6,666 research outputs found
Montage: a grid portal and software toolkit for science-grade astronomical image mosaicking
Montage is a portable software toolkit for constructing custom, science-grade
mosaics by composing multiple astronomical images. The mosaics constructed by
Montage preserve the astrometry (position) and photometry (intensity) of the
sources in the input images. The mosaic to be constructed is specified by the
user in terms of a set of parameters, including dataset and wavelength to be
used, location and size on the sky, coordinate system and projection, and
spatial sampling rate. Many astronomical datasets are massive, and are stored
in distributed archives that are, in most cases, remote with respect to the
available computational resources. Montage can be run on both single- and
multi-processor computers, including clusters and grids. Standard grid tools
are used to run Montage in the case where the data or computers used to
construct a mosaic are located remotely on the Internet. This paper describes
the architecture, algorithms, and usage of Montage as both a software toolkit
and as a grid portal. Timing results are provided to show how Montage
performance scales with number of processors on a cluster computer. In
addition, we compare the performance of two methods of running Montage in
parallel on a grid.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figure
EXIST: The Ultimate Spatial/Temporal Hard X-ray Survey
The Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) is a proposed mission to conduct an all-sky imaging hard x-ray (HX) survey (~5â600 keV) with ~0.05mCrab sensitivity (5Ï; 6mo.; ~5â100keV) comparable to the ROSAT soft x-ray survey, and to provide the maximum sensitivity and resolution (spatial and temporal) HX imager as the Next Generation GRB mission. Its primary science goals are to i) identify and measure obscured AGN and constrain the accretion luminosity of the universe as well as the cosmic IR background from Blazar spectra coincident with GeV-TeV observations, ii) measure spectra, variability and locations for the faintest GRBs to study the most energetic events in the universe and the earliest epoch of star formation, and iii) study black holes on all scales, from x-ray transients to luminous AGN. EXIST would incorporate a very large area (~8m^2) imaging Cd-Zn-Te detector and coded aperture telescope array with nearly half-sky instantaneous view which images the full sky each orbit. With fixed zenith pointing, it could be mounted on the ISS or a free flyer and would complement both GLAST and Constellation-X science if launched before 2010, as recommended by the Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey
Antibody contributes to heterosubtypic protection against influenza A-induced tachypnea in cotton rats
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Influenza virus infection or vaccination evokes an antibody response to viral hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) surface glycoproteins, which results in immunity against influenza A viruses of the same HA and NA subtype. A heterosubtypic immune response that offers some protection against different influenza A subtypes has been suggested from epidemiologic studies in human influenza outbreaks, and has been induced in experimental animal models. Original studies of such cross-protection showed that cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) protect H3N2-immune mice from a lethal H1N1 infection. More recent studies in mice demonstrate that antibodies also contribute to heterosubtypic immunity (HSI). We previously demonstrated that HSI in cotton rats (<it>Sigmodon hispidus</it>) is characterized by protection of H3N2-immune animals from influenza H1N1-induced increase in respiratory rate (tachypnea). Alternatively, H1N1-immune animals are protected from H3N2-induced tachypnea. The experiments described in this report were designed to elucidate the immune mechanism that prevents this very early sign of disease.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our results show that cotton rats provided with H1N1-immune serum prior to challenge with an H3N2 virus were protected from influenza-associated tachypnea, with the degree of protection correlating with the antibody titer transferred. Immunization with an inactivated preparation of virus delivered intramuscularly also provided some protection suggesting that CTL and/or mucosal antibody responses are not required for protection. Antibodies specific for conserved epitopes present on the virus exterior are likely to facilitate this protection since prophylactic treatment of cotton rats with anti-M2e (the extracellular domain of M2) but not anti-nucleoprotein (NP) reduced virus-induced tachypnea.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In the cotton rat model of heterosubtypic immunity, humoral immunity plays a role in protecting animals from influenza-induced tachypea. Partial protection against respiratory disease caused by different influenza A subtypes can be attained with either live virus administered intranasally or inactivated virus delivered intramuscularly suggesting that either vaccine regimen may provide some protection against potential pandemic outbreaks in humans.</p
Annual modulation of the Galactic binary confusion noise bakground and LISA data analysis
We study the anisotropies of the Galactic confusion noise background and its
effects on LISA data analysis. LISA has two data streams of the gravitational
waves signals relevant for low frequency regime. Due to the anisotropies of the
background, the matrix for their confusion noises has off-diagonal components
and depends strongly on the orientation of the detector plane. We find that the
sky-averaged confusion noise level could change by a factor of 2
in three months, and would be minimum when the orbital position of LISA is
either around the spring or autumn equinox.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure
Two dimensional dynamical systems which admit Lie and Noether symmetries
We prove two theorems which relate the Lie point symmetries and the Noether
symmetries of a dynamical system moving in a Riemannian space with the special
projective group and the homothetic group of the space respectively. The
theorems are applied to classify the two dimensional Newtonian dynamical
systems, which admit a Lie point/Noether symmetry. Two cases are considered,
the non-conservative and the conservative forces. The use of the results is
demonstrated for the Kepler - Ermakov system, which in general is
non-conservative and for potentials similar to the H\`enon Heiles potential.
Finally it is shown that in a FRW background with no matter present, the only
scalar cosmological model which is integrable is the one for which 3-space is
flat and the potential function of the scalar field is exponential. It is
important to note that in all applications the generators of the symmetry
vectors are found by reading the appropriate entry in the relevant tables.Comment: 25 pages, 17 table
Adiabatic Invariants and Scalar Fields in a de Sitter Space-Time
The method of adiabatic invariants for time dependent Hamiltonians is applied
to a massive scalar field in a de Sitter space-time. The scalar field ground
state, its Fock space and coherent states are constructed and related to the
particle states. Diverse quantities of physical interest are illustrated, such
as particle creation and the way a classical probability distribution emerges
for the system at late times.Comment: 9 pages, Latex, no figure
The Digital Sky Project: Prototyping Virtual Observatory Technologies
Astronomy is entering a new era as multiple, large area, digital sky surveys
are in production. The resulting datasets are truly remarkable in their own
right; however, a revolutionary step arises in the aggregation of complimentary
multi-wavelength surveys (i.e., the cross-identification of a billion sources).
The federation of these large datasets is already underway, and is producing a
major paradigm shift as Astronomy has suddenly become an immensely data-rich
field. This new paradigm will enable quantitatively and qualitatively new
science, from statistical studies of our Galaxy and the large-scale structure
in the universe, to discoveries of rare, unusual, or even completely new types
of astronomical objects and phenomena. Federating and then exploring these
large datasets, however, is an extremely challenging task. The Digital Sky
project was initiated with this task in mind and is working to develop the
techniques and technologies necessary to solve the problems inherent in
federating these large databases, as well as the mining of the resultant
aggregate data.Comment: 8 pages, 3 Figures, uses newpasp.sty (included). To be published in
the proceedings of the conference "Virtual Observatories of the Future,"
editors R.J. Brunner, S.G. Djorgovski, and Alex S. Szala
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