (not already treated with statins) and for whom screening is recommended, between 21.4 % and 25.1 % of individuals received no screening in the prior 5 years.ConclusionsBased on USPSTF lipid screening recommendations, this study documents substantial over-testing among individuals with low CVD risk and under-testing among individuals with moderate to high-risk not already on statins. Opportunity exists to better focus lipid screening efforts appropriate to CVD risk
The magnetic field of the Large Magellanic Cloud revealed through Faraday rotation
We have measured the Faraday rotation toward a large sample of polarized
radio sources behind the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), to determine the
structure of this galaxy's magnetic field. The magnetic field of the LMC
consists of a coherent axisymmetric spiral of field strength ~1 microgauss.
Strong fluctuations in the magnetic field are also seen, on small (<0.5
parsecs) and large (~100 parsecs) scales. The significant bursts of recent star
formation and supernova activity in the LMC argue against standard dynamo
theory, adding to the growing evidence for rapid field amplification in
galaxies.Comment: 15 pages, including 3 embedded EPS figures (1 color, 2 b/w) plus
supporting on-line material; uses scicite.sty. To appear in Science, vol 307,
number 5715 (11 March 2005
Statistical Model Selection for TID Hardness Assurance
Radiation Hardness Assurance (RHA) methodologies against Total Ionizing Dose (TID) degradation impose rigorous statistical treatments for data from a part's Radiation Lot Acceptance Test (RLAT) and/or its historical performance. However, no similar methods exist for using "similarity" data - that is, data for similar parts fabricated in the same process as the part under qualification. This is despite the greater difficulty and potential risk in interpreting of similarity data. In this work, we develop methods to disentangle part-to-part, lot-to-lot and part-type-to-part-type variation. The methods we develop apply not just for qualification decisions, but also for quality control and detection of process changes and other "out-of-family" behavior. We begin by discussing the data used in the study and the challenges of developing a statistic providing a meaningful measure of degradation across multiple part types, each with its own performance specifications. We then develop analysis techniques and apply them to the different data sets
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