1,783 research outputs found
Imaging of Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies in the Near-UV
We present the first ground-based U' (3410 angstroms) images of Ultraluminous
Infrared Galaxies (ULIGs). Strong U' emission (median total M_U' = -20.8) is
seen in all systems and in some cases the extended tidal features (both the
smooth stellar distribution and compact star-forming features) contribute up to
60-80% of the total flux. The star-forming regions in both samples are found to
have ages based on spectral synthesis models in the range 10-100 Myrs, and most
differences in color between them can be attributed to the effects of dust
reddening. Additionally, it is found that star-formation in compact knots in
the tidal tails is most prominent in those ULIGs which have double nuclei,
suggesting that the star-formation rate in the tails peaks prior to the actual
coalescence of the galaxy nuclei and diminishes quickly thereafter. Similar to
results at other wavelengths, the observed star formation at U' can only
account for a small fraction of the known bolometric luminosity of the ULIGs.
Azimuthally averaged radial light profiles at U' are characterized by a sersic
law with index n=2, which is intermediate between an exponential disk and an
r^(-1/4) law and closely resembles the latter at large radii. The implications
of this near-ultraviolet imaging for optical/near-infrared observations of high
redshift counterparts of ULIGs are discussed.Comment: 30 pages, 4 tables, and 9 figures, 2 of which are JPEGs. To appear in
the August, 2000 edition of the Astronomical Journa
A search for compact object companions to high mass function single-lined spectroscopic binaries in Gaia DR3
Gaia DR3 provides >181, 000 radial velocity solutions for single-lined
spectroscopic binaries (SB1s) which can be used to search for non-interacting
compact object+star binary candidates by selecting systems with large mass
functions. We selected 234 such systems and identified 114 systems with good RV
solutions in DR3. We used light curves from ASAS-SN and TESS to identify and
remove 31 eclipsing binaries to produce a catalog of 80 compact object+star
candidates, including 38 ellipsoidal variables. The positions of these
candidates on Gaia and 2MASS CMDs suggest that many of these systems are
binaries with luminous companions. We compared the periods and eccentricities
of detached eclipsing binaries in Gaia DR3 and ASAS-SN, and found that ~11% and
~60% of the binaries had different periods and eccentricities. We also compared
RV solutions for 311 binaries in both Gaia DR3 and the Ninth Catalog of
Spectroscopic Binary Orbits (SB9), and found similar results. We do not
identify any strong candidates for non-interacting compact object+star
binaries.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures. Submitted to MNRA
A Study of CO Emission in High Redshift QSOs Using the Owens Valley Millimeter Array
Searches for CO emission in high-redshift objects have traditionally suffered
from the accuracy of optically-derived redshifts due to lack of bandwidth in
correlators at radio observatories. This problem has motivated the creation of
the new COBRA continuum correlator, with 4 GHz available bandwidth, at the
Owens Valley Radio Observatory Millimeter Array. Presented here are the first
scientific results from COBRA. We report detections of redshifted CO(J=3-2)
emission in the QSOs SMM J04135+10277 and VCV J140955.5+562827, as well as a
probable detection in RX J0911.4+0551. At redshifts of z=2.846, z=2.585, and
z=2.796, we find integrated CO flux densities of 5.4 Jy km/s, 2.4 Jy km/s, and
2.9 Jy km/s for SMM J04135+10277, VCV J140955.5+562827, and RX J0911.4+0551,
respectively, over linewidths of Delta(V_{FWHM}) ~ 350 km/s. These
measurements, when corrected for gravitational lensing, correspond to molecular
gas masses of order M(H_2) ~ 10^{9.6-11.1} solar masses, and are consistent
with previous CO observations of high-redshift QSOs. We also report 3-sigma
upper limits on CO(3-2) emission in the QSO LBQS 0018-0220 of 1.3 Jy km/s. We
do not detect significant 3mm continuum emission from any of the QSOs, with the
