118 research outputs found
Risk perception and emergency experience: comparing a representative German sample with German emergency survivors
People’s perception of risk and its influencing factors has become an important element of research in past decades. The present paper investigated the influence of emergency experiences on risk perception and the impact of experience and gender on the accuracy of risk perception. A representative sample of the German population was subdivided into a general survivor group who had experienced at least one emergency previously (N = 165) and a general public group with no prior emergency experiences (N = 2248), which were compared to a German sample of survivors from the EU-funded Behavior, Security, and Culture (BeSeCu) international study of human behavior in emergency situations and evacuations (N = 201). The perceived risk of different emergencies – including larger-scale events like floods and other important but often overlooked events like domestic fires – was assessed with a questionnaire. Objective risk was also calculated for different emergencies and compared to the risk perceptions of each group to provide a measure of accuracy. The results of this study showed that emergency experiences increase perceived risk, for the experienced event in particular, and this outcome was evident regardless of whether the event was a large-scale one like a natural disaster or a smaller-scale one like a fire in one’s home. Additional data from the BeSeCu survivors identified several pre-, peri-, and post-event factors that might have influenced this outcome. Further results included the finding that gender is an important factor that moderates the accuracy of risk estimations but researchers should be mindful that the presence and pattern of any gender difference in perceived risk accuracy may vary across different types of event. Possible reasons and implications of the results are discussed
Double Negative (CD3+4−8−) TCRαβ Splenic Cells from Young NOD Mice Provide Long-Lasting Protection against Type 1 Diabetes
-reactive T-cells. Herein, we analyzed the function and phenotype of DNCD3 splenic cells in young NOD mice predisposed to several autoimmune disorders among which, the human-like autoimmune diabetes. with a predominant Vβ13 gene usage.T-regulatory cells. DNCD3 splenic cells could be potentially manipulated towards the development of autologous cell therapies in autoimmune diabetes
Effects of Data Quality Vetoes on a Search for Compact Binary Coalescences in Advanced LIGO's First Observing Run
The first observing run of Advanced LIGO spanned 4 months, from September 12,
2015 to January 19, 2016, during which gravitational waves were directly
detected from two binary black hole systems, namely GW150914 and GW151226.
Confident detection of gravitational waves requires an understanding of
instrumental transients and artifacts that can reduce the sensitivity of a
search. Studies of the quality of the detector data yield insights into the
cause of instrumental artifacts and data quality vetoes specific to a search
are produced to mitigate the effects of problematic data. In this paper, the
systematic removal of noisy data from analysis time is shown to improve the
sensitivity of searches for compact binary coalescences. The output of the
PyCBC pipeline, which is a python-based code package used to search for
gravitational wave signals from compact binary coalescences, is used as a
metric for improvement. GW150914 was a loud enough signal that removing noisy
data did not improve its significance. However, the removal of data with excess
noise decreased the false alarm rate of GW151226 by more than two orders of
magnitude, from 1 in 770 years to less than 1 in 186000 years.Comment: 27 pages, 13 figures, published versio
Sensitivity of the Advanced LIGO detectors at the beginning of gravitational wave astronomy
The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) consists of two widely separated 4 km laser interferometers designed to detect gravitational waves from distant astrophysical sources in the frequency range from 10 Hz to 10 kHz. The first observation run of the Advanced LIGO detectors started in September 2015 and ended in January 2016. A strain sensitivity of better than 10−23/Hz−−−√ was achieved around 100 Hz. Understanding both the fundamental and the technical noise sources was critical for increasing the astrophysical strain sensitivity. The average distance at which coalescing binary black hole systems with individual masses of 30 M⊙ could be detected above a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 8 was 1.3 Gpc, and the range for binary neutron star inspirals was about 75 Mpc. With respect to the initial detectors, the observable volume of the Universe increased by a factor 69 and 43, respectively. These improvements helped Advanced LIGO to detect the gravitational wave signal from the binary black hole coalescence, known as GW150914
Supplement: "Localization and broadband follow-up of the gravitational-wave transient GW150914" (2016, ApJL, 826, L13)
This Supplement provides supporting material for Abbott et al. (2016a). We briefly summarize past electromagnetic (EM) follow-up efforts as well as the organization and policy of the current EM follow-up program. We compare the four probability sky maps produced for the gravitational-wave transient GW150914, and provide additional details of the EM follow-up observations that were performed in the different bands
