25,917 research outputs found
Boundary crossing Random Walks, clinical trials and multinomial sequential estimation
A sufficient condition for the uniqueness of multinomial sequential unbiased
estimators is provided generalizing a classical result for binomial samples.
Unbiased estimators are applied to infer the parameters of multidimensional or
multinomial Random Walks which are observed until they reach a boundary. An
application to clinical trials is presented
MGGPOD: a Monte Carlo Suite for Modeling Instrumental Line and Continuum Backgrounds in Gamma-Ray Astronomy
Intense and complex instrumental backgrounds, against which the much smaller
signals from celestial sources have to be discerned, are a notorious problem
for low and intermediate energy gamma-ray astronomy (~50 keV - 10 MeV).
Therefore a detailed qualitative and quantitative understanding of instrumental
line and continuum backgrounds is crucial for most stages of gamma-ray
astronomy missions, ranging from the design and development of new
instrumentation through performance prediction to data reduction. We have
developed MGGPOD, a user-friendly suite of Monte Carlo codes built around the
widely used GEANT (Version 3.21) package, to simulate ab initio the physical
processes relevant for the production of instrumental backgrounds. These
include the build-up and delayed decay of radioactive isotopes as well as the
prompt de-excitation of excited nuclei, both of which give rise to a plethora
of instrumental gamma-ray background lines in addition to continuum
backgrounds. The MGGPOD package and documentation are publicly available for
download from http://sigma-2.cesr.fr/spi/MGGPOD/.
We demonstrate the capabilities of the MGGPOD suite by modeling high
resolution gamma-ray spectra recorded by the Transient Gamma-Ray Spectrometer
(TGRS) on board Wind during 1995. The TGRS is a Ge spectrometer operating in
the 40 keV to 8 MeV range. Due to its fine energy resolution, these spectra
reveal the complex instrumental background in formidable detail, particularly
the many prompt and delayed gamma-ray lines. We evaluate the successes and
failures of the MGGPOD package in reproducing TGRS data, and provide
identifications for the numerous instrumental lines.Comment: 60 pages, 13 figures, 7 tables, accepted for publication in ApJ
Searching for additional heating - [OII] emission in the diffuse ionized gas of NGC891, NGC4631 and NGC3079
We present spectroscopic data of ionized gas in the disk--halo regions of
three edge-on galaxies, NGC 891, NGC 4631 and NGC 3079, covering a wavelength
range from [\ion{O}{2}] 3727\AA to [\ion{S}{2}] 6716.4\AA.
The inclusion of the [\ion{O}{2}] emission provides new constraints on the
properties of the diffuse ionized gas (DIG), in particular, the origin of the
observed spatial variations in the line intensity ratios. We used three
different methods to derive electron temperatures, abundances and ionization
fractions along the slit. The increase in the [\ion{O}{2}]/H line ratio
towards the halo in all three galaxies requires an increase either in electron
temperature or in oxygen abundance. Keeping the oxygen abundance constant
yields the most reasonable results for temperature, abundances, and ionization
fractions. Since a constant oxygen abundance seems to require an increase in
temperature towards the halo, we conclude that gradients in the electron
temperature play a significant role in the observed variations in the optical
line ratios from extraplanar DIG in these three spiral galaxies.Comment: 43 pages, 29 figure
Wavelet based segment detection and feature extraction for 3D T-ray CT pattern classification
Copyright © 2006 IEEEThis paper explores three dimensional (3D) Terahertz (T-rays) computed tomographic (CT) classification based on T-ray functional imaging techniques. The target objects are separated by their refractive indices, which are indicated by the intensity in the images. Segmentation techniques are employed to identify the position of each pixel belonging to the different classes. Wavelet methods are applied to the detected T-ray pulsed responses for feature extraction. A Mahalanobis distance classifier is selected for the final classification task. This paper presents T-ray CT classification techniques that allow analysis of measured T-ray transmission image statistics and that automatically identify materials within a heterogeneous structure.X.X. Yin, B.W.-H. Ng, B. Ferguson, S.P. Mickan, D. Abbot
Statistical model for the classification of the wavelet transforms of T-ray pulses
©2006 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.This study applies Auto Regressive (AR) and Auto Regressive Moving Average (ARMA) modeling to wavelet decomposed terahertz pulsed signals to assist biomedical diagnosis and mail/packaging inspection. T-ray classification systems supply a wealth of information about test samples to make possible the discrimination of heterogeneous layers within an object. In this paper, the classification of normal human bone (NHB) osteoblasts against human osteosarcoma (HOS) cells and the identification of seven different powder samples are demonstrated. A correlation method and an improved Prony’s method are investigated in the calculation of the AR and ARMA model parameters. These parameters are obtained for models from second to eighth orders and are subsequently used as feature vectors for classification. For pre-processing, wavelet de-noising methods including the SURE (Stein’s Unbiased Estimate of Risk) and heuristic SURE soft threshold shrinkage algorithms are employed to de-noise the normalised T-ray pulsed signals. A Mahalanobis distance classifier is used to perform the final classification. The error prediction covariance of AR/ARMA modeling and the classification accuracy are calculated and used as metrics for comparison.X.X. Yin, B.W.-H. Ng, B. Ferguson, S.P. Mickan, D. Abbot
