Measuring the cosmological bulk flow using the peculiar velocities of supernovae

We study large-scale coherent motion in our universe using the existing Type IA supernovae data. If the recently observed bulk flow is real, then some imprint must be left on supernovae motion. We run a series of Monte Carlo Markov Chain runs in various redshift bins and find a sharp contrast between the z 0.05 data. The$z < 0.05 data are consistent with the bulk flow in the direction (l,b)=({290^{+39}_{-31}}^{\circ}, {20^{+32}_{-32}}^{\circ}) with a magnitude of v_bulk = 188^{+119}_{-103} km/s at 68% confidence. The significance of detection (compared to the null hypothesis) is 95%. In contrast, z > 0.05 data (which contains 425 of the 557 supernovae in the Union2 data set) show no evidence for bulk flow. While the direction of the bulk flow agrees very well with previous studies, the magnitude is significantly smaller. For example, the Kashlinsky, et al.'s original bulk flow result of v_bulk > 600 km/s is inconsistent with our analysis at greater than 99.7% confidence level. Furthermore, our best-fit bulk flow velocity is consistent with the expectation for the \Lambda CDM model, which lies inside the 68% confidence limit.Comment: Version published in JCA

The Paradox of Muscle Hypertrophy in Muscular Dystrophy

Mutations in the dystrophin gene cause Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy in humans and syndromes in mice, dogs, and cats. Affected humans and dogs have progressive disease that leads primarily to muscle atrophy. Mdx mice progress through an initial phase of muscle hypertrophy followed by atrophy. Cats have persistent muscle hypertrophy. Hypertrophy in humans has been attributed to deposition of fat and connective tissue (pseudohypertrophy). Increased muscle mass (true hypertrophy) has been documented in animal models. Muscle hypertrophy can exaggerate postural instability and joint contractures. Deleterious consequences of muscle hypertrophy should be considered when developing treatments for muscular dystrophy

Search for Global Dipole Enhancements in the HiRes-I Monocular Data above 10^{18.5} eV

Several proposed source models for Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) consist of dipole distributions oriented towards major astrophysical landmarks such as the galactic center, M87, or Centaurus A. We use a comparison between real data and simulated data to show that the HiRes-I monocular data for energies above 10^{18.5} eV is, in fact, consistent with an isotropic source model. We then explore methods to quantify our sensitivity to dipole source models oriented towards the Galactic Center, M87, and Centaurus A.Comment: 17 pages, 31 figure

Milagrito: a TeV air-shower array

Milagrito, a large, covered water-Cherenkov detector, was the world's first air-shower-particle detector sensitive to cosmic gamma rays below 1 TeV. It served as a prototype for the Milagro detector and operated from February 1997 to May 1998. This paper gives a description of Milagrito, a summary of the operating experience, and early results that demonstrate the capabilities of this technique.Comment: 38 pages including 24 figure

Observation of the Ankle and Evidence for a High-Energy Break in the Cosmic Ray Spectrum

We have measured the cosmic ray spectrum at energies above $10^{17}$ eV using the two air fluorescence detectors of the High Resolution Fly's Eye experiment operating in monocular mode. We describe the detector, PMT and atmospheric calibrations, and the analysis techniques for the two detectors. We fit the spectrum to models describing galactic and extragalactic sources. Our measured spectrum gives an observation of a feature known as the ``ankle'' near $3\times 10^{18}$ eV, and strong evidence for a suppression near $6\times 10^{19}$ eV.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures. To appear in Physics Letters B. Accepted versio

A Measurement of Time-Averaged Aerosol Optical Depth using Air-Showers Observed in Stereo by HiRes

Air fluorescence measurements of cosmic ray energy must be corrected for attenuation of the atmosphere. In this paper we show that the air-showers themselves can yield a measurement of the aerosol attenuation in terms of optical depth, time-averaged over extended periods. Although the technique lacks statistical power to make the critical hourly measurements that only specialized active instruments can achieve, we note the technique does not depend on absolute calibration of the detector hardware, and requires no additional equipment beyond the fluorescence detectors that observe the air showers. This paper describes the technique, and presents results based on analysis of 1258 air-showers observed in stereo by the High Resolution Fly's Eye over a four year span.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication by Astroparticle Physics Journa

