2,812 research outputs found
Wall-bounded turbulent flows at high Reynolds numbers: Recent advances and key issues
Wall-bounded turbulent flows at high Reynolds numbers have become an increasingly active area of
research in recent years. Many challenges remain in theory, scaling, physical understanding,
experimental techniques, and numerical simulations. In this paper we distill the salient advances of
recent origin, particularly those that challenge textbook orthodoxy. Some of the outstanding
questions, such as the extent of the logarithmic overlap layer, the universality or otherwise of the
principal model parameters such as the von Kármán “constant,” the parametrization of roughness
effects, and the scaling of mean flow and Reynolds stresses, are highlighted. Research avenues that
may provide answers to these questions, notably the improvement of measuring techniques and the
construction of new facilities, are identified. We also highlight aspects where differences of opinion
persist, with the expectation that this discussion might mark the beginning of their resolution
The Primordial Abundance of He4: An Update
We include new data in an updated analysis of helium in low metallicity
extragalactic HII regions with the goal of deriving the primordial abundance of
He4 (Y_P). We show that the new observations of Izotov et al (ITL) are
consistent with previous data. However they should not be taken in isolation to
determine (Y_P) due to the lack of sufficiently low metallicity points. We use
the extant data in a semi-empirical approach to bounding the size of possible
systematic uncertainties in the determination of (Y_P). Our best estimate for
the primordial abundance of He4 assuming a linear relation between He4 and O/H
is Y_P = 0.230 \pm 0.003 (stat) based on the subset of HII regions with the
lowest metallicity; for our full data set we find Y_P = 0.234 \pm 0.002 (stat).
Both values are entirely consistent with our previous results. We discuss the
implications of these values for standard big bang nucleosynthesis (SBBN),
particularly in the context of recent measurements of deuterium in high
redshift, low metallicity QSO absorption-line systems.Comment: 26 pages, latex, 6 ps figure
Improving Predictions for Helium Emission Lines
We have combined the detailed He I recombination model of Smits with the
collisional transitions of Sawey & Berrington in order to produce new accurate
helium emissivities that include the effects of collisional excitation from
both the 2 (3)S and 2 (1) S levels. We present a grid of emissivities for a
range of temperature and densities along with analytical fits and error
estimates.
Fits accurate to within 1% are given for the emissivities of the brightest
lines over a restricted range for estimates of primordial helium abundance. We
characterize the analysis uncertainties associated with uncertainties in
temperature, density, fitting functions, and input atomic data. We estimate
that atomic data uncertainties alone may limit abundance estimates to an
accuracy of 1.5%; systematic errors may be greater than this. This analysis
uncertainty must be incorporated when attempting to make high accuracy
estimates of the helium abundance. For example, in recent determinations of the
primordial helium abundance, uncertainties in the input atomic data have been
neglected.Comment: ApJ, accepte
Selection of radio pulsar candidates using artificial neural networks
Radio pulsar surveys are producing many more pulsar candidates than can be
inspected by human experts in a practical length of time. Here we present a
technique to automatically identify credible pulsar candidates from pulsar
surveys using an artificial neural network. The technique has been applied to
candidates from a recent re-analysis of the Parkes multi-beam pulsar survey
resulting in the discovery of a previously unidentified pulsar.Comment: Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Society. 9 pages, 7 figures, and 1 tabl
The He abundance in the metal-deficient blue compact dwarf galaxies Tol 1214-277 and Tol 65
We present high-quality Keck telescope spectroscopic observations of the two
metal-deficient blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxies Tol 1214-277 and Tol 65.
These data are used to derive the heavy-element and helium abundances. We find
that the oxygen abundances in Tol 1214-277 and Tol 65 are the same,
12+logO/H=7.54+/-0.01, or Zsun/24, despite the different ionization conditions
in these galaxies. The nitrogen-to-oxygen abundance ratio in both galaxies is
logN/O=-1.64+/-0.02 and lies in the narrow range found for the other most
metal-deficient BCDs. We use the five strongest HeI emission lines 3889, 4471,
5876, 6678 and 7065, to correct self-consistently their intensities for
collisional and fluorescent enhancement mechanisms and to derive the He
abundance. Underlying stellar absorption is found to be important for the HeI
4471 emission line in both galaxies, being larger in Tol 65. The weighted He
mass fractions in Tol 1214-277 and Tol 65 are respectively Y=0.2458+/-0.0039
and 0.2410+/-0.0050 when the three HeI emission lines, 4471, 5876 and 6678, are
used, and are, respectively, 0.2466+/-0.0043 and 0.2463+/-0.0057 when the HeI
4471 emission line is excluded. These values are in very good agreement with
recent measurements of the He mass fraction in others of the most
metal-deficient BCDs by Izotov and coworkers. We find that the combined effect
of the systematic uncertainties due to the underlying HeI stellar absorption
lines, ionization and temperature structure of the HII region and collisional
excitation of the hydrogen emission lines is likely small, not exceeding ~2%
(the error is 2sigma). Our results support the validity of the standard big
bang model of nucleosynthesis.Comment: 22 pages, 3 Postscript figures, accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journa
Case studies: Tuberculination in pig herds suspected of infection with Mycobacterium avium
Mycobacterium avium, both subspecies hominissuis (MAH) and subsp avium (MAA), are considered a significant zoonotic hazard in pigs. Therefore special attention is given to detect the presence of this hazard in pigs during post mortem meat inspection. Herds delivered at slaughter were monitored on blood antibodies against MAH. Herds with an antibody response against a MAH infection were visited. Initially a questionnaire assessing relevant risk factors for MAH was applied
The Geometry of PSR B0031-07
PSR B0031-07 is well known to exhibit three different modes of drifting
sub-pulses (mode A, B and C). It has recently been shown that in a
multifrequency observation, consisting of 2700 pulses, all driftmodes were
visible at low frequencies, while at 4.85 GHz only mode-A drift or non-drifting
emission was detected. This suggests that modes A and B are emitted in
sub-beams, rotating at a fixed distance from the magnetic axis, with the mode-B
sub-beams being closer to the magnetic axis than the mode-A sub-beams. Diffuse
emission between the sub-beams can account for the non-drifting emission. Using
the results of an analysis of simultaneous multifrequency observations of PSR
B0031-07, we set out to construct a geometrical model that includes emission
from both sub-beams and diffuse emission and describes the regions of the radio
emission of PSR B0031-07 at each emission frequency for driftmodes A and B.
