95 research outputs found
Lunar Occultation of MACHOs
Lunar occultation can be used to measure the proper motions of some of the
long time scale microlensing events, t_{e} \gsim 70 days, now being detected
toward the Galactic bulge. The long events are difficult to explain within the
context of standard models of the mass distribution and dynamics of the Galaxy.
Han & Gould (1995b) have suggested that they may be due to a kinematically cold
population near the Sun. To resolve the mass, distance, and velocity of
individual events and so to determine their nature, one must measure parallaxes
and proper motions. For long events, parallaxes can be often obtained from
ground-based measurements, but proper motions can only rarely be determined
using conventional methods. Lunar occultations are therefore key to the
understanding of the long events. We carry out realistic simulations to
estimate the uncertainty of these measurements and show that proper motions
could be measured for about one long event per year.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures, request hard copy of preprint to
[email protected]
Luminosity Function of the Perigalactocentric Region
We present H and K photometry of 42,000 stars in an area of 250 arcmin
centered on the Galactic center. We use the photometry to construct a
dereddened K band luminosity function (LF) for this region, excluding the
excessively crowded inner 2' of the Galaxy. This LF is intermediate between the
LF of Baade's window and the LF of inner 2' of the Galactic center. We
speculate that the bright stars in this region have an age which is
intermediate between the starburst population in the Galactic center and the
old bulge population. We present the coordinates and mags for 16 stars with
K_{0} < 5 for spectroscopic follow up.Comment: 25 pages. Tarred, gzipped and uuencoded. Includes LaTex source file,
Figures 3 to 9 and 5 Tables. Figures 1 and 2 are available at
ftp://bessel.mps.ohio-state.edu/pub/vijay . Submitted to Ap
Biased Estimates of Omega from Comparing Smoothed Predicted Velocity Fields to Unsmoothed Peculiar Velocity Measurements
We show that a regression of unsmoothed peculiar velocity measurements
against peculiar velocities predicted from a smoothed galaxy density field
leads to a biased estimate of the cosmological density parameter Omega, even
when galaxies trace the underlying mass distribution and galaxy positions and
velocities are known perfectly. The bias arises because the errors in the
predicted velocities are correlated with the predicted velocities themselves.
We investigate this bias using cosmological N-body simulations and analytic
arguments. In linear perturbation theory, for cold dark matter power spectra
and Gaussian or top hat smoothing filters, the bias in Omega is always
positive, and its magnitude increases with increasing smoothing scale. This
linear calculation reproduces the N-body results for Gaussian smoothing radii
R_s > 10 Mpc/h, while non-linear effects lower the bias on smaller smoothing
scales, and for R_s < 3 Mpc/h Omega is underestimated rather than
overestimated. The net bias in Omega for a given smoothing filter depends on
the underlying cosmological model. The effect on current estimates of Omega
from velocity-velocity comparisons is probably small relative to other
uncertainties, but taking full advantage of the statistical precision of future
peculiar velocity data sets will require either equal smoothing of the
predicted and measured velocity fields or careful accounting for the biases
discussed here.Comment: 11 pages including 2 eps figures. Submitted to Ap
Lyman-alpha Forest Constraints on the Mass of Warm Dark Matter and the Shape of the Linear Power Spectrum
High resolution N-body simulations of cold dark matter (CDM) models predict
that galaxies and clusters have cuspy halos with excessive substructure.
Observations reveal smooth halos with central density cores. One possible
resolution of this conflict is that the dark matter is warm (WDM); this will
suppress the power spectrum on small scales. The Lyman-alpha forest is a
powerful probe of the linear power spectrum on these scales. We use
collisionless N-body simulations to follow the evolution of structure in WDM
models, and analyze artificial Lyman-alpha forest spectra extracted from them.
