47,287 research outputs found
Seeing the sky through Hubble's eye: The COSMOS SkyWalker
Large, high-resolution space-based imaging surveys produce a volume of data
that is difficult to present to the public in a comprehensible way. While
megapixel-sized images can still be printed out or downloaded via the World
Wide Web, this is no longer feasible for images with 10^9 pixels (e.g., the
Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys [ACS] images of the Galaxy
Evolution from Morphology and SEDs [GEMS] project) or even 10^10 pixels (for
the ACS Cosmic Evolution Survey [COSMOS]). We present a Web-based utility
called the COSMOS SkyWalker that allows viewing of the huge ACS image data set,
even through slow Internet connections. Using standard HTML and JavaScript, the
application successively loads only those portions of the image at a time that
are currently being viewed on the screen. The user can move within the image by
using the mouse or interacting with an overview image. Using an astrometrically
registered image for the COSMOS SkyWalker allows the display of calibrated
world coordinates for use in science. The SkyWalker "technique" can be applied
to other data sets. This requires some customization, notably the slicing up of
a data set into small (e.g., 256^2 pixel) subimages. An advantage of the
SkyWalker is the use of standard Web browser components; thus, it requires no
installation of any software and can therefore be viewed by anyone across many
operating systems.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in PAS
Path integral quantization of scalar fluctuations above a kink
We quantize scalar fluctuations in 1+1 dimensions above a classical
background kink. The properties of the effective action for the corresponding
classical field are studied with an exact functional method, alternative to
exact Wilsonian renormalization, where the running parameter is a bare mass,
and the regulator of the quantum theory is fixed. We extend this approach, in
an appendix, to a Yukawa interaction in higher dimension.Comment: Comments adde
\u3cem\u3eRhizobium phaseoli\u3c/em\u3e Symbiotic Mutants with Transposon Tn5 Insertions
Rhizobium phaseoli CFN42 DNA was mutated by random insertion of Tn5 from suicide plasmid pJB4JI to obtain independently arising strains that were defective in symbiosis with Phaseolus vulgaris but grew normally outside the plant. When these mutants were incubated with the plant, one did not initiate visible nodule tissue (Nod-), seven led to slow nodule development (Ndv), and two led to superficially normal early nodule development but lacked symbiotic nitrogenase activity (Sna-). The Nod- mutant lacked the large transmissible indigenous plasmid pCFN42d that has homology to Klebsiella pneumoniae nitrogenase (nif) genes. The other mutants had normal plasmid content. In the two Sna- mutants and one Ndv mutant, Tn5 had inserted into plasmid pCFN42d outside the region of nif homology. The insertions of the other Ndv mutants were apparently in the chromosome. They were not in plasmids detected on agarose gels, and, in contrast to insertions on indigenous plasmids, they were transmitted in crosses to wild-type strain CFN42 at the same frequency as auxotrophic markers and with the same enhancement of transmission by conjugation plasmid R68.45. In these Ndv mutants the Tn5 insertions were the same as or very closely linked to mutations causing the Ndv phenotype. However, in two mutants with Tn5 insertions on plasmid pCFN42d, an additional mutation on the same plasmid, rather than Tn5, was responsible for the Sna- or Ndv phenotype. When plasmid pJB4JI was transferred to two other R. phaseoli strains, analysis of symbiotic mutants was complicated by Tn5-containing deleted forms of pJB4JI that were stably maintained
Properties of bow-shock sources at the Galactic center
There are an enigmatic population of massive stars around the Galactic Center
(GC) that were formed some Ma ago. A fraction of these stars has been found to
orbit the supermassive black hole, SgrA*, in a projected clockwise disk, which
suggests that they were formed in a formerly existing dense disk around SgrA*.
