Intrinsic Properties of the <z>=2.7 Lyman Alpha Forest from Keck Spectra of QSO HS 1946+7658

We present the highest quality Lyman Alpha forest spectra published to date, from the QSO HS 1946+7658. The distribution of H I column densities is a power law of slope -1.5 from Log N = 12.1 - 14. This power law can extend to N = 0, because lines weaker than Log N = 12.1 do not have a large H I optical depth. Low column lines with Log N > 9 could account for all observed He II absorption, but lines with Log N > 12 alone are unlikely to do so. The b distribution between 20 and 60 km/sec is a Gaussian with a mean of 23 km/sec (less than reported in past at this z), and a sigma b of 14 km/sec. We report no evolution in the Lyman alpha forest (except the number of lines), because Lu et al. (1997) found the same N and b distributions at = 3.7. We see lines with 14 80 km/sec that cannot be accounted for by noise or blending effects. We discover that the lower cutoff in the b distribution varies with N, from b = 14 km/sec at Log N = 12.5 to b = 22 km/sec at Log N = 14.0, but otherwise b and N are not correlated. We see no Lyman Alpha line clustering above 50 \kms, in disagreement with previous results from lower signal to noise data, but we do see a 3 sigma clustering signal at 25 - 50 km/sec among lines with Log N > 13.6Comment: (Minor changes including new identifications for two weak lines) 46 pages including 16 Figures, Latex Table 1 Available at http://nately.ucsd.edu/~david . To appear in Ap

Effects of Bull Exposure on Postpartum Intervals and Reproductive Performance in Beef Cows: A progress Report

The effects of bull exposure on time from calving until estrus, conception rates and calving interval were studied for mature beef cows. In the spring of I985 and 1986, cows were randomly allotted to one of two treatment groups. Cows were exposed to vasectomized bulls after calving until breeding or no bull exposure. Cows were heat detected twice daily and blood samples were collected weekly to determine progesterone levels. Heat detection data and progesterone levels indicated onset of estrous cycles occurred earlier in bull exposed cows than non-exposed cows. Conception rates to a timed insemination were not different between the two groups. Bull exposed cows tended t o calve earlier

Power Spectra for Cold Dark Matter and its Variants

The bulk of recent cosmological research has focused on the adiabatic cold dark matter model and its simple extensions. Here we present an accurate fitting formula that describes the matter transfer functions of all common variants, including mixed dark matter models. The result is a function of wavenumber, time, and six cosmological parameters: the massive neutrino density, number of neutrino species degenerate in mass, baryon density, Hubble constant, cosmological constant, and spatial curvature. We show how observational constraints---e.g. the shape of the power spectrum, the abundance of clusters and damped Lyman-alpha systems, and the properties of the Lyman-alpha forest--- can be extended to a wide range of cosmologies, including variations in the neutrino and baryon fractions in both high-density and low-density universes.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX, 4 figures. Submitted to ApJ. Electronic versions of the fitting formula, as well as simple codes to output cosmological quantities (e.g. sigma_8) as a function of parameters and illustrative animations of parameter dependence, are available at http://www.sns.ias.edu/~whu/transfer/transfer.htm

The view from everywhere: Disciplining diversity in post–World War II international social science

This paper explores the attempt of social scientists associated with Unesco to create a system of knowledge production to provide the international perspective necessary for democratic governance of a world community. Social scientists constructed a federal system of international associations that institutionalized American disciplines on an international scale. An international perspective emerged through the process of interdisciplinary international research. I call this ideal of coordinating multiple subjectivities to produce objectivity the “view from everywhere.” Influenced by social psychological “action-research,” collaborative research was group therapy. The attempt to operationalize internationalists' rallying slogan, “unity in diversity,” illuminated tensions inherent in the mobilization of science for social and political reform. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64294/1/20394_ftp.pd

Investment fund performance validation - Vine copulae estimation using a minimum spanning tree

Catching the dependencies between financial time series is a complex exer- cise with a lot of challenges, both of theoretical and practical nature. We develop a metho- dology to model portfolio dynamics using the minimum spanning tree methods combined with econometric models which solves a good part of these challenges. We use a tracking error that is equivalent to the Euclidean distance, to cluster the closest market indices. Financial risk is difficult to manage, because risk is evolving constantly and depends on very different factors like volatility, liquidity, asset class etc. To capture this evolution we develop a recursive portfolio validation method that reveals the true nature of the evolution of the risk structure of financial portfolios. We investigate several portfolio strategies to understand the dynamics behind the holdings. We thus validate the results of our portfolio analysis. We use a vine copula construction, which allows us to separate the marginal estimation from the dependence estimation and calibrate the underlying dynamics very precisely. The minimum spanning tree method helps us to create a robust tree foundation to support the entire vine structure. Starting from a portfolio analysis, we are thus able to validate the portfolio valuation over a specific period of time

PHARMECMO: Therapeutic drug monitoring and adequacy of current dosing regimens of antibiotics in patients on Extracorporeal Life Support

International audienceINTRODUCTION:Optimisation of antibiotic therapy for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) patients remains a pharmacological challenge. The objective of this study was to observe the plasma concentrations of commonly used antibiotics in intensive care for patients treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.PATIENTS AND METHODS:The PHARMECMO study was a pilot, prospective study, conducted in a cardiac surgery intensive care unit. Every adult patient under ECMO support, with known or suspected sepsis and receiving antibiotic therapy, was eligible for inclusion. Plasma concentrations of antibiotics were determined by a combination of liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry.RESULTS:Forty-four eligible patients were enrolled for 68 inclusions on a twelve-month period. For the association piperacillin-tazobactam (n=19), 68.7% of CT50 and 93.7% of Cmin reached the pharmacokinetic goals defined (64 mg.L-1 for CT50 and 16 mg.L-1 for Cmin). For cefotaxime (n=12), the pharmacokinetic goals (4 mg.L-1 for CT50 and 1 mg.L-1 for Cmin) were achieved in 100% of the cases for CT50 and in 81.8% of the cases for Cmin. Regarding imipenem (n=10), the pharmacokinetic goals were 16 mg.L-1 for CT50 and 4 mg.L-1 for Cmin. Only one CT50 was above 16 mg.L-1. For Cmin, 60% of the doses did not reach the target concentration. In our 10 patients, only one patient was considered as reaching the pharmacokinetic goals. Finally, for amikacin (n=6), four Cmax (66.7%) were infra-therapeutics for a target between 60 and 80 mg.L-1.CONCLUSION:These preliminary results suggest that therapeutic drug monitoring could optimise the achievement of pharmacokinetic objectives associated with an effective antibiotic therapy. For most patients, the recommended doses of imipenem and amikacin did not achieve the pK targets