All-sky search for long-duration gravitational wave transients with initial LIGO
We present the results of a search for long-duration gravitational wave transients in two sets of data collected by the LIGO Hanford and LIGO Livingston detectors between November 5, 2005 and September 30, 2007, and July 7, 2009 and October 20, 2010, with a total observational time of 283.0 days and 132.9 days, respectively. The search targets gravitational wave transients of duration 10–500 s in a frequency band of 40–1000 Hz, with minimal assumptions about the signal waveform, polarization, source direction, or time of occurrence. All candidate triggers were consistent with the expected background; as a result we set 90% confidence upper limits on the rate of long-duration gravitational wave transients for different types of gravitational wave signals. For signals from black hole accretion disk instabilities, we set upper limits on the source rate density between 3.4×10−5 and 9.4×10−4 Mpc−3 yr−1 at 90% confidence. These are the first results from an all-sky search for unmodeled long-duration transient gravitational waves
A search of the Orion spur for continuous gravitational waves using a "loosely coherent" algorithm on data from LIGO interferometers
We report results of a wideband search for periodic gravitational waves from
isolated neutron stars within the Orion spur towards both the inner and outer
regions of our Galaxy. As gravitational waves interact very weakly with matter,
the search is unimpeded by dust and concentrations of stars. One search disk
(A) is in diameter and centered on
, and the other
(B) is in diameter and centered on
. We explored the
frequency range of 50-1500 Hz and frequency derivative from to Hz/s. A multi-stage, loosely coherent search program allowed probing
more deeply than before in these two regions, while increasing coherence length
with every stage.
Rigorous followup parameters have winnowed initial coincidence set to only 70
candidates, to be examined manually. None of those 70 candidates proved to be
consistent with an isolated gravitational wave emitter, and 95% confidence
level upper limits were placed on continuous-wave strain amplitudes. Near
Hz we achieve our lowest 95% CL upper limit on worst-case linearly polarized
strain amplitude of , while at the high end of our
frequency range we achieve a worst-case upper limit of for
all polarizations and sky locations.Comment: Fixed minor typo - duplicate name in the author lis
Search of the Orion spur for continuous gravitational waves using a loosely coherent algorithm on data from LIGO interferometers
We report results of a wideband search for periodic gravitational waves from isolated neutron stars within the Orion spur towards both the inner and outer regions of our Galaxy. As gravitational waves interact very weakly with matter, the search is unimpeded by dust and concentrations of stars. One search disk (A) is 6.87° in diameter and centered on 20h10m54.71s+33°33′25.29′′, and the other (B) is 7.45° in diameter and centered on 8h35m20.61s-46°49′25.151′′. We explored the frequency range of 50-1500 Hz and frequency derivative from 0 to -5×10-9 Hz/s. A multistage, loosely coherent search program allowed probing more deeply than before in these two regions, while increasing coherence length with every stage. Rigorous follow-up parameters have winnowed the initial coincidence set to only 70 candidates, to be examined manually. None of those 70 candidates proved to be consistent with an isolated gravitational-wave emitter, and 95% confidence level upper limits were placed on continuous-wave strain amplitudes. Near 169 Hz we achieve our lowest 95% C.L. upper limit on the worst-case linearly polarized strain amplitude h0 of 6.3×10-25, while at the high end of our frequency range we achieve a worst-case upper limit of 3.4×10-24 for all polarizations and sky locations. © 2016 American Physical Society
Search for post-merger gravitational waves from the remnant of the binary neutron star merger GW170817
In Advanced LIGO, detection and astrophysical source parameter estimation of the binary black hole merger GW150914 requires a calibrated estimate of the gravitational-wave strain sensed by the detectors. Producing an estimate from each detector's differential arm length control loop readout signals requires applying time domain filters, which are designed from a frequency domain model of the detector's gravitational-wave response. The gravitational-wave response model is determined by the detector's opto-mechanical response and the properties of its feedback control system. The measurements used to validate the model and characterize its uncertainty are derived primarily from a dedicated photon radiation pressure actuator, with cross-checks provided by optical and radio frequency references. We describe how the gravitational-wave readout signal is calibrated into equivalent gravitational-wave-induced strain and how the statistical uncertainties and systematic errors are assessed. Detector data collected over 38 calendar days, from September 12 to October 20, 2015, contain the event GW150914 and approximately 16 of coincident data used to estimate the event false alarm probability. The calibration uncertainty is less than 10% in magnitude and 10 degrees in phase across the relevant frequency band 20 Hz to 1 kHz
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