We focus on the extended, near-infrared (NIR) sources IRS1W, IRS5, IRS10W, and
IRS21 that have been suggested to be young, massive stars that form bow-shocks
through their interaction with the ISM. Their nature has impeded accurate
determination of their orbital parameters. We aim at establishing their nature
and kinematics to test whether they form part of the clockwise disk. We
performed NIR multi-wavelength imaging using adaptive optics (AO) and sparse
aperture masking (SAM). We introduce a new method for self-calibration of the
SAM PSF in dense stellar fields. The emission mechanism, morphology and
kinematics of the targets were examined via 3D bow-shock models. We confirm
previous findings that IRS21, IRS1W, and IRS5 are bow-shocks created by the
interaction between mass-losing stars and the interstellar gas. The nature of
IRS10W remains unclear. Our modeling shows that the bow-shock-emission is
caused by thermal emission while the scattering of stellar light does not play
any significant role. IRS 1W appears to be a bow-shock produced by an
anisotropic stellar wind or by locally inhomogeneous ISM density. Our best-fit
models provide an estimate of the local proper motion of the ISM in the NA in
agreement with the published models. Assuming that all of the sources are tied
to SgrA*, their orbital planes were obtained via a Monte-Carlo simulation. Our
orbital analysis suggests that they are not part of any of the clockwise disk.
We thus add more evidence to recent findings that a large part of the massive
stars show apparently random orbital orientations.Comment: accepted for publication by A&A, 17 pages, 11 figures, 1 appendi
Magnetic properties of Yb2Mo2O7 and Gd2Mo2O7 from rare earth Mossbauer measurements
Using 170-Yb and 155-Gd Mossbauer measurements down to 0.03K, we have
examined the semiconducting pyrochlore Yb2Mo2O7 where the Mo intra-sublattice
interaction is anti-ferromagnetic and the metallic pyrochlore Gd2Mo2O7 where
this interaction is ferromagnetic. Additional information was obtained from
susceptibility, magnetisation and 172-Yb perturbed angular correlation
measurements. The microscopic measurements evidence lattice disorder which is
important in Yb2Mo2O7 and modest in Gd2Mo2O7. Magnetic irreversibilities occur
at 17K in Yb2Mo2O7 and at 75K in Gd2Mo2O7 and below these temperatures the rare
earths carry magnetic moments which are induced through couplings with the Mo
sublattice. In Gd2Mo2O7, we observe the steady state Gd hyperfine populations
at 0.027K are out of thermal equilibrium, indicating that Gd and Mo spin
fluctuations persist at very low temperatures. Frustration is thus operative in
this essentially isotropic pyrochlore where the dominant Mo intra-sublattice
interaction is ferromagnetic.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure
Qualitative research within trials: developing a standard operating procedure for a clinical trials unit
<p>BACKGROUND: Qualitative research methods are increasingly used within clinical trials to address broader research questions than can be addressed by quantitative methods alone. These methods enable health professionals, service users, and other stakeholders to contribute their views and experiences to evaluation of healthcare treatments, interventions, or policies, and influence the design of trials. Qualitative data often contribute information that is better able to reform policy or influence design.</p>
<p>METHODS: Health services researchers, including trialists, clinicians, and qualitative researchers, worked collaboratively to develop a comprehensive portfolio of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the West Wales Organisation for Rigorous Trials in Health (WWORTH), a clinical trials unit (CTU) at Swansea University, which has recently achieved registration with the UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC). Although the UKCRC requires a total of 25 SOPs from registered CTUs, WWORTH chose to add an additional qualitative-methods SOP (QM-SOP).</p>
<p>RESULTS: The qualitative methods SOP (QM-SOP) defines good practice in designing and implementing qualitative components of trials, while allowing flexibility of approach and method. Its basic principles are that: qualitative researchers should be contributors from the start of trials with qualitative potential; the qualitative component should have clear aims; and the main study publication should report on the qualitative component.</p>
<p>CONCLUSIONS: We recommend that CTUs consider developing a QM-SOP to enhance the conduct of quantitative trials by adding qualitative data and analysis. We judge that this improves the value of quantitative trials, and contributes to the future development of multi-method trials.</p>
- …