Based on the vertical spacing between driftbands, we have determined the
driftmode of each sequence of drift. To restrict the model, we calculated
average polarisation and intensity characteristics for each driftmode and at
each frequency. The model reproduces the observed polarisation and intensity
characteristics, suggesting that diffuse emission plays an important role in
the emission properties of PSR B0031-07. The model further suggests that the
emission heights of this pulsar range from a few kilometers to a little over 10
kilometers above the pulsar surface. We also find that the relationships
between height and frequency of emission that follow from curvature radiation
and from plasma-frequency emission could not be used to reproduce the observed
frequency dependence of the width of the average intensity profiles.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, 8 tables, accepted for publication in A&
Systematic effects and a new determination of the primordial abundance of 4He and dY/dZ from observations of blue compact galaxies
We use spectroscopic observations of a sample of 82 HII regions in 76 blue
compact galaxies to determine the primordial helium abundance Yp and the slope
dY/dZ from the Y-O/H linear regression. To improve the accuracy of the dY/dZ
measurement, we have included new spectrophotometric observations of 33 HII
regions which span a large metallicity range, with oxygen abundance 12+log(O/H)
varying between 7.43 and 8.30 (Zsun/30<Z<Zsun/4). For a subsample of 7 HII
regions, we derive the He mass fraction taking into account known systematic
effects, including collisional and fluorescent enhancements of HeI emission
lines, collisional excitation of hydrogen emission, underlying stellar HeI
absorption and the difference between the temperatures Te(HeII) in the He^+
zone and Te(OIII) derived from the collisionally excited [OIII] lines. We find
that the net result of all the systematic effects combined is small, changing
the He mass fraction by less than 0.6%. By extrapolating the Y vs. O/H linear
regression to O/H=0 for 7 HII regions of this subsample, we obtain
Yp=0.2421+/-0.0021 and dY/dO=5.7+/-1.8, which corresponds to dY/dZ=3.7+/-1.2,
assuming the oxygen mass fraction to be O=0.66Z. In the framework of the
standard Big Bang nucleosynthesis theory, this Yp corresponds to Omega_b h^2 =
0.012^+0.003_-0.002, where h is the Hubble constant in units of 100 km/s/Mpc.
This is smaller at the 2sigma level than the value obtained from recent
deuterium abundance and microwave background radiation measurements. The linear
regression slope dY/dO=4.3+/-0.7 (corresponding to dY/dZ=2.8+/-0.5) for the
whole sample of 82 HII regions is similar to that derived for the subsample of
7 HII regions, although it has a considerably smaller uncertainty.Comment: 53 pages, 3 Postscript figures, accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journa
Local recurrence at the site of the Lone Star device through implantation of exfoliated cells during local excision for early rectal cancer:A case report
Introduction: Invasive procedures for colorectal cancer can cause iatrogenic tumor cell seeding. Implantation of these exfoliated cells in the surrounding tissue can result in locoregional cancer recurrence. This has been described in endoscopic procedures and major surgical resections, however recurrence in iatrogenic lesions of the anal canal during minimal invasive rectal surgery has not been shown in literature yet. This is the first reported case of recurrent rectal cancer that developed into an anal metastasis at the site where hooks of the Lone Star Retractor disrupted the epithelial lining of the anal canal during a local excision of early rectal cancer using TAMIS. Presentation of case: A 57 year old male was diagnosed with a high risk early stage rectal adenocarcinoma. He was treated with transanal minimally invasive surgery (TAMIS) with the use of a Lone Star retractor and he received subsequent chemo-radiotherapy. 23 months later the patient developed a bleeding mass bulging out of the anus. A true cut and incision biopsy was performed and the pathology report revealed localization of adenocarcinoma at the anal canal which was similar to the earlier diagnosed rectal carcinoma. The patient underwent an abdominal perineal resection and left-sided lymph node dissection. Discussion and conclusion: This shows that local recurrence through implantation of exfoliated tumor cells can occur in iatrogenic lesions of the anal canal not only in major but also in minimal invasive rectal surgery. Careful tissue handling and rectal washout may reduce the chance of this implantation metastasis.</p
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