94 research outputs found
An Upper Limit on the Reflected Light from the Planet Orbiting the Star tau Bootis
The planet orbiting tau Boo at a separation of 0.046 AU could produce a
reflected light flux as bright as 1e-4 relative to that of the star. A spectrum
of the system will contain a reflected light component which varies in
amplitude and Doppler-shift as the planet orbits the star. Assuming the
secondary spectrum is primarily the reflected stellar spectrum, we can limit
the relative reflected light flux to be less than 5e-5. This implies an upper
limit of 0.3 for the planetary geometric albedo near 480 nm, assuming a
planetary radius of 1.2 R_Jup. This albedo is significantly less than that of
any of the giant planets of the solar system, and is not consistent with
certain published theoretical predictions.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, accepted by ApJ Letter
ESI, a new Keck Observatory echellette spectrograph and imager
The Echellette Spectrograph and Imager (ESI) is a multipurpose instrument
which has been delivered by the Instrument Development Laboratory of Lick
Observatory for use at the Cassegrain focus of the Keck II telescope. ESI saw
first light on August 29, 1999. ESI is a multi-mode instrument that enables the
observer to seamlessly switch between three modes during an observation. The
three modes of ESI are: An R=13,000-echellette mode; Low-dispersion prismatic
mode; Direct imaging mode. ESI contains a unique flexure compensation system
which reduces the small instrument flexure to negligible proportions.
Long-exposure images on the sky show FWHM spot diameters of 34 microns (0.34")
averaged over the entire field of view. These are the best non-AO images taken
in the visible at Keck Observatory to date. Maximum efficiencies are measured
to be 28% for the echellette mode and greater than 41% for low-dispersion
prismatic mode including atmospheric, telescope and detector losses. In this
paper we describe the instrument and its development. We also discuss the
performance-testing and some observational results.Comment: 10 pages, 14 figures, 8tables, accepted for publication in PASP, 15
April 200
Computational and Serologic Analysis of Novel and Known Viruses in Species Human Adenovirus D in Which Serology and Genomics Do Not Correlate
In November of 2007 a human adenovirus (HAdV) was isolated from a bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) sample recovered from a biopsy of an AIDS patient who presented with fever, cough, tachycardia, and expiratory wheezes. To better understand the isolated virus, the genome was sequenced and analyzed using bioinformatic and phylogenomic analysis. The results suggest that this novel virus, which is provisionally named HAdV-D59, may have been created from multiple recombination events. Specifically, the penton, hexon, and fiber genes have high nucleotide identity to HAdV-D19C, HAdV-D25, and HAdV-D56, respectively. Serological results demonstrated that HAdV-D59 has a neutralization profile that is similar yet not identical to that of HAdV-D25. Furthermore, we observed a two-fold difference between the ability of HAdV-D15 and HAdV-D25 to be neutralized by reciprocal antiserum indicating that the two hexon proteins may be more similar in epitopic conformation than previously assumed. In contrast, hexon loops 1 and 2 of HAdV-D15 and HAdV-D25 share 79.13 and 92.56 percent nucleotide identity, respectively. These data suggest that serology and genomics do not always correlate
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A Randomized Trial of an Elementary School Mathematics Software Intervention: Spatial-Temporal Math
Abstract: Fifty-two low performing schools were randomly assigned to receive Spatial-Temporal (ST) Math, a supplemental mathematics software and instructional program, in second/third or fourth/fifth grades or to a business-as-usual control. Analyses reveal a negligible effect of ST Math on mathematics scores, which did not differ significantly across subgroups defined by prior math proficiency and English Language Learner status. Two years of program treatment produced a nonsignificant effect. Publication of evaluation results from large-scale real-world supplemental mathematics instructional implementations such as this one can provide a realistic view of the possibilities, costs, and limitations of this and other computer aided instruction supplemental interventions
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