3,537 research outputs found
Medium and large-scale variations of dynamo-induced electric fields from AE ion drift measurements
Current models of the low latitude electric field are largely based on data from incoherent scatter radars. These observations are extended through the addition of the rather extensive high quality electric field measurements from the Ion Drift Meter (IDM) aboard the Atmosphere Explorer (AE) spacecraft. Some preliminary results obtained from the Unified Abstract files of satellite AE-E are presented. This satellite was active from the end of 1975 through June 1981 in various elliptical and circular orbits having an inclination near 20 deg. The resulting data can be examined for the variation of ion drift with latitude, longitude, season, solar cycle, altitude, and magnetic activity. The results presented deal primarily with latitudinal variations of the drift features. Diagrams of data are given and briefly interpreted. The preliminary results presented here indicate that IDM data from the AE and the more recent Dynamics Explorer B spacecraft should continue to disclose some interesting and previously unobserved dynamical features of the low latitude F region
Glycophenotype of prostatic carcinomas.
The factors that affect the progression of prostatic carcinoma are poorly understood, but it is known that carbohydrate antigens on the tumour cell surface play a role in the transforming and metastatic processes. The present report aimed to perform a comparative, lectin-histochemical study of benign and carcinomatous prostates, using a battery of lectins, in combination with monoclonal antibodies against Lewis antigens, and a semi quantitative study, to investigate the changes in glycosylation patterns that occur in prostatic carcinoma. Blocks from 27 necropsy cases of prostatic carcinoma were sectioned and stained with H+E, fifteen biotinylated lectins chosen to probe for a wide range of oligosaccharide sequences within several categories of glycoprotein glycans, using a lectin-biotin avidin-peroxidase method, and monoclonal antibodies against Lewisa, sialyl Lewisa and sialyl Lewisx antigens. The glycophenotype of prostatic carcinoma differed from that of the noncancerous prostate in revealing more intense staining with the following lectins (AAA, UEA-1, DBA, WFA, VVA, HPA, BSA-1B4, MPA, ECA, AHA, and CTA), while the binding patterns of (GNA and NPA) were almost similar in both prostatic carcinoma and the noncancerous prostate. Lewis antigens are found to be expressed in prostatic carcinomas but not in the noncancerous prostate. The observations of this study suggest that the gylcophenotype of transformed prostatic cells was modified. It showed a moderate increase in, and changing patterns of, fucosylation and galactosylation, increased branching of side chains and sharp rise in 2 deoxy, 2 acetamido galactosylation and masking process by sialylation, especially by ÃŽÄ…2-3 and ÃŽÄ…2-6 linkages. All these changes in the glycosylation pattern of the transformed prostatic cells were observed on O-glycans, no changes were observed on N-glycans
Constraints on the distance to SGR 1806-20 from HI absorption
The giant flare detected from the magnetar SGR 1806-20 on 2004 December 27
had a fluence more than 100 times higher than the only two other SGR flares
ever recorded. Whereas the fluence is independent of distance, an estimate for
the luminosity of the burst depends on the source's distance, which has
previously been argued to be ~15 kpc. The burst produced a bright radio
afterglow, against which Cameron et al. (2005) have measured an HI absorption
spectrum. This has been used to propose a revised distance to SGR 1806-20 of
between 6.4 and 9.8 kpc. Here we analyze this absorption spectrum, and compare
it both to HI emission data from the Southern Galactic Plane Survey and to
archival 12-CO survey data. We confirm ~6 kpc, as a likely lower limit on the
distance to SGR 1806-20, but argue that it is difficult to place an upper limit
on the distance to SGR 1806-20 from the HI data currently available. The
previous value of ~15 kpc thus remains the best estimate of the distance to the
source.Comment: 3 pages, 1 embedded EPS figure. Added sentences to end of Abstract
and Conclusion, clarifying that most likely distance is 15 kpc. ApJ Letters,
in pres
A generalization of Hausdorff dimension applied to Hilbert cubes and Wasserstein spaces
A Wasserstein spaces is a metric space of sufficiently concentrated
probability measures over a general metric space. The main goal of this paper
is to estimate the largeness of Wasserstein spaces, in a sense to be precised.