exception of a tentative (3-sigma) detection in RX J0911.4+0551 of S_{3mm}=0.92
mJy/beam.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables, accepted to ApJ. Changes made for
version 2: citations added, 2 objects added to Table 2 and Figure
Resolution and Kinematics of Molecular Gas Surrounding the Cloverleaf Quasar at z=2.6 Using the Gravitational Lens
Gravitational lenses have long been advertised as primitive telescopes,
capable of magnifying cosmologically distant sources (Zwicky 1937). In this
Letter, we present new 0''.9 resolution CO (7-6) observations of the z=2.56
Cloverleaf quasar (H 1413+117) and spatially resolved images. By modeling the
gravitational lens, we infer a size scale of 0''.3 (~1 kpc) for the molecular
gas structure surrounding the quasar, and the gas has a kinematic structure
roughly consistent with a rotating disk. The observed properties of the CO
emitting gas are similar to the nuclear starburst complexes found in the
infrared luminous galaxies in the local universe, and metal enrichment by
vigorous star formation within this massive nuclear gas complex can explain the
abundance of carbon and oxygen in the interstellar medium of this system
observed when the universe was only a few billion years old. Obtaining
corresponding details in an unlensed object at similar distances would be well
beyond the reach of current instruments, and this study highlights the less
exploited yet powerful use of a gravitational lens as a natural telescope.Comment: To appear in Astrophysical Journal. 10 pages, 2 postscript figures,
uses aaspp4.st
Solving bin-packing problems under privacy preservation: Possibilities and trade-offs
We investigate the trade-off between privacy and solution quality that occurs when a kanonymized database is used as input to the bin-packing optimization problem. To investigate the impact of the chosen anonymization method on this trade-off, we consider
two recoding methods for k-anonymity: full-domain generalization and partition-based
single-dimensional recoding. To deal with the uncertainty created by anonymization in the
bin-packing problem, we utilize stochastic programming and robust optimization methods. Our computational results show that the trade-off is strongly dependent on both the
anonymization and optimization method. On the anonymization side, we see that using
single dimensional recoding leads to significantly better solution quality than using full
domain generalization. On the optimization side, we see that using stochastic programming, where we use the multiset of values in an equivalence class, considerably improves
the solutions. While publishing these multisets makes the database more vulnerable to a
table linkage attack, we argue that it is up to the data publisher to reason if such a loss of
anonymization weighs up to the increase in optimization performance
The Distribution of Redshifts in New Samples of Quasi-stellar Objects
Two new samples of QSOs have been constructed from recent surveys to test the
hypothesis that the redshift distribution of bright QSOs is periodic in
. The first of these comprises 57 different redshifts among all
known close pairs or multiple QSOs, with image separations 10\arcsec,
and the second consists of 39 QSOs selected through their X-ray emission and
their proximity to bright comparatively nearby active galaxies. The redshift
distributions of the samples are found to exhibit distinct peaks with a
periodic separation of in identical to that claimed
in earlier samples but now extended out to higher redshift peaks and 4.47, predicted by the formula but never seen before. The periodicity
is also seen in a third sample, the 78 QSOs of the 3C and 3CR catalogues. It is
present in these three datasets at an overall significance level -
, and appears not to be explicable by spectroscopic or similar
selection effects. Possible interpretations are briefly discussed.Comment: submitted for publication in the Astronomical Journal, 15 figure
An evaluation of the clinical and cost-effectiveness of alternative care locations for critically ill adult patients with acute traumatic brain injury.
