319 research outputs found
Investigating Analytical and Numerical Methods to Predict Satellite Orbits Using Two-Line Element Sets
As Low Earth Orbit (LEO) contains an ever-increasing number of objects, the prediction of future object positions must be precise in order to avoid collisions. Object positions are distributed in two-line element (TLE) sets and are generated using the analytical propagator known as Simplified General Perturbations 4 (SGP4). However, a numerical integrator called Special Perturbations (SP) provides an alternative approach to TLE generation and propagation. In this thesis, TLE accuracy was determined with both models, and the length of time that a single element set can provide valid information was also established. With two-line element sets as data, comparisons were made between the numerical integrator and the analytical model for objects in LEO, particularly the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The results obtained indicated that the propagated position error using SGP4 remained within 1 km of the expected position during a 7 day period from the epoch of the initial element set. Additionally, the majority of comparisons between SGP4 and SP resulted in a higher error while using the numerical integrator, although some comparisons showed a lower propagated position error with SP. This final result shows a potential for SP to provide more accurate position information than SGP4 in future research
A Spatial Analysis of Rift Valley Fever Virus Seropositivity in Domestic Ruminants in Tanzania
Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an acute arthropod-borne viral zoonotic disease primarily occurring in Africa. Since RVF-like disease was reported in Tanzania in 1930, outbreaks of the disease have been reported mainly from the eastern ecosystem of the Great Rift Valley. This cross-sectional study was carried out to describe the variation in RVF virus (RVFV) seropositivity in domestic ruminants between selected villages in the eastern and western Rift Valley ecosystems in Tanzania, and identify potential risk factors. Three study villages were purposively selected from each of the two Rift Valley ecosystems. Serum samples from randomly selected domestic ruminants (n = 1,435) were tested for the presence of specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) and M (IgM), using RVF enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay methods. Mixed effects logistic regression modelling was used to investigate the association between potential risk factors and RVFV seropositivity. The overall RVFV seroprevalence (n = 1,435) in domestic ruminants was 25.8% and species specific seroprevalence was 29.7%, 27.7% and 22.0% in sheep (n = 148), cattle (n = 756) and goats (n = 531), respectively. The odds of seropositivity were significantly higher in animals sampled from the villages in the eastern than those in the western Rift Valley ecosystem (OR = 1.88, CI: 1.41, 2.51; p<0.001), in animals sampled from villages with soils of good than those with soils of poor water holding capacity (OR = 1.97; 95% CI: 1.58, 3.02; p< 0.001), and in animals which had been introduced than in animals born within the herd (OR = 5.08, CI: 2.74, 9.44; p< 0.001). Compared with animals aged 1-2 years, those aged 3 and 4-5 years had 3.40 (CI: 2.49, 4.64; p< 0.001) and 3.31 (CI: 2.27, 4.82, p< 0.001) times the odds of seropositivity. The findings confirm exposure to RVFV in all the study villages, but with a higher prevalence in the study villages from the eastern Rift Valley ecosystem
Climate impacts on livestock production in a southern Africa region: Model projections to 2050
The SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: Quasar Target Selection for Data Release Nine
The SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), a five-year
spectroscopic survey of 10,000 deg^2, achieved first light in late 2009. One of
the key goals of BOSS is to measure the signature of baryon acoustic
oscillations in the distribution of Ly-alpha absorption from the spectra of a
sample of ~150,000 z>2.2 quasars. Along with measuring the angular diameter
distance at z\approx2.5, BOSS will provide the first direct measurement of the
expansion rate of the Universe at z > 2. One of the biggest challenges in
achieving this goal is an efficient target selection algorithm for quasars over
2.2 < z < 3.5, where their colors overlap those of stars. During the first year
of the BOSS survey, quasar target selection methods were developed and tested
to meet the requirement of delivering at least 15 quasars deg^-2 in this
redshift range, out of 40 targets deg^-2. To achieve these surface densities,
the magnitude limit of the quasar targets was set at g <= 22.0 or r<=21.85.
