2,137 research outputs found
Output Growth Decomposition in the Presence of Input Quality Effects: A Stochastic Frontier Approach
How do physical capital accumulation and total factor productivity (TFP) individually add to economic growth? We approach this question from the perspective
of the quality of physical capital and labor, namely the age of physical capital and human capital. We build a unique dataset by explicitly calculating the age of physical
capital for each country and each year of our time frame and estimate a stochastic frontier production function incorporating input quality in five regions of countries (Africa,
East Asia, Latin America, South Asia and West). Physical capital accumulation generally proves much more important than either the improved quality of factors or TFP
growth in explaining output growth. The age of capital decreases growth in all regions except in Africa, while human capital increases growth in all regions except in East Asia
X-ray and Near-IR Variability of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar 1E 1048.1-5937: From Quiescence Back to Activity
(Abridged) We report on new and archival X-ray and near-infrared observations
of the anomalous X-ray pulsar 1E 1048.1-5937 performed between 2001-2007 with
RXTE, CXO, Swift, HST, and VLT. During its ~2001-2004 active period, 1E
1048.-5937 exhibited two large, long-term X-ray pulsed-flux flares as well as
short bursts, and large (>10x) torque changes. Monitoring with RXTE revealed
that the source entered a phase of timing stability in 2004; at the same time,
a series of four simultaneous observations with CXO and HST in 2006 showed that
its X-ray flux and spectrum and near-IR flux, all variable prior to 2005,
stabilized. The near-IR flux, when detected by HST (H~22.7 mag) and VLT
(K_S~21.0 mag), was considerably fainter than previously measured. Recently, in
2007 March, this newfound quiescence was interrupted by a sudden flux
enhancement, X-ray spectral changes and a pulse morphology change, simultaneous
with a large spin-up glitch and near-IR enhancement. Our RXTE observations
revealed a sudden pulsed flux increase by a factor of ~3 in the 2-10 keV band.
In observations with CXO and Swift, we found that the total X-ray flux
increased much more than the pulsed flux, reaching a peak value of >7 times the
quiescent value (2-10 keV). With these recent data, we find a strong
anti-correlation between X-ray flux and pulsed fraction, and a correlation
between X-ray spectral hardness and flux. Simultaneously with the radiative and
timing changes, we observed a significant X-ray pulse morphology change such
that the profile went from nearly sinusoidal to having multiple peaks. We
compare these remarkable events with other AXP outbursts and discuss
implications in the context of the magnetar model and other models of AXP
emission.Comment: 13 pages (6 figures) in emulateapj style. Accepted for publication in
ApJ. New version includes referee's corrections; split Figure 1 into 2
figures; modified Figs. 4b and 6b; rearranged and renumbered of some figures
and sections; added an X-ray dataset; improved analysis of pulse morphology
and pulsed fraction; added paragraph to sec. 3.2.
Red Noise in Anomalous X-ray Pulsar Timing Residuals
Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs), thought to be magnetars, exhibit poorly
understood deviations from a simple spin-down called "timing noise". AXP timing
noise has strong low-frequency components which pose significant challenges for
quantification. We describe a procedure for extracting two quantities of
interest, the intensity and power spectral index of timing noise. We apply this
procedure to timing data from three sources: a monitoring campaign of five
AXPs, observations of five young pulsars, and the stable rotator PSR B1937+21.Comment: submitted to the proceedings of the "40 Years of Pulsars" conferenc
Silk-fibronectin protein alloy fibres support cell adhesion and viability as a high strength, matrix fibre analogue
Silk is a natural polymer with broad utility in biomedical applications because it exhibits general biocompatibility and high tensile material properties. While mechanical integrity is important for most biomaterial applications, proper function and integration also requires biomaterial incorporation into complex surrounding tissues for many physiologically relevant processes such as wound healing. In this study, we spin silk fibroin into a protein alloy fibre with whole fibronectin using wet spinning approaches in order to synergize their respective strength and cell interaction capabilities. Results demonstrate that silk fibroin alone is a poor adhesive surface for fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and vascular smooth muscle cells in the absence of serum. However, significantly improved cell attachment is observed to silk-fibronectin alloy fibres without serum present while not compromising the fibres' mechanical integrity. Additionally, cell viability is improved up to six fold on alloy fibres when serum is present while migration and spreading generally increase as well. These findings demonstrate the utility of composite protein alloys as inexpensive and effective means to create durable, biologically active biomaterials.T32 EB006359 - NIBIB NIH HH