By requiring that there is enough small-scale power in the linear power
spectrum to reproduce the observed properties of the Lyman-alpha forest in
quasar spectra, we derive a lower limit to the mass of the WDM particle of 750
eV. This limit is robust to reasonable uncertainties in our assumption about
the temperature of the mean density gas (T0) at z=3. We argue that any model
that suppresses the CDM linear theory power spectrum more severely than a 750
eV WDM particle cannot produce the Lyman-alpha forest.Comment: 13 pages including 4 color Figures and 1 Table, submitted to ApJ
Letter
Increased yield of smear positive pulmonary TB cases by screening patients with >2 weeks cough, compared to >3 weeks and adequacy of 2 sputum smear examinations for diagnosis
Background
RNTCP recommends examining three sputum smears for AFB from Chest Symptomatics (CSs) with cough of >3 weeks
for diagnosis of Pulmonary TB (PTB). A previous multi-centric study from Tuberculosis Research centre (TRC) has
shown that the yield of sputum positive cases can be increased if duration of cough for screening was reduced to >2 weeks.
Other studies have shown that two smear examinations are adequate for diagnosis of smear positive PTB . To validate the
above findings, a cross sectional multi-centric study was repeated in different settings in five geographical areas in India.
Methods
Three primary and secondary level health facilities with high out-patient attendance were selected from two Tuberculosis
Units (TU) in each of the 15 selected districts to screen about 10,000 new adult outpatients from each state. For patients
who did not volunteer history of cough, symptoms were elicited using a structured simple questionnaire. All the CSs were
referred for sputum examination.
Results
A total of 96,787 out-patients were registered. Among them 69,209 (72%) were new adult out-patients. Using >2 weeks
of cough instead of > 3 weeks as the criterion for screening, there was an overall increase of 58% in CS and 23% increase
in the detection of smear-positive cases. Among 211 patients, 210 were positive at least by one smear from the initial
two specimens. Increase in the work-load if 2 smears were done for patients with cough of >2 weeks cough were 2
specimens (i.e.13 to 15) per day for an adult OPD of 150.
Conclusion
The yield of sputum positive PTB cases can be improved by screening patients with >2 weeks cough and two specimens
are adequate for diagnosis
Salivary levels of inflammatory and anti-inflammatory biomarkers in periodontitis patients with and without acute myocardial infarction: implications for cardiovascular risk assessment.
BACKGROUND
Periodontitis is initiated by a dysbiotic activity and furthermore leads to a chronic inflammatory response. The presence of pro-inflammatory markers plays an important role in the inflammatory load. Macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha (MIP-1α) and C-reactive protein (CRP) are pro- inflammatory biomarkers that quantify clinical and subclinical inflammation in cardiac ischemia in cardiac inflammation and disease. Adiponectin is an anti-inflammatory marker associated with good health. The susceptibility of periodontitis patients to cardiovascular events needs to be evaluated.
OBJECTIVE
This study aims to assess the levels of biomarkers in periodontitis patients with and without acute myocardial infarction (AMI) compared to controls.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory analytes were examined by collecting unstimulated saliva from three groups (n = 20/each): healthy individuals, individuals with stage III periodontitis, and post-myocardial infarction patients with stage III periodontitis. The samples were collected within 48 h of AMI.
RESULTS
Adiponectin levels were significantly lower in patients with periodontitis with and without AMI compared to controls, while CRP and MIP-1α were significantly higher in patients with periodontitis with and without AMI compared to controls. The highest titers for MIP-1α and CRP were detected among patients with periodontitis with and AMI.
CONCLUSION
Our study provides possible evidence of the association between periodontitis and salivary analytes that occur in tandem with cardiovascular disease. The lower levels of Adiponectin and higher levels of CRP and MIP-1α in patients with periodontitis indicate that this condition is a potential risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The findings emphasize the importance of early detection and intervention for periodontitis patients to prevent cardiovascular events
Correlated errors in Hipparcos parallaxes towards the Pleiades and the Hyades
We show that the errors in the Hipparcos parallaxes towards the Pleiades and
the Hyades open clusters are spatially correlated over angular scales of 2 to 3
deg, with an amplitude of up to 2 mas. This correlation is stronger than
expected based on the analysis of the Hipparcos catalog. We predict the
parallaxes of individual cluster members, pi_pm, from their Hipparcos proper
motions, assuming that all cluster members have the same space velocity. We
compare pi_pm with their Hipparcos parallaxes, pi_Hip, and find that there are
significant spatial correlations in pi_Hip. We derive a distance modulus to the
Pleiades of 5.58 +- 0.18 mag using the radial-velocity gradient method. This
value, agrees very well with the distance modulus of 5.60 +- 0.04 mag
determined using the main-sequence fitting technique, compared with the value
of 5.33 +- 0.06 inferred from the average of the Hipparcos parallaxes of the
Pleiades members. We show that the difference between the main-sequence fitting
distance and the Hipparcos parallax distance can arise from spatially
correlated errors in the Hipparcos parallaxes of individual Pleiades members.