While detection of the BAO signature in the Ly-alpha absorption in quasar
spectra does not require a uniform target selection, many other astrophysical
studies do. We therefore defined a uniformly-selected subsample of 20 targets
deg^-2, for which the selection efficiency is just over 50%. This "CORE"
subsample will be fixed for Years Two through Five of the survey. In this paper
we describe the evolution and implementation of the BOSS quasar target
selection algorithms during the first two years of BOSS operations. We analyze
the spectra obtained during the first year. 11,263 new z>2.2 quasars were
spectroscopically confirmed by BOSS. Our current algorithms select an average
of 15 z > 2.2 quasars deg^-2 from 40 targets deg^-2 using single-epoch SDSS
imaging. Multi-epoch optical data and data at other wavelengths can further
improve the efficiency and completeness of BOSS quasar target selection.
[Abridged]Comment: 33 pages, 26 figures, 12 tables and a whole bunch of quasars.
Submitted to Ap
Left, right, left, right, eyes to the front! MĂŒller-Lyer bias in grasping is not a function of hand used, hand preferred or visual hemifield, but foveation does matter
We investigated whether the control of movement of the left hand is more likely to involve the use of allocentric information than movements performed with the right hand. Previous studies (Gonzalez et al. in J Neurophys 95:3496â3501, 2006; De Grave et al. in Exp Br Res 193:421â427, 2009) have reported contradictory findings in this respect. In the present study, right-handed participants (NÂ =Â 12) and left-handed participants (NÂ =Â 12) made right- and left-handed grasps to foveated objects and peripheral, non-foveated objects that were located in the right or left visual hemifield and embedded within a MĂŒller-Lyer illusion. They were also asked to judge the size of the object by matching their hand aperture to its length. Hand apertures did not show significant differences in illusory bias as a function of hand used, handedness or visual hemifield. However, the illusory effect was significantly larger for perception than for action, and for the non-foveated compared to foveated objects. No significant illusory biases were found for reach movement times. These findings are consistent with the two-visual system model that holds that the use of allocentric information is more prominent in perception than in movement control. We propose that the increased involvement of allocentric information in movements toward peripheral, non-foveated objects may be a consequence of more awkward, less automatized grasps of nonfoveated than foveated objects. The current study does not support the conjecture that the control of left-handed and right-handed grasps is predicated on different sources of information
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Genome-Wide Association Scan for Diabetic Nephropathy Susceptibility Genes in Type 1 Diabetes
OBJECTIVEâDespite extensive evidence for genetic susceptibility
to diabetic nephropathy, the identification of susceptibility
genes and their variants has had limited success. To search for
genes that contribute to diabetic nephropathy, a genome-wide
association scan was implemented on the Genetics of Kidneys in
Diabetes collection.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSâWe genotyped
360,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 820 case
subjects (284 with proteinuria and 536 with end-stage renal
disease) and 885 control subjects with type 1 diabetes. Confirmation
of implicated SNPs was sought in 1,304 participants of the
Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT)/Epidemiology
of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (EDIC) study, a
long-term, prospective investigation of the development of diabetes-
associated complications.
RESULTSâA total of 13 SNPs located in four genomic loci were
associated with diabetic nephropathy with P1105. The
strongest association was at the FRMD3 (4.1 protein ezrin,
radixin, moesin [FERM] domain containing 3) locus (odds ratio
[OR]1.45, P5.0107). A strong association was also
identified at the CARS (cysteinyl-tRNA synthetase) locus (OR
1.36, P3.1106). Associations between both loci and time to
onset of diabetic nephropathy were supported in the DCCT/EDIC
study (hazard ratio [HR]1.33, P0.02, and HR1.32, P
0.01, respectively). We demonstrated expression of both FRMD3
and CARS in human kidney.
CONCLUSIONSâWe identified genetic associations for susceptibility
to diabetic nephropathy at two novel candidate loci near
the FRMD3 and CARS genes. Their identification implicates
previously unsuspected pathways in the pathogenesis of this
important late complication of type 1 diabetes
The Eighth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Data from SDSS-III
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) started a new phase in August 2008, with
new instrumentation and new surveys focused on Galactic structure and chemical
evolution, measurements of the baryon oscillation feature in the clustering of
galaxies and the quasar Ly alpha forest, and a radial velocity search for
planets around ~8000 stars. This paper describes the first data release of
SDSS-III (and the eighth counting from the beginning of the SDSS). The release
includes five-band imaging of roughly 5200 deg^2 in the Southern Galactic Cap,
bringing the total footprint of the SDSS imaging to 14,555 deg^2, or over a
third of the Celestial Sphere. All the imaging data have been reprocessed with
an improved sky-subtraction algorithm and a final, self-consistent photometric
recalibration and flat-field determination. This release also includes all data
from the second phase of the Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and
Evolution (SEGUE-2), consisting of spectroscopy of approximately 118,000 stars
at both high and low Galactic latitudes. All the more than half a million
stellar spectra obtained with the SDSS spectrograph have been reprocessed
through an improved stellar parameters pipeline, which has better determination
of metallicity for high metallicity stars.Comment: Astrophysical Journal Supplements, in press (minor updates from
submitted version
The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey of SDSS-III
The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) is designed to measure the
scale of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in the clustering of matter over a
larger volume than the combined efforts of all previous spectroscopic surveys
of large scale structure. BOSS uses 1.5 million luminous galaxies as faint as
i=19.9 over 10,000 square degrees to measure BAO to redshifts z<0.7.
