79 research outputs found
Public health and economic costs of investigating a suspected outbreak of Legionnaires' disease.
This paper provides one of the first assessments of the burden of both the public health investigation and the economic costs associated with an apparent outbreak of Legionnaires' disease (LD) in South East London. In addition to epidemiological, microbiological and environmental investigations, we collected data on the staff time and resources committed by the 11 main organizations responsible for managing the outbreak. Of the overall estimated costs of 455,856 pounds, only 14% (64,264 pounds) was spent on investigation and control of the outbreak compared with 86% (391,592 pounds) spent on the hospital treatment of the patients. The time and money spent on public health services in this investigation appear to represent good value for money considering the potential costs of a major outbreak, including the high case-fatality rate in LD generally and the high health-care costs. Further research is needed to determine optimum strategies for the cost-effective use of health system resources in investigations of LD. Whether the threshold for investigation of cases should be based on observed incidence rates or the cost-effectiveness of investigations, or both, should be debated further
Development of General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Code and its Application to Central Engine of Long Gamma-Ray Bursts
In order to investigate formation of relativistic jets at the center of a
progenitor of a long gamma-ray burst (GRB), we develop a two-dimensional
general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) code. We show the code passes
many, well-known test calculations, by which the reliability of the code is
confirmed. Then we perform a numerical simulation of a collapsar using a
realistic progenitor model. It is shown that a jet is launched from the center
of the progenitor. We also find that the mass accretion rate after the launch
of the jet shows rapid time variability that resembles to a typical time
profile of a GRB. The structure of the jet is similar to the previous study: a
poynting flux jet is surrounded by a funnel-wall jet. Even at the final stage
of the simulation, bulk Lorentz factor of the jet is still low, and total
energy of the jet is still as small as 10^48 erg. However, we find that the
energy flux per unit rest-mass flux is as high as 10^2 at the bottom of the
jet. Thus we conclude that the bulk Lorentz factor of the jet can be
potentially high when it propagates outward. It is shown that the outgoing
poynting flux exists at the horizon around the polar region, which proves that
the Blandford-Znajek mechanism is working. However, we conclude that the jet is
launched mainly by the magnetic field amplified by the gravitational collapse
and differential rotation around the black hole, rather than the
Blandford-Znajek mechanism.Comment: 14 pages, 17 figures, Submitted to The Astrophysical Journal, High
resolution version is available at
http://www2.yukawa.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~nagataki/GRMHD.pd
Neutrino signatures and the neutrino-driven wind in Binary Neutron Star Mergers
We present VULCAN/2D multi-group flux-limited-diffusion radiation
hydrodynamics simulations of binary neutron star (BNS) mergers, using the Shen
equation of state, covering ~100 ms, and starting from azimuthal-averaged 2D
slices obtained from 3D SPH simulations of Rosswog & Price for 1.4 Msun
(baryonic) neutron stars with no initial spins, co-rotating spins, and
counter-rotating spins. Snapshots are post-processed at 10 ms intervals with a
multi-angle neutrino-transport solver. We find polar-enhanced neutrino
luminosities, dominated by and ``'' neutrinos at peak,
although emission may be stronger at late times. We obtain typical peak
neutrino energies for , , and ``'' of ~12, ~16,
and ~22 MeV. The super-massive neutron star (SMNS) formed from the merger has a
cooling timescale of ~1 s. Charge-current neutrino reactions lead to the
formation of a thermally-driven bipolar wind with ~10
Msun/s, baryon-loading the polar regions, and preventing any production of a
GRB prior to black-hole formation. The large budget of rotational free energy
suggests magneto-rotational effects could produce a much greater polar mass
loss. We estimate that ~10 Msun of material with electron fraction in
the range 0.1-0.2 become unbound during this SMNS phase as a result of neutrino
heating. We present a new formalism to compute the
annihilation rate based on moments of the neutrino specific intensity computed
with our multi-angle solver. Cumulative annihilation rates, which decay as
, decrease over our 100 ms window from a few 10 to ~10
erg/s, equivalent to a few 10 to ~10 pairs per second.Comment: 23 pages, 20 figures, 2 tables, submitted to ApJ, high resolution
version of the paper available at http://hermes.as.arizona.edu/~luc/ms.pd
Revisiting vertical structure of neutrino-dominated accretion disks: Bernoulli parameter, neutrino trapping and other distributions
We revisit the vertical structure of neutrino dominated accretion flows
(NDAFs) in spherical coordinates with a new boundary condition based on the
mechanical equilibrium. The solutions show that NDAF is significantly thick.