BACKGROUND: For critically ill adult patients with acute traumatic brain injury (TBI), we assessed the clinical and cost-effectiveness of: (a) Management in dedicated neurocritical care units versus combined neuro/general critical care units within neuroscience centres. (b) 'Early' transfer to a neuroscience centre versus 'no or late' transfer for those who present at a non-neuroscience centre. METHODS: The Risk Adjustment In Neurocritical care (RAIN) Study included prospective admissions following acute TBI to 67 UK adult critical care units during 2009-11. Data were collected on baseline case-mix, mortality, resource use, and at six months, Glasgow Outcome Scale Extended (GOSE), and quality of life (QOL) (EuroQol 5D-3L). We report incremental effectiveness, costs and cost per Quality-Adjusted Life Year (QALY) of the alternative care locations, adjusting for baseline differences with validated risk prediction models. We tested the robustness of results in sensitivity analyses. FINDINGS: Dedicated neurocritical care unit patients (N = 1324) had similar six-month mortality, higher QOL (mean gain 0.048, 95% CI -0.002 to 0.099) and increased average costs compared with those managed in combined neuro/general units (N = 1341), with a lifetime cost per QALY gained of £14,000. 'Early' transfer to a neuroscience centre (N = 584) was associated with lower mortality (odds ratio 0.52, 0.34-0.80), higher QOL for survivors (mean gain 0.13, 0.032-0.225), but positive incremental costs (£15,001, £11,123 to £18,880) compared with 'late or no transfer' (N = 263). The lifetime cost per QALY gained for 'early' transfer was £11,000. CONCLUSIONS: For critically ill adult patients with acute TBI, within neuroscience centres management in dedicated neurocritical care units versus combined neuro/general units led to improved QoL and higher costs, on average, but these differences were not statistically significant. This study finds that 'early' transfer to a neuroscience centre is associated with reduced mortality, improvement in QOL and is cost-effective
The Value-Added Catalog of ASAS-SN Eclipsing Binaries: Parameters of Thirty Thousand Detached Systems
Detached eclipsing binaries are a fundamental tool for measuring the physical
parameters of stars that are effectively evolving in isolation. Starting from
more than 40,000 eclipsing binary candidates identified by the All-Sky
Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN), we use PHOEBE to determine the sum
of the fractional radii, the ratio of effective temperatures, the inclinations,
and the eccentricities for 35,464 systems. We visually inspect all the light
curve models to verify the model fits and examine the TESS light curves, when
available, to select systems with evidence for additional physics, such as
spots, mass transfer, and hierarchical triples. We examine the distributions of
the eclipsing binary model parameters and the orbital parameters. We identify
two groups in the sum of the fractional radii and effective temperature ratio
parameter space that may distinguish systems approaching the semidetached
limit. Combining Gaia EDR3 with extinction estimates from 3-dimensional dust
maps, we examine the properties of the systems as a function of their absolute
magnitude and evolutionary state. Finally, we present light curves of selected
eclipsing binaries that may be of interest for follow-up studies.Comment: 24 pages, 26 figures. Submitted to MNRA
Mid-Infrared Spectroscopic Properties of Ultra-Luminous Infrared Quasars
We analyse mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopic properties for 19 ultra-luminous
infrared quasars (IR QSOs) in the local universe based on the spectra from the
Infrared Spectrograph on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. The MIR properties
of IR QSOs are compared with those of optically-selected Palomar-Green QSOs (PG
QSOs) and ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs). The average MIR spectral
features from ~ 5 to 30um, including the spectral slopes, 6.2um PAH emission
strengths and [NeII] 12.81um luminosities of IR QSOs, differ from those of PG
QSOs. In contrast, IR QSOs and ULIRGs have comparable PAH and [NeII]
luminosities. These results are consistent with IR QSOs being at a transitional
stage from ULIRGs to classical QSOs. We also find that the colour index
alpha(30, 15) is a good indicator of the relative contribution of starbursts to
AGNs for all QSOs. Correlations between the [NeII] 12.81um and PAH 6.2um
luminosities and those between the [NeII], PAH with 60um luminosities for
ULIRGs and IR QSOs indicate that both [NeII] and PAH luminosities are
approximate star formation rate indicators for IR QSOs and starburst-dominated
galaxies; the scatters are, however, quite large (~ 0.7 to 0.8 dex). Finally
the correlation between the EW(PAH 6.2um) and outflow velocities suggests that
star formation activities are suppressed by feedback from AGNs and/or
supernovae.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, 6 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA
Glioblastoma adaptation traced through decline of an IDH1 clonal driver and macro-evolution of a double-minute chromosome
In a glioblastoma tumour with multi-region sequencing before and after recurrence, we find an IDH1 mutation that is clonal in the primary but lost at recurrence. We also describe the evolution of a double-minute chromosome encoding regulators of the PI3K signalling axis that dominates at recurrence, emphasizing the challenges of an evolving and dynamic oncogenic landscape for precision medicin
- …