Observations of neutral hydrogen in the Lyman alpha forest in more than 150,000
quasar spectra (g<22) will constrain BAO over the redshift range 2.15<z<3.5.
Early results from BOSS include the first detection of the large-scale
three-dimensional clustering of the Lyman alpha forest and a strong detection
from the Data Release 9 data set of the BAO in the clustering of massive
galaxies at an effective redshift z = 0.57. We project that BOSS will yield
measurements of the angular diameter distance D_A to an accuracy of 1.0% at
redshifts z=0.3 and z=0.57 and measurements of H(z) to 1.8% and 1.7% at the
same redshifts. Forecasts for Lyman alpha forest constraints predict a
measurement of an overall dilation factor that scales the highly degenerate
D_A(z) and H^{-1}(z) parameters to an accuracy of 1.9% at z~2.5 when the survey
is complete. Here, we provide an overview of the selection of spectroscopic
targets, planning of observations, and analysis of data and data quality of
BOSS.Comment: 49 pages, 16 figures, accepted by A
The Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) presents the first spectroscopic
data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This ninth data
release (DR9) of the SDSS project includes 535,995 new galaxy spectra (median
z=0.52), 102,100 new quasar spectra (median z=2.32), and 90,897 new stellar
spectra, along with the data presented in previous data releases. These spectra
were obtained with the new BOSS spectrograph and were taken between 2009
December and 2011 July. In addition, the stellar parameters pipeline, which
determines radial velocities, surface temperatures, surface gravities, and
metallicities of stars, has been updated and refined with improvements in
temperature estimates for stars with T_eff<5000 K and in metallicity estimates
for stars with [Fe/H]>-0.5. DR9 includes new stellar parameters for all stars
presented in DR8, including stars from SDSS-I and II, as well as those observed
as part of the SDSS-III Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and
Exploration-2 (SEGUE-2).
The astrometry error introduced in the DR8 imaging catalogs has been
corrected in the DR9 data products. The next data release for SDSS-III will be
in Summer 2013, which will present the first data from the Apache Point
Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) along with another year of
data from BOSS, followed by the final SDSS-III data release in December 2014.Comment: 9 figures; 2 tables. Submitted to ApJS. DR9 is available at
http://www.sdss3.org/dr
The Relative Importance of Topography and RGD Ligand Density for Endothelial Cell Adhesion
The morphology and function of endothelial cells depends on the physical and chemical characteristics of the extracellular environment. Here, we designed silicon surfaces on which topographical features and surface densities of the integrin binding peptide arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) could be independently controlled. We used these surfaces to investigate the relative importance of the surface chemistry of ligand presentation versus surface topography in endothelial cell adhesion. We compared cell adhesion, spreading and migration on surfaces with nano- to micro-scaled pyramids and average densities of 6Ă102â6Ă1011 RGD/mm2. We found that fewer cells adhered onto rough than flat surfaces and that the optimal average RGD density for cell adhesion was 6Ă105 RGD/mm2 on flat surfaces and substrata with nano-scaled roughness. Only on surfaces with micro-scaled pyramids did the topography hinder cell migration and a lower average RGD density was optimal for adhesion. In contrast, cell spreading was greatest on surfaces with 6Ă108 RGD/mm2 irrespectively of presence of feature and their size. In summary, our data suggest that the size of pyramids predominately control the number of endothelial cells that adhere to the substratum but the average RGD density governs the degree of cell spreading and length of focal adhesion within adherent cells. The data points towards a two-step model of cell adhesion: the initial contact of cells with a substratum may be guided by the topography while the engagement of cell surface receptors is predominately controlled by the surface chemistry
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