Discourse Semantics for the Analysis of Change in Language

This paper purports to elaborate and address several issues which lie at the intersection of computational linguistics and psychology. The first issue addressed is that of the interaction between discourse and semantics by virtue of empirical linguistic and psychotherapeutic evidence. This paper then gives a formal account of the knowledge representation and reasoning processes involved in the construction of an XML knowledge base for use in the sematic analysis of psychotherapeutic transcripts. Computational methods for the automatic mark-up and inference of the psychotherapeutic phenomena under investigation are detailed in order to further develop intuitions behind a particular pragmatic theory of language known as the Metamodel. The work presented here ultimately aims to produce a sustainable system for the evaluation of the effectiveness of any given psychotherapeutic technique. The possibility exists for such a system to recognise successful therapeutic mechanisms and further still, to infer new ones, or suggest improvements, or offer novel explanations as to the success or failure of the therapy itself. The work discussed here stems from research in computational linguistics, psychotherapy, and philosophy. The corpus used is a culmination of client transcripts taken before, during, and after therapy. The particular therapeutic technique used here is known as the Metamodel (Bandler and Grinder, 1975). The Metamodel was originally proffered as a method of language analysis suitable for use by practitioners of any psychotherapeutic technique. It theorises that speech utterances are related to a clients deep structure through three primary mechanisms, namely generalisation, deletion, and distortion. Previous hand tagging of our data has proven support for such claims. It is our aim to automate the identification and reasoning process. The issues and processes involved in the automation of such tagging are discussed here. Architectural and philosophical issues relating syntax (or grammar), semantics (Larson and Segal, 1995), and pragmatics (Grice, 1989; Searle, 1969) are raised. Discourse Representation Theory (Kamp, 1981; Asher and Lascarides, 1995) is discussed and used here in order to infer discourse relations.Hosted by the Scholarly Text and Imaging Service (SETIS), the University of Sydney Library, and the Research Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences (RIHSS), the University of Sydney

Safety, Immunogenicity, and Protective Efficacy of Intradermal Immunization with Aseptic, Purified, Cryopreserved Plasmodium falciparum Sporozoites in Volunteers Under Chloroquine Prophylaxis

Immunization of volunteers under chloroquine prophylaxis by bites of *Plasmodium falciparum* sporozoite (PfSPZ)–infected mosquitoes induces > 90% protection against controlled human malaria infection (CHMI). We studied intradermal immunization with cryopreserved, infectious PfSPZ in volunteers taking chloroquine (PfSPZ chemoprophylaxis vaccine [CVac]). Vaccine groups 1 and 3 received 3x monthly immunizations with 7.5 x 10^4 PfSPZ. Control groups 2 and 4 received normal saline. Groups 1 and 2 underwent CHMI (#1) by mosquito bite 60 days after the third immunization. Groups 3 and 4 were boosted 168 days after the third immunization and underwent CHMI (#2) 137 days later. Vaccinees (11/20, 55%) and controls (6/10, 60%) had the same percentage of mild to moderate solicited adverse events. After CHMI #1, 8/10 vaccinees (group 1) and 5/5 controls (group 2) became parasitemic by microscopy; the two negatives were positive by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). After CHMI #2, all vaccinees in group 3 and controls in group 4 were parasitemic by qPCR. Vaccinees showed weak antibody and no detectable cellular immune responses. Intradermal immunization with up to 3 x 10^5 PfSPZ-CVac was safe, but induced only minimal immune responses and no sterile protection against Pf CHMI. INTRODUCTIO

On the selection of AGN neutrino source candidates for a source stacking analysis with neutrino telescopes

The sensitivity of a search for sources of TeV neutrinos can be improved by grouping potential sources together into generic classes in a procedure that is known as source stacking. In this paper, we define catalogs of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and use them to perform a source stacking analysis. The grouping of AGN into classes is done in two steps: first, AGN classes are defined, then, sources to be stacked are selected assuming that a potential neutrino flux is linearly correlated with the photon luminosity in a certain energy band (radio, IR, optical, keV, GeV, TeV). Lacking any secure detailed knowledge on neutrino production in AGN, this correlation is motivated by hadronic AGN models, as briefly reviewed in this paper. The source stacking search for neutrinos from generic AGN classes is illustrated using the data collected by the AMANDA-II high energy neutrino detector during the year 2000. No significant excess for any of the suggested groups was found.Comment: 43 pages, 12 figures, accepted by Astroparticle Physic