19,294 research outputs found
Soft gamma repeaters outside the Local group
We propose that the best sites to search for SGRs outside the Local group are
galaxies with active massive star formation. Different possibilities to observe
SGR activity from these sites are discussed. In particular we searched for
giant flares from nearby galaxies ( -- 4 Mpc) M82,
M83, NGC 253, and NGC 4945 in the BATSE data. No candidates alike giant SGR
flares were found. The absence of such detections implies that the rate of
giant flares with energy release in the initial spike above
erg is less then 1/25 yr in our Galaxy. However, hyperflares similar to
the one of 27 December 2004 can be observed from larger distances.
Nevertheless, we do not see any significant excess of short GRBs from the Virgo
galaxy cluster and from galaxies Arp 299 and NGC 3256 with extremely high star
formation rate. This implies that the galactic rate of hyperflares with energy
release erg is less than yr. With this
constraint the fraction of possible extragalactic SGR hyperflares among BATSE
short GRBs should not exceed few percents. We present a list of short GRBs
coincident with galaxies mentioned above, and discuss the possibility that some
of them are SGR giant flares. We propose that the best target for observations
of extragalactic SGR flares by {\it Swift} is the Virgo cluster.Comment: 14 pages with 3 figures; accepted to MNRAS (final version
A systems approach to device-circuit interaction in electrical power processing Annual status report, 1 Jun. 1967 - 31 May 1968
Initial research on switched and modulated networks, tunable and bandwith-adjustable filter and FET current density for device circuit interaction in power processin
IR Kuiper Belt Constraints
We compute the temperature and IR signal of particles of radius and
albedo at heliocentric distance , taking into account the
emissivity effect, and give an interpolating formula for the result. We compare
with analyses of COBE DIRBE data by others (including recent detection of the
cosmic IR background) for various values of heliocentric distance, ,
particle radius, , and particle albedo, . We then apply these
results to a recently-developed picture of the Kuiper belt as a two-sector disk
with a nearby, low-density sector (40<R<50-90 AU) and a more distant sector
with a higher density. We consider the case in which passage through a
molecular cloud essentially cleans the Solar System of dust. We apply a simple
model of dust production by comet collisions and removal by the
Poynting-Robertson effect to find limits on total and dust masses in the near
and far sectors as a function of time since such a passage. Finally we compare
Kuiper belt IR spectra for various parameter values.Comment: 34 pages, LaTeX, uses aasms4.sty, 11 PostScript figures not embedded.
A number of substantive comments by a particularly thoughtful referee have
been addresse
The ‘oldest dated document of the Cairo Genizah’ (Halper 331): The Seleucid era and sectarian Jewish calendars
Halper 331 is the fragment of a codex that has been styled the ‘oldest dated document of the Cairo Genizah’. It preserves the opening of a Jewish legal document dated to the year 1182 (Seleucid era), which appears to have been copied into this codex, probably as a formulary, not long after this date, in the late 9th century. In this article, the text of this fragment, in Aramaic and Hebrew, is edited, and its identification as the beginning of a marriage contract (ketubbah) is evaluated. Its Egyptian provenance is questioned, partly because the earliest evidence for the introduction of the Seleucid era by Jews in Egypt dates from the mid-10th century. The article surveys the history of Jewish dating methods in early medieval Egypt and the Near East, in an attempt to clarify this question. The specific date of the document deviates from the rabbinic calendar, but agrees with that of the contemporary Jewish Near Eastern sectarian groups of Abū ʿImrān al-Tiflīsī and Ismāʿīl al-ʿUkbarī; this document could thus uniquely attest one of these sectarian Jewish calendars
Which Way Was I Going? Contextual Retrieval Supports the Disambiguation of Well Learned Overlapping Navigational Routes
Groundbreaking research in animals has demonstrated that the hippocampus contains neurons that distinguish betweenoverlapping navigational trajectories. These hippocampal neurons respond selectively to the context of specific episodes despite interference from overlapping memory representations. The present study used functional magnetic resonanceimaging in humans to examine the role of the hippocampus and related structures when participants need to retrievecontextual information to navigate well learned spatial sequences that share common elements. Participants were trained outside the scanner to navigate through 12 virtual mazes from a ground-level first-person perspective. Six of the 12 mazes shared overlapping components. Overlapping mazes began and ended at distinct locations, but converged in the middle to share some hallways with another maze. Non-overlapping mazes did not share any hallways with any other maze. Successful navigation through the overlapping hallways required the retrieval of contextual information relevant to thecurrent navigational episode. Results revealed greater activation during the successful navigation of the overlapping mazes compared with the non-overlapping mazes in regions typically associated with spatial and episodic memory, including thehippocampus, parahippocampal cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex. When combined with previous research, the current findings suggest that an anatomically integrated system including the hippocampus, parahippocampal cortex, and orbitofrontal cortexis critical for the contextually dependent retrieval of well learned overlapping navigational routes
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Feline Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: A Spontaneous Large Animal Model of Human HCM.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a common disease in pet cats, affecting 10-15% of the pet cat population. The similarity to human HCM, the rapid progression of disease, and the defined and readily determined endpoints of feline HCM make it an excellent natural model that is genotypically and phenotypically similar to human HCM. The Maine Coon and Ragdoll cats are particularly valuable models of HCM because of myosin binding protein-C mutations and even higher disease incidence compared to the overall feline population. The cat overcomes many of the limitations of rodent HCM models, and can provide enhanced translation of information from in vitro and induced small animal models to human clinical trials. Physicians and veterinarians working together in a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach can accelerate the discovery of more effective treatments for this and other cardiovascular diseases affecting human and veterinary patients
Monopole and Dyon Bound States in N=2 Supersymmetric Yang-Mills Theories
We study the existence of monopole bound states saturating the BPS bound in
N=2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories. We describe how the existence of such
bound states relates to the topology of index bundles over the moduli space of
BPS solutions. Using an index theorem, we prove the existence of certain
BPS states predicted by Seiberg and Witten based on their study of the vacuum
structure of N=2 Yang-Mills theories.Comment: 34 pages, harvma
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