Deep UV Luminosity Functions at the Infall Region of the Coma Cluster
We have used deep GALEX observations at the infall region of the Coma cluster
to measure the faintest UV luminosity functions (LFs) presented for a rich
galaxy cluster thus far. The Coma UV LFs are measured to M_UV = -10.5 in the
GALEX FUV and NUV bands, or 3.5 mag fainter than previous studies, and reach
the dwarf early-type galaxy population in Coma for the first time. The
Schechter faint-end slopes (alpha = -1.39 in both GALEX bands) are shallower
than reported in previous Coma UV LF studies owing to a flatter LF at faint
magnitudes. A Gaussian-plus-Schechter model provides a slightly better
parametrization of the UV LFs resulting in a faint-end slope of ~ -1.15 in both
GALEX bands. The two-component model gives faint-end slopes shallower than -1
(a turnover) for the LFs constructed separately for passive and star forming
galaxies. The UV LFs for star forming galaxies show a turnover at M_UV ~ -14
owing to a deficit of dwarf star forming galaxies in Coma with stellar masses
below M*=10^8 Msun. A similar turnover is identified in recent UV LFs measured
for the Virgo cluster suggesting this may be a common feature of local galaxy
clusters, whereas the field UV LFs continue to rise at faint magnitudes. We did
not identify an excess of passive galaxies as would be expected if the missing
dwarf star forming galaxies were quenched inside the cluster. In fact, the LFs
for both dwarf passive and star forming galaxies show the same turnover at
faint magnitudes. We discuss the possible origin of the missing dwarf star
forming galaxies in Coma and their expected properties based on comparisons to
local field galaxies.Comment: accepted for publication in Ap
The Star-Forming Dwarf Galaxy Populations of two z ~ 0.4 Clusters: MS1512.4+3647 and Abell 851
We present the results of a deep narrow-band [OII] 3727 \AA emission-line
search for faint ( 27), star-forming galaxies in the field of the
MS1512.4+3647 cluster. We find no evidence for an over-density of emission-line
sources relative to the field at 0.4 (Hogg et al. 1998), and therefore
conclude that the MS1512.4+3647 sample is dominated by field [OII]
emission-line galaxies which lie along the 180 Mpc line of sight
immediately in front and behind the cluster. This is surprising, given that the
previously surveyed cluster Abell 851 has 3-4 times the field
emission-line galaxy density (Martin et al. 2000). We find that the
MS1512.4+3647 sample is deficient in galaxies with intermediate colors (1.0 2.0) and implied star-formation exponential decay timescales
100 Myr - 1 Gyr that dominate the Abell 851 emission-line galaxy population.
Instead, the majority of [OII] emission-line galaxies surrounding the
MS1512.4+3647 cluster are blue () and forming stars in bursts
with 100 Myr. In both samples, galaxies with the shortest
star-formation timescales are preferentially among the faintest star-forming
objects. Their i luminosities are consistent with young stellar populations
\sim 10^8 - 10^9 \Msun, although an additional factor of ten in stellar mass
could be hiding in underlying old stellar populations. We discuss the
implications for the star-formation histories of dwarf galaxies in the field
and rich clusters.Comment: 26 pages, including 5 tables and 13 figures; accepted for publication
in the Astrophysical Journa
Direct evidence for an early reionization of the Universe?
We examine the possible reionization of the intergalactic medium (IGM) by the
source UDF033238.7-274839.8 (hereafter HUDF-JD2), which was discovered in deep
{\it HST}/VLT/{\it Spitzer} images obtained as part of the Great Observatory
Origins Deep Survey and {\it Hubble} Ultra-Deep Field projects. Mobasher et al
(2005) have identified HUDF-JD2 as a massive ()
post-starburst galaxy at redshift z. We find that HUDF-JD2 may be
capable of reionizing its surrounding region of the Universe, starting the
process at a redshift as high as z.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
T-ray computed tomography
We demonstrate a tomographic imaging modality that uses pulsed terahertz (THz) radiation to probe the optical properties of three-dimensional (3D) structures in the far-infrared. This THz-wave computed tomography (T-ray CT) system provides sectional images of objects in a manner analogous to conventional CT techniques such as x-ray CT.The transmitted amplitude and phase of broadband pulses of THz radiation are measured at multiple projection angles. The filtered backprojection algorithm is then used to reconstruct the target object, including both its 3D structure and its frequency-dependent far-infrared optical properties.Bradley Ferguson, Shaohong Wang, Doug Gray, Derek Abbot, and X.-C. Zhan
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