Resonance Patterns in a Stadium-shaped Microcavity
We investigate resonance patterns in a stadium-shaped microcavity around
, where is the refractive index, the vacuum
wavenumber, and the radius of the circular part of the cavity. We find that
the patterns of high resonances can be classified, even though the
classical dynamics of the stadium system is chaotic. The patterns of the high
resonances are consistent with the ray dynamical consideration, and appears
as the stationary lasing modes with low pumping rate in the nonlinear dynamical
model. All resonance patterns are presented in a finite range of .Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure
The Long-term Radiative Evolution of Anomalous X-ray Pulsar 1E 2259+586 after its 2002 Outburst
We present an analysis of five X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM) observations
of the anomalous X-ray pulsar (AXP) 1E 2259+586 taken in 2004 and 2005 during
its relaxation following its 2002 outburst. We compare these data with those of
five previous XMM observations taken in 2002 and 2003, and find the observed
flux decay is well described by a power-law of index -0.69+/-0.03. As of
mid-2005, the source may still have been brighter than preoutburst, and was
certainly hotter. We find a strong correlation between hardness and flux, as
seen in other AXP outbursts. We discuss the implications of these results for
the magnetar model.Comment: 23 Pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, published on Ap
The 2006-2007 Active Phase Of Anomalous X-Ray Pulsar 4U 0142+61: Radiative and Timing Changes, Bursts, and Burst Spectral Features
After at least 6 years of quiescence, Anomalous X-ray Pulsar (AXP) 4U 0142+61 entered an active phase in 2006 March that lasted several months and included six X-ray bursts as well as many changes in the persistent X-ray emission. The bursts, the first seen from this AXP in >11 years of Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer monitoring, all occurred in the interval between 2006 April 6 and 2007 February 7. The burst durations ranged from 8-3x10(exp 3)s. The first five burst spectra are well modeled by blackbodies, with temperatures kT approx. 2 - 6 keV. However, the sixth burst had a complicated spectrum that is well characterized by a blackbody plus three emission features whose amplitude varied throughout the burst. The most prominent feature was at 14.0 keV. Upon entry into the active phase the pulsar showed a significant change in pulse morphology and a likely timing glitch. The glitch had a total frequency jump of (1.9+/-0.4)x10(exp -7) Hz, which recovered with a decay time of 17+/-2 days by more than the initial jump, implying a net spin-down of the pulsar. We discuss these events in the context of the magnetar model
The 2006-2007 Active Phase of Anomalous X-Ray Pulsar 4U 0142+61: Radiative and Timing Changes, Bursts,and Burst Spectral Features
After at least 6 years of quiescence, Anomalous X-ray Pulsar (AXP) 4U 0142+61 entered an active phase in 2006 March that lasted several months and included six X-ray bursts as well as many changes in the persistent X-ray emission. The bursts, the first seen from this AXP in > 11 years of Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer monitoring, all occurred in the interval between 2006 April 6 and 2007 February 7. The burst durations ranged from 0.4 - 1.8 x 10(exp 3) s. The first five burst spectra are well modeled by blackbodies, with temperatures kT approx 2 - 9 keV. However, the sixth burst had a complicated spectrum that is well characterized by a blackbody plus two emission features whose amplitude varied throughout the burst. The most prominent feature was at 14.0 keV. Upon entry into the active phase the pulsar showed a significant change in pulse morphology and a likely timing glitch. The glitch had a total frequency jump of (1.9+/-0.4) x 10(exp -7) Hz, which recovered with a decay time of 17+/-2 days by more than the initial jump, implying a net spin-down of the pulsar. Within the framework of the magnetar model, the net spin-down of the star could be explained by regions of the superfluid that rotate. slower than the rest. The bursts, flux enhancements, and pulse morphology changes can be explained as arising from crustal deformations due to stresses imposed by the highly twisted internal magnetic field. However, unlike other AXP outbursts, we cannot account for a major twist being implanted in the magnetosphere
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