339 research outputs found
Transient Emission From Dissipative Fronts in Magnetized, Relativistic Outflows. II. Synchrotron Flares
The time dependent synchrotron emission from relativistic jets, and the
relation between the synchrotron and ERC emission is considered within the
framework of the radiative front model. The timescale and profile of the
optically thin emission are shown to be determined, in this model, by the shock
formation radius, the thickness of expelled fluid slab and the variation of the
front's parameters due to its transverse expansion. For a range of reasonable
conditions, a variety of flare shapes can be produced, varying from roughly
symmetric with exponential rises and decays, as often seen in blazars, to
highly asymmetric with a fast rise and a much slower, power law decay, as seen
in GRB afterglows. The onset, duration, and fluence of low-frequency (below the
initial turnover frequency) and hard gamma-ray (above the initial gamma-spheric
energy) outbursts are limited by opacity effects; the emission at these
energies is quite generally delayed and, in the case of sufficiently short
length outbursts, severely attenuated. The observational consequences are
discussed. One distinctive prediction of this model is that in a single,
powerful source, the upper cutoff of the gamma-ray spectrum should be
correlated with the timescale of the outburst and with the amplitude of
variations at long wavelengths (typically radio to millimeter).Comment: AAS LaTex, 14 pgs, accepted to A
Intensive monitoring of the strongly variable BL Lac S5 0716+714
The BL Lac object S5 0716+714 was monitored during a multifrequency campaign
in 1996. Preliminary analysis of the optical, ROSAT and RXTE data are
presented. Strong variability on short time scales was observed. The data
suggest an interpretation within a multi-component model.Comment: To appear in The Active X-ray Sky: Results from BeppoSAX and
Rossi-XTE, Rome, Italy, 21-24 October, 1997. Eds.: L. Scarsi, Bradt, P.
Giommi and F. Fiore. PS-file avialable at
http://www.lsw.uni-heidelberg.de/projects/extragalactic/bl_lac.htm
Real-time Timbre Transfer and Sound Synthesis using DDSP
Neural audio synthesis is an actively researched topic, having yielded a wide
range of techniques that leverages machine learning architectures. Google
Magenta elaborated a novel approach called Differential Digital Signal
Processing (DDSP) that incorporates deep neural networks with preconditioned
digital signal processing techniques, reaching state-of-the-art results
especially in timbre transfer applications. However, most of these techniques,
including the DDSP, are generally not applicable in real-time constraints,
making them ineligible in a musical workflow. In this paper, we present a
real-time implementation of the DDSP library embedded in a virtual synthesizer
as a plug-in that can be used in a Digital Audio Workstation. We focused on
timbre transfer from learned representations of real instruments to arbitrary
sound inputs as well as controlling these models by MIDI. Furthermore, we
developed a GUI for intuitive high-level controls which can be used for
post-processing and manipulating the parameters estimated by the neural
network. We have conducted a user experience test with seven participants
online. The results indicated that our users found the interface appealing,
easy to understand, and worth exploring further. At the same time, we have
identified issues in the timbre transfer quality, in some components we did not
implement, and in installation and distribution of our plugin. The next
iteration of our design will address these issues. Our real-time MATLAB and
JUCE implementations are available at https://github.com/SMC704/juce-ddsp and
https://github.com/SMC704/matlab-ddsp , respectively
Gamma-loud quasars: a view with BeppoSAX
We present SAX observations of the -ray emitting quasars
0836+710, 1510-089 and 2230+114. All the objects have been detected in the PDS
up to 100 keV and have extremely flat power-law spectra above 2 keV (=0.3--0.5). 0836+710 shows absorption higher than the galactic value and
marginal evidence for the presence of the redshifted 6.4 keV Iron line.
1510-089 shows a spectral break around 1 keV, with the low energy spectrum
steeper (=1.6) than the high energy power-law (=0.3). The
data are discussed in the light of current Inverse Compton models for the high
energy emission.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the conference
"X-Ray Astronomy '99", Bologna, Italy, September 199
Rms-flux relation in the optical fast variability data of BL Lacertae object S5 0716+714
The possibility that BL Lac S5 0716+714 exhibits a linear root mean square
(rms)-flux relation in its IntraDay Variability (IDV) is analysed. The results
may be used as an argument in the existing debate regarding the source of
optical IDV in Active Galactic Nuclei. 63 time series in different optical
bands were used. A linear rms-flux relation at a confidence level higher than
65% was recovered for less than 8% of the cases. We were able to check if the
magnitude is log-normally distributed for eight timeseries and found, with a
confidence > 95%, that this is not the case.Comment: Accepted by Astrophysics and Space Scienc
Heme oxygenase-1 and carbon monoxide in pulmonary medicine
Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), an inducible stress protein, confers cytoprotection against oxidative stress in vitro and in vivo. In addition to its physiological role in heme degradation, HO-1 may influence a number of cellular processes, including growth, inflammation, and apoptosis. By virtue of anti-inflammatory effects, HO-1 limits tissue damage in response to proinflammatory stimuli and prevents allograft rejection after transplantation. The transcriptional upregulation of HO-1 responds to many agents, such as hypoxia, bacterial lipopolysaccharide, and reactive oxygen/nitrogen species. HO-1 and its constitutively expressed isozyme, heme oxygenase-2, catalyze the rate-limiting step in the conversion of heme to its metabolites, bilirubin IXα, ferrous iron, and carbon monoxide (CO). The mechanisms by which HO-1 provides protection most likely involve its enzymatic reaction products. Remarkably, administration of CO at low concentrations can substitute for HO-1 with respect to anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects, suggesting a role for CO as a key mediator of HO-1 function. Chronic, low-level, exogenous exposure to CO from cigarette smoking contributes to the importance of CO in pulmonary medicine. The implications of the HO-1/CO system in pulmonary diseases will be discussed in this review, with an emphasis on inflammatory states
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