61 research outputs found
Physics of Eclipsing Binaries: Heartbeat Stars and Tidally Induced Pulsations
Heartbeat stars are a relatively new class of eccentric ellipsoidal variable first discovered by Kepler. An overview of the current field is given with details of some of the interesting objects identified in our current Kepler sample of 135 heartbeats stars. Three objects that have recently been or are undergoing detailed study are described along with suggestions for further avenues of research. We conclude by discussing why heartbeat stars are an interesting new tool to study tidally induced pulsations and orbital dynamics
Massive Star Formation
This chapter reviews progress in the field of massive star formation. It
focuses on evidence for accretion and current models that invoke high accretion
rates. In particular it is noted that high accretion rates will cause the
massive young stellar object to have a radius much larger than its eventual
main sequence radius throughout much of the accretion phase. This results in
low effective temperatures which may provide the explanation as to why luminous
young stellar objects do not ionized their surroundings to form ultra-compact H
II regions. The transition to the ultra-compact H II region phase would then be
associated with the termination of the high accretion rate phase. Objects
thought to be in a transition phase are discussed and diagnostic diagrams to
distinguish between massive young stellar objects and ultra-compact H II
regions in terms of line widths and radio luminosity are presented.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, chapter in Diffuse Matter from Star Forming
Regions to Active Galaxies - A Volume Honouring John Dyson, Edited by T.W.
Hartquist, J. M. Pittard, and S. A. E. G. Falle. Series: Astrophysics and
Space Science Proceedings. Springer Dordrecht, 2007, p.6
Asteroseismology of Eclipsing Binary Stars in the Kepler Era
Eclipsing binary stars have long served as benchmark systems to measure
fundamental stellar properties. In the past few decades, asteroseismology - the
study of stellar pulsations - has emerged as a new powerful tool to study the
structure and evolution of stars across the HR diagram. Pulsating stars in
eclipsing binary systems are particularly valuable since fundamental properties
(such as radii and masses) can determined using two independent techniques.
Furthermore, independently measured properties from binary orbits can be used
to improve asteroseismic modeling for pulsating stars in which mode
identifications are not straightforward. This contribution provides a review of
asteroseismic detections in eclipsing binary stars, with a focus on space-based
missions such as CoRoT and Kepler, and empirical tests of asteroseismic scaling
relations for stochastic ("solar-like") oscillations.Comment: 28 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables; Proceedings of the AAS topical
conference "Giants of Eclipse" (AASTCS-3), July 28 - August 2 2013, Monterey,
C
How to move ionized gas: an introduction to the dynamics of HII regions
This review covers the dynamic processes that are important in the evolution
and structure of galactic HII regions, concentrating on an elementary
presentation of the physical concepts and recent numerical simulations of HII
region evolution in a non-uniform medium.
The contents are as follows:
(1) The equations (Euler equations; Radiative transfer; Rate equations; How
to avoid the dynamics; How to avoid the atomic physics).
(2) Physical concepts (Static photoionization equilibrium; Ionization front
propagation; Structure of a D-type front; Photoablation flows; Other
ingredients - Stellar winds, Radiation pressure, Magnetic fields,
Instabilities).
(3) HII region evolution (Early phases: hypercompact and ultracompact
regions; Later phases: compact and extended regions; Clumps and turbulence).Comment: To be published as a chapter in 'Diffuse Matter from Star Forming
Regions to Active Galaxies' - A volume Honouring John Dyson. Eds. T. W.
