1,869 research outputs found
Cosmological redshift distortion: deceleration, bias and density parameters from future redshift surveys of galaxies
The observed two-point correlation functions of galaxies in redshift space
become anisotropic due to the geometry of the universe as well as due to the
presence of the peculiar velocity field. On the basis of linear perturbation
theory, we expand the induced anisotropies of the correlation functions with
respect to the redshift , and obtain analytic formulae to infer the
deceleration parameter , the density parameter and the
derivative of the bias parameter at in terms of the
observable statistical quantities. The present method does not require any
assumption of the shape and amplitude of the underlying fluctuation spectrum,
and thus can be applied to future redshift surveys of galaxies including the
Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We also evaluate quantitatively the systematic error
in estimating the value of from a galaxy
redshift survey on the basis of a conventional estimator for which
neglects both the geometrical distortion effect and the time evolution of the
parameter . If the magnitude limit of the survey is as faint as 18.5
(in B-band) as in the case of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the systematic
error ranges between -20% and 10% depending on the cosmological parameters.
Although such systematic errors are smaller than the statistical errors in the
current surveys, they will dominate the expected statistical error for future
surveys.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figs, aastex, ApJ in press, replaced version includes
minor correction
Increased plasma viscosity as a reason for inappropriate erythropoietin formation
The aim of this study was to examine whether altered plasma viscosity could contribute to the inappropriately low production rate of erythropoietin (EPO) observed in patients suffering from hypergammaglobulinemias associated with multiple myeloma or Waldenström's disease. We found that the EPO formation in response to anemia in these patients was inversely related to plasma viscosity. A similar inverse relationship between plasma viscosity and EPO production was seen in rats in which EPO formation had been stimulated by exchange transfusion and the plasma viscosity of which was thereby altered by using exchange solutions of different composition to alter plasma viscosity and thus whole blood viscosity independently from hematocrit. Raising the gammaglobulin concentration to approximately 40 mg/ml plasma in the rats almost totally blunted the rise in serum EPO levels despite a fall of the hematocrit to 20%. Determination of renal EPO mRNA levels by RNase protection revealed that the reductions in serum EPO levels at higher plasma viscosities were paralleled by reductions in renal EPO mRNA levels. Taken together, our findings suggest that plasma viscosity may be a significant inhibitory modulator of anemia-induced EPO formation. The increased plasma viscosity in patients with hypergammaglobulinemias may therefore contribute to the inappropriate EPO production, which is a major reason for the anemia developing in these patients
Editorial: crime patterns in time and space: the dynamics of crime opportunities in urban areas
The routine activity approach and associated crime pattern theory emphasise how crime emerges from spatio-temporal routines. In order to understand this crime should be studied in both space and time. However, the bulk of research into crime patterns and related activities has investigated the spatial distributions of crime, neglecting the temporal dimension. Specifically, disaggregation of crime by place and by time, for example hour of day, day of week, month of year, season, or school day versus none school day, is extremely relevant to theory. Modern data make such spatio-temporal disaggregation increasingly feasible, as exemplified in this special issue. First, much larger data files allow disaggregation of crime data into temporal and spatial slices. Second, new forms of data are generated by modern technologies, allowing innovative and new forms of analyses. Crime pattern analyses and routine activity inquiries are now able to explore avenues not previously available. The unique collection of nine papers in this thematic issue specifically examine spatio-temporal patterns of crime to; demonstrate the value of this approach for advancing knowledge in the field; consider how this informs our theoretical understanding of the manifestations of crime in time and space; to consider the prevention implications of this; and to raise awareness of the need for further spatio-temporal research into crime event
Spherical structures on torus knots and links
The present paper considers two infinite families of cone-manifolds endowed
with spherical metric. The singular strata is either the torus knot or the torus link . Domains of existence for a
spherical metric are found in terms of cone angles and volume formul{\ae} are
presented.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures; typo
Peaks in the Hartle-Hawking Wave Function from Sums over Topologies
Recent developments in ``Einstein Dehn filling'' allow the construction of
infinitely many Einstein manifolds that have different topologies but are
geometrically close to each other. Using these results, we show that for many
spatial topologies, the Hartle-Hawking wave function for a spacetime with a
negative cosmological constant develops sharp peaks at certain calculable
geometries. The peaks we find are all centered on spatial metrics of constant
negative curvature, suggesting a new mechanism for obtaining local homogeneity
in quantum cosmology.Comment: 16 pages,LaTeX, no figures; v2: some changes coming from revision of
a math reference: wave function peaks sharp but not infinite; v3: added
paragraph in intro on interpretation of wave functio
Towards an understanding of nucleon spin structure: from hard to soft scales
The workshop "The Helicity Structure of the Nucleon" (BNL June 5, 2006) was
organized as part of the 2006 RHIC & AGS Users' Meeting to review the status of
the spin problem and future directions. The presentations can be found at
http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/WWW/publish/caidala/UsersHelicityWorkshop2006/ .
Recent data suggests small polarized glue and strangeness in the proton. Here
we present a personal summary of the main results and presentations. What is
new and exciting in the data, and what might this tell us about the structure
of the proton ?Comment: 20 pages, to appear in Int. J. Mod. Phys.
'Little Story Books' and 'Small Pamphlets' in Edinburgh, 1680-1760:the Making of the Scottish Chapbook
Viewpoint: Evaluating the impact of malaria control efforts on mortality in sub-Saharan Africa
OBJECTIVE To describe an approach for evaluating the impact of malaria control efforts on malaria-associated mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, where disease-specific mortality trends usually cannot be measured directly and most malaria deaths occur among young children. METHODS Methods for evaluating changes in malaria-associated mortality are examined; advantages and disadvantages are presented. RESULTS All methods require a plausibility argument - i.e., an assumption that mortality reductions can be attributed to programmatic efforts if improvements are found in steps of the causal pathway between intervention scale-up and mortality trends. As different methods provide complementary information, they can be used together. We recommend following trends in the coverage of malaria control interventions, other factors influencing childhood mortality, malaria-associated morbidity (especially anaemia), and all-cause childhood mortality. This approach reflects decreases in malaria's direct and indirect mortality burden and can be examined in nearly all countries. Adding other information can strengthen the plausibility argument: trends in indicators of malaria transmission, information from demographic surveillance systems and sentinel sites where malaria diagnostics are systematically used, and verbal autopsies linked to representative household surveys. Health facility data on malaria deaths have well-recognized limitations; however, in specific circumstances, they could produce reliable trends. Model-based predictions can help describe changes in malaria-specific burden and assist with program management and advocacy. CONCLUSIONS Despite challenges, efforts to reduce malaria-associated mortality in Africa can be evaluated with trends in malaria intervention coverage and all-cause childhood mortality. Where there are resources and interest, complementary data on malaria morbidity and malaria-specific mortality could be added
The double torus as a 2D cosmos: groups, geometry and closed geodesics
The double torus provides a relativistic model for a closed 2D cosmos with
topology of genus 2 and constant negative curvature. Its unfolding into an
octagon extends to an octagonal tessellation of its universal covering, the
hyperbolic space H^2. The tessellation is analysed with tools from hyperbolic
crystallography. Actions on H^2 of groups/subgroups are identified for SU(1,
1), for a hyperbolic Coxeter group acting also on SU(1, 1), and for the
homotopy group \Phi_2 whose extension is normal in the Coxeter group. Closed
geodesics arise from links on H^2 between octagon centres. The direction and
length of the shortest closed geodesics is computed.Comment: Latex, 27 pages, 5 figures (late submission to arxiv.org
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