In a first part, we generalize the Hausdorff dimension by defining a family of
bi-Lipschitz invariants, called critical parameters, that measure largeness for
infinite-dimensional metric spaces. Basic properties of these invariants are
given, and they are estimated for a naturel set of spaces generalizing the
usual Hilbert cube. In a second part, we estimate the value of these new
invariants in the case of some Wasserstein spaces, as well as the dynamical
complexity of push-forward maps. The lower bounds rely on several embedding
results; for example we provide bi-Lipschitz embeddings of all powers of any
space inside its Wasserstein space, with uniform bound and we prove that the
Wasserstein space of a d-manifold has "power-exponential" critical parameter
equal to d.Comment: v2 Largely expanded version, as reflected by the change of title; all
part I on generalized Hausdorff dimension is new, as well as the embedding of
Hilbert cubes into Wasserstein spaces. v3 modified according to the referee
final remarks ; to appear in Journal of Topology and Analysi
The VLA Galactic Plane Survey
The VLA Galactic Plane Survey (VGPS) is a survey of HI and 21-cm continuum
emission in the Galactic plane between longitude 18 degrees 67 degr. with
latitude coverage from |b| < 1.3 degr. to |b| < 2.3 degr. The survey area was
observed with the Very Large Array (VLA) in 990 pointings. Short-spacing
information for the HI line emission was obtained by additional observations
with the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). HI spectral line images are presented with
a resolution of 1 arcmin x 1 arcmin x 1.56 km/s (FWHM) and rms noise of 2 K per
0.824 km/s channel. Continuum images made from channels without HI line
emission have 1 arcmin (FWHM) resolution. VGPS images are compared with images
from the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey (CGPS) and the Southern Galactic Plane
Survey (SGPS). In general, the agreement between these surveys is impressive,
considering the differences in instrumentation and image processing techniques
used for each survey. The differences between VGPS and CGPS images are small, <
6 K (rms) in channels where the mean HI brightness temperature in the field
exceeds 80 K. A similar degree of consistency is found between the VGPS and
SGPS. The agreement we find between arcminute resolution surveys of the
Galactic plane is a crucial step towards combining these surveys into a single
uniform dataset which covers 90% of the Galactic disk: the International
Galactic Plane Survey (IGPS). The VGPS data will be made available on the World
Wide Web through the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC).Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal. 41 pages, 13
figures. For information on data release, colour images etc. see
http://www.ras.ucalgary.ca/VGP
Electronic states and Landau levels in graphene stacks
We analyze, within a minimal model that allows analytical calculations, the
electronic structure and Landau levels of graphene multi-layers with different
stacking orders. We find, among other results, that electrostatic effects can
induce a strongly divergent density of states in bi- and tri-layers,
reminiscent of one-dimensional systems. The density of states at the surface of
semi-infinite stacks, on the other hand, may vanish at low energies, or show a
band of surface states, depending on the stacking order
Effects of light and group size on the activity of wood frog tadpoles (Rana sylvatica) and their response to a shadow stimulus
Tadpoles are known to behaviorally respond to cues from aquatic predators. However, there are several additional factors that might affect tadpole behavior. We examined the influence of light conditions and group size on the activity of wood frog (Rana sylvatica) tadpoles and their response to a simulated non-aquatic predator (i.e., a shadow stimulus). Activity levels of undisturbed wood frog tadpoles were higher in larger groups (15 tadpoles) than in the smaller groups (5 tadpoles). Activity following exposure to a simulated aerial predator (i.e., a shadow stimulus) was also higher in the larger groups of tadpoles than in the smaller groups. Light conditions did not influence activity level in undisturbed tadpoles, but did affect the response to the shadow stimulus, with the greatest responses being observed under bright light conditions. Our results suggest that the factors influencing tadpole activity can include a diverse range of factors and cues, including lighting conditions and group size
Evidence for Steep Luminosity Functions in Clusters of Galaxies
Luminosity Functions have been obtained for very faint dwarf galaxies in the
cores of four rich clusters of galaxies (Abell 2052, 2107, 2199 and 2666). It
is found that the luminosity function of dwarf galaxies rises very steeply in
these clusters, with a power-law slope of \alpha -2.2 (down to absolute
limiting magnitudes M_I = -13 and M_B = -11 for H_0 = 75 km/s/Mpc). A
steepening of the luminosity function at faint magnitudes may in fact be a
common feature of both cluster and field populations. Such a result may explain
the observed excess counts of faint, intermediate redshift galaxies in the
Universe, without resorting to more exotic phenomena. An alternate explanation
is that star formation in dwarf galaxies is less affected by gas loss in the
richest clusters, because of the dense, hot intracluster medium found in such
environments.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures (attached). Uuencoded compressed Postscript
tarfile. Accepted by the Astrophysical Journal
Shot Noise in Graphene
We report measurements of current noise in single- and multi-layer graphene
devices. In four single-layer devices, including a p-n junction, the Fano
factor remains constant to within +/-10% upon varying carrier type and density,
and averages between 0.35 and 0.38. The Fano factor in a multi-layer device is
found to decrease from a maximal value of 0.33 at the charge-neutrality point
to 0.25 at high carrier density. These results are compared to theoretical
predictions for shot noise in ballistic and disordered graphene.Comment: related papers available at http://marcuslab.harvard.ed
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