Although the Hipparcos parallax errors towards the Hyades are spatially
correlated in a manner similar to those of the Pleiades, the center of the
Hyades is located on a node of this spatial structure. Therefore, the parallax
errors cancel out when the average distance is estimated, leading to a mean
Hyades distance modulus that agrees with the pre-Hipparcos value. We speculate
that these spatial correlations are also responsible for the discrepant
distances that are inferred using the mean Hipparcos parallaxes to some open
clusters. Finally, we note that our conclusions are based on a purely geometric
method and do not rely on any models of stellar isochrones.Comment: 33 pages including 10 Figures, revised version accepted for
publication in Ap
Locally Biased Galaxy Formation and Large Scale Structure
We examine the influence of the morphology-density(MD) relation and a wide
range of simple models for biased galaxy formation on statistical measures of
large scale structure. We contrast the behavior of local biasing models, in
which the efficiency of galaxy formation is determined by density, geometry, or
velocity dispersion of the local mass distribution, with that of non-local
biasing models, in which galaxy formation is modulated coherently over scales
larger than the galaxy correlation length. If morphological segregation of
galaxies is governed by a local MD relation, then the correlation function of
E/S0 galaxies should be steeper and stronger than that of spiral galaxies on
small scales, as observed, while on large scales the correlation functions of
E/S0 and spiral galaxies should have the same shape but different amplitudes.
Similarly, all of our local bias models produce scale-independent amplification
of the correlation function and power spectrum in the linear and mildly
non-linear regimes; only a non-local biasing mechanism can alter the shape of
the power spectrum on large scales. Moments of the biased galaxy distribution
retain the hierarchical pattern of the mass moments, but biasing alters the
values and scale-dependence of the hierarchical amplitudes S3 and S4.
Pair-weighted moments of the galaxy velocity distribution are sensitive to the
details of the biasing prescription. The non-linearity of the relation between
galaxy density and mass density depends on the biasing prescription and the
smoothing scale, and the scatter in this relation is a useful diagnostic of the
physical parameters that determine the bias. Although the sensitivity of galaxy
clustering statistics to the details of biasing is an obstacle to testing
cosmological models, it is an asset for testing galaxy formation theories.Comment: 47 pages including 17 Figures, submitted to Ap
A Survey of z>5.7 Quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey II: Discovery of Three Additional Quasars at z>6
We present the discovery of three new quasars at z>6 in 1300 deg^2 of SDSS
imaging data, J114816.64+525150.3 (z=6.43), J104845.05+463718.3 (z=6.23) and
J163033.90+401209.6 (z=6.05). The first two objects have weak Ly alpha emission
lines; their redshifts are determined from the positions of the Lyman break.
They are only accurate to 0.05 and could be affected by the presence of broad
absorption line systems. The last object has a Ly alpha strength more typical
of lower redshift quasars. Based on a sample of six quasars at z>5.7 that cover
2870 deg^2 presented in this paper and in Paper I, we estimate the comoving
density of luminous quasars at z 6 and M_{1450} < -26.8 to be (8 +/-
3)x10^{-10} Mpc^{-3} (for H_0 = 50 km/s/Mpc, Omega = 1). HST imaging of two
z>5.7 quasars and high-resolution ground-based images (seeing 0.4'') of three
additional z>5.7 quasars show that none of them is gravitationally lensed. The
luminosity distribution of the high-redshfit quasar sample suggests the bright
end slope of the quasar luminosity function at z 6 is shallower than Psi
L^{-3.5} (2-sigma), consistent with the absence of strongly lensed objects.Comment: AJ in press (Apr 2003), 26 pages, 9 figure
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