1,116 research outputs found
Some observations on bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) caught by the surface and longline fisheries for tunas in the Eastern Pacific Ocean
(PDF contains 58 pages.
Lyapunov functions for a non-linear model of the X-ray bursting of the microquasar GRS 1915+105
This paper introduces a biparametric family of Lyapunov functions for a
non-linear mathematical model based on the FitzHugh-Nagumo equations able to
reproduce some main features of the X-ray bursting behaviour exhibited by the
microquasar GRS 1915+105. These functions are useful to investigate the
properties of equilibrium points and allow us to demonstrate a theorem on the
global stability. The transition between bursting and stable behaviour is also
analyzed.Comment: Published on International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics, vol. 88,
pp. 142-14
Feasibility and results of awake thoracoscopic resection of solitary pulmonary nodules
BACKGROUND:
General anesthesia with single-lung ventilation is considered mandatory for thoracoscopic pulmonary resection. We assessed in a randomized study the feasibility and results of awake thoracoscopic resection of solitary pulmonary nodules.
METHODS:
Between March 2001 and February 2003, 60 patients were randomized into two 30-patients arms: a general anesthesia arm entailing double-lumen intubation and thoracic epidural anesthesia (control group); and an awake arm entailing sole thoracic epidural anesthesia at T4-T5 (awake group). Anesthesia time; operative time; global operating room time; patient satisfaction with the anesthesia and technical feasibility scored into 4 grades (from 1 = poor to 4 = excellent); visual analog pain score (VAS), nursing care (number of patient calls per day), 24 hours changes in arterial oxygenation (DeltaPaO2), and hospital stay were assessed.
RESULTS:
There was no mortality. There was no difference in technical feasibility between the groups although 2 patients in the awake group required conversion to thoracotomy due to severe adhesions. Other 2 patients in each group required conversion due to unexpected lung cancer requiring lobectomy. Comparisons of awake versus control group results showed that in the awake group, anesthesia satisfaction score was greater (4 vs 3, p = 0.04), whereas DeltaPaO2 (-3 mm Hg vs -6.5 mm Hg, p = 0.002); nursing care (2.5 calls per day vs 4 calls per day, p = 0.0001), and hospital stay (2 days vs 3 days, p = 0.02) were significantly reduced.
CONCLUSIONS:
In our study, awake thoracoscopic resection of solitary pulmonary nodules proved safely feasible. It resulted in better patient satisfaction, less nursing care and shorter in-hospital stay than procedures performed under general anesthesi
Cello Technique: A Result of Cello Construction and its Effect on Virtuosic Playing in the Works of Dvořák and Pärt
The complex time behaviour of the microquasar GRS 1915+105 in the \rho-class observed with BeppoSAX. III: The hard X-ray delay and limit cycle mapping
The microquasar GRS1915+105 was observed by BeppoSAX in October 2000 for
about ten days while the source was in \rho-mode, which is characterized by a
quasi-regular type I bursting activity. This paper presents a systematic
analysis of the delay of the hard and soft X-ray emission at the burst peaks.
The lag, also apparent from the comparison of the [1.7-3.4] keV light curves
with those in the [6.8-10.2] keV range, is evaluated and studied as a function
of time, spectral parameters, and flux. We apply the limit cycle mapping
technique, using as independent variables the count rate and the mean photon
rate. The results using this technique were also cross-checked using a more
standard approach with the cross-correlation methods. Data are organized in
runs, each relative to a continuous observation interval. The detected
hard-soft delay changes in the course of the pointing from about 3 s to about
10 s and presents a clear correlation with the baseline count rate.Comment: accepted for publication in A&
An extreme, blueshifted iron line profile in the Narrow Line Seyfert 1 PG 1402+261; an edge-on accretion disk or highly ionized absorption?
We report on a short XMM-Newton observation of the radio-quiet Narrow Line
Seyfert 1 PG 1402+261. The EPIC X-ray spectrum of PG 1402+261 shows a strong
excess of counts between 6-9 keV in the rest frame. This feature can be modeled
by an unusually strong (equivalent width 2 keV) and very broad (FWHM velocity
of 110000 km/s) iron K-shell emission line. The line centroid energy at 7.3 keV
appears blue-shifted with respect to the iron Kalpha emission band between
6.4-6.97 keV, while the blue-wing of the line extends to 9 keV in the quasar
rest frame. The line profile can be fitted by reflection from the inner
accretion disk, but an inclination angle of >60 deg is required to model the
extreme blue-wing of the line. Furthermore the extreme strength of the line
requires a geometry whereby the hard X-ray emission from PG 1402+261 above 2
keV is dominated by the pure-reflection component from the disk, while little
or none of the direct hard power-law is observed. Alternatively the spectrum
above 2 keV may instead be explained by an ionized absorber, if the column
density is sufficiently high (N_H > 3 x 10^23 cm^-2) and if the matter is
ionized enough to produce a deep (tau~1) iron K-shell absorption edge at 9 keV.
This absorber could originate in a large column density, high velocity outflow,
perhaps similar to those which appear to be observed in several other high
accretion rate AGN. Further observations, especially at higher spectral
resolution, are required to distinguish between the accretion disk reflection
or outflow scenarios.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ (18 pages, 5 figures, 1 table
A BeppoSAX observation of the super-soft source CAL87
We report on a BeppoSAX Concentrator Spectrometer observation of the
super-soft source (SSS) CAL87. The X-ray emission in SSS is believed to arise
from nuclear burning of accreted material on the surface of a white dwarf (WD).
An absorbed blackbody spectral model gives a chi^2_v of 1.18 and a temperature
of 42 +/- ^13 _11 eV. However, the derived luminosity and radius are greater
than the Eddington limit and radius of a WD. Including an O viii edge at 0.871
keV gives a significantly better fit (at > 95% confidence) and results in more
realistic values of the source luminosity and radius. We also fit WD atmosphere
models to the CAL87 spectrum. These also give reasonable bolometric
luminosities and radii in the ranges 2.7-4.8 10^{36} erg/s and 8-20 10^7 cm,
respectively. These results support the view that the X-ray emission from CAL87
results from nuclear burning in the atmosphere of a WD.Comment: 4 pages. Accepted for publication in A&A (Letters
Liquid-gas phase transition in nuclear matter including strangeness
We apply the chiral SU(3) quark mean field model to study the properties of
strange hadronic matter at finite temperature. The liquid-gas phase transition
is studied as a function of the strangeness fraction. The pressure of the
system cannot remain constant during the phase transition, since there are two
independent conserved charges (baryon and strangeness number). In a range of
temperatures around 15 MeV (precise values depending on the model used) the
equation of state exhibits multiple bifurcates. The difference in the
strangeness fraction between the liquid and gas phases is small when they
coexist. The critical temperature of strange matter turns out to be a
non-trivial function of the strangeness fraction.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure
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