Harquist, J. M. Pittard and S. A. E. G. Falle. 25 pages, 7 figures. Some
figures degraded to meet size restriction. Full-resolution version available
at http://www.ifront.org/wiki/Dyson_Festschrift_Chapte
Female chromosome X mosaicism is age-related and preferentially affects the inactivated X chromosome
To investigate large structural clonal mosaicism of chromosome X, we analysed the SNP
microarray intensity data of 38,303 women from cancer genome-wide association studies
(20,878 cases and 17,425 controls) and detected 124 mosaic X events42Mb in 97 (0.25%)
women. Here we show rates for X-chromosome mosaicism are four times higher than mean
autosomal rates; X mosaic events more often include the entire chromosome and participants
with X events more likely harbour autosomal mosaic events. X mosaicism frequency
increases with age (0.11% in 50-year olds; 0.45% in 75-year olds), as reported for Y and
autosomes. Methylation array analyses of 33 women with X mosaicism indicate events
preferentially involve the inactive X chromosome. Our results provide further evidence that
the sex chromosomes undergo mosaic events more frequently than autosomes, which could
have implications for understanding the underlying mechanisms of mosaic events and their
possible contribution to risk for chronic diseases
Detectable clonal mosaicism and its relationship to aging and cancer
In an analysis of 31,717 cancer cases and 26,136 cancer-free controls from 13 genome-wide association studies, we observed large chromosomal abnormalities in a subset of clones in DNA obtained from blood or buccal samples. We observed mosaic abnormalities, either aneuploidy or copy-neutral loss of heterozygosity, of >2 Mb in size in autosomes of 517 individuals (0.89%), with abnormal cell proportions of between 7% and 95%. In cancer-free individuals, frequency increased with age, from 0.23% under 50 years to 1.91% between 75 and 79 years (P = 4.8 × 10(-8)). Mosaic abnormalities were more frequent in individuals with solid tumors (0.97% versus 0.74% in cancer-free individuals; odds ratio (OR) = 1.25; P = 0.016), with stronger association with cases who had DNA collected before diagnosis or treatment (OR = 1.45; P = 0.0005). Detectable mosaicism was also more common in individuals for whom DNA was collected at least 1 year before diagnosis with leukemia compared to cancer-free individuals (OR = 35.4; P = 3.8 × 10(-11)). These findings underscore the time-dependent nature of somatic events in the etiology of cancer and potentially other late-onset diseases
Algorithm for computing significance levels using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic and valid for both large and small samples
The KSTEST code presented here is designed to perform the Kolmogorov-Smirnov one-sample test. The code may be used as a stand-alone program or the principal subroutines may be excerpted and used to service other programs. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov one-sample test is a nonparametric goodness-of-fit test. A number of codes to perform this test are in existence, but they suffer from the inability to provide meaningful results in the case of small sample sizes (number of values less than or equal to 80). The KSTEST code overcomes this inadequacy by using two distinct algorithms. If the sample size is greater than 80, an asymptotic series developed by Smirnov is evaluated. If the sample size is 80 or less, a table of values generated by Birnbaum is referenced. Valid results can be obtained from KSTEST when the sample contains from 3 to 300 data points. The program was developed on a Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-10 computer using the FORTRAN-10 language. The code size is approximately 450 card images and the typical CPU execution time is 0.19 s
Analysis/plot generation code with significance levels computed using Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistics valid for both large and small samples
This report describes a version of the TERPED/P computer code that is very useful for small data sets. A new algorithm for determining the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) statistics is used to extend program applicability. The TERPED/P code facilitates the analysis of experimental data and assists the user in determining its probability distribution function. Graphical and numerical tests are performed interactively in accordance with the user's assumption of normally or log-normally distributed data. Statistical analysis options include computation of the chi-square statistic and the KS one-sample test statistic and the corresponding significance levels. Cumulative probability plots of the user's data are generated either via a local graphics terminal, a local line printer or character-oriented terminal, or a remote high-resolution graphics device such as the FR80 film plotter or the Calcomp paper plotter. Several useful computer methodologies suffer from limitations of their implementations of the KS nonparametric test. This test is one of the more powerful analysis tools for examining the validity of an assumption about the probability distribution of a set of data. KS algorithms are found in other analysis codes, including the Statistical Analysis Subroutine (SAS) package and earlier versions of TERPED. The inability of these algorithms to generate significance levels for sample sizes less than 50 has limited their usefulness. The release of the TERPED code described herein contains algorithms to allow computation of the KS statistic and significance level for data sets of, if the user wishes, as few as three points. Values computed for the KS statistic are within 3% of the correct value for all data set sizes
Molecular-based mechanisms of mendelian forms of salt-dependent hypertension: questioning the prevailing theory
No abstract available
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