The Bernoulli parameter and neutrino trapping are determined by the mass
accretion rate and the viscosity parameter. According to the distribution of
the Bernoulli parameter, the possible outflow may appear in the outer region of
the disk. The neutrino trapping can essentially affect the neutrino radiation
luminosity. The vertical structure of NDAF is like a "sandwich", and the
multilayer accretion may account for the flares in gamma-ray bursts.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space
Scienc
An international trial of quantitative PCR for monitoring Legionella in artificial water systems
To perform an international trial to derive alert and action levels for the use of quantitative PCR (qPCR) in the monitoring of Legionella to determine the effectiveness of control measures against legionellae. Laboratories (7) participated from six countries. Legionellae were determined by culture and qPCR methods with comparable detection limits. Systems were monitored over ≥10 weeks. For cooling towers (232 samples), there was a significant difference between the log mean difference between qPCR (GU l −1) and culture (CFU l −1) for Legionella pneumophila (0·71) and for Legionella spp. (2·03). In hot and cold water (506 samples), the differences were less, 0·62 for Leg. pneumophila and 1·05 for Legionella spp. Results for individual systems depended on the nature of the system and its treatment. In cooling towers, Legionella spp. GU l −1 always exceeded CFU l −1, and usually Legionella spp. were detected by qPCR when absent by culture. The pattern of results by qPCR for Leg. pneumophila followed the culture trend. In hot and cold water, culture and qPCR gave similar results, particularly for Leg. pneumophila. There were some marked exceptions with temperatures ≥50°C, or in the presence of supplementary biocides. Action and alert levels for qPCR were derived that gave results comparable to the application of the European Guidelines based on culture. Algorithms are proposed for the use of qPCR for routine monitoring. Action and alert levels for qPCR can be adjusted to ensure public health is protected with the benefit that remedial actions can be validated earlier with only a small increase in the frequency of action being required. This study confirms it is possible to derive guidelines on the use of qPCR for monitoring the control of legionellae with consequent improvement to response and public health protection
Electromagnetic Counterparts of Compact Object Mergers Powered by the Radioactive Decay of R-process Nuclei
The most promising astrophysical sources of kHz gravitational waves (GWs) are
the inspiral and merger of binary neutron star(NS)/black hole systems.
Maximizing the scientific return of a GW detection will require identifying a
coincident electro-magnetic (EM) counterpart. One of the most likely sources of
isotropic EM emission from compact object mergers is a supernova-like transient
powered by the radioactive decay of heavy elements synthesized in ejecta from
the merger. We present the first calculations of the optical transients from
compact object mergers that self-consistently determine the radioactive heating
by means of a nuclear reaction network; using this heating rate, we model the
light curve with a one dimensional Monte Carlo radiation transfer calculation.
For an ejecta mass ~1e-2 M_sun[1e-3 M_sun] the resulting light curve peaks on a
timescale ~ 1 day at a V-band luminosity nu L_nu ~ 3e41[1e41] ergs/s (M_V =
-15[-14]); this corresponds to an effective "f" parameter ~3e-6 in the
Li-Paczynski toy model. We argue that these results are relatively insensitive
to uncertainties in the relevant nuclear physics and to the precise early-time
dynamics and ejecta composition. Due to the rapid evolution and low luminosity
of NS merger transients, EM counterpart searches triggered by GW detections
will require close collaboration between the GW and astronomical communities.
NS merger transients may also be detectable following a short-duration
Gamma-Ray Burst or "blindly" with present or upcoming optical transient
surveys. Because the emission produced by NS merger ejecta is powered by the
formation of rare r-process elements, current optical transient surveys can
directly constrain the unknown origin of the heaviest elements in the Universe.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures; accepted to MNRAS; title changed to highlight
r-process connection and new figure added
Nuclear astrophysics: the unfinished quest for the origin of the elements
Half a century has passed since the foundation of nuclear astrophysics. Since
then, this discipline has reached its maturity. Today, nuclear astrophysics
constitutes a multidisciplinary crucible of knowledge that combines the
achievements in theoretical astrophysics, observational astronomy,
cosmochemistry and nuclear physics. New tools and developments have
revolutionized our understanding of the origin of the elements: supercomputers
have provided astrophysicists with the required computational capabilities to
study the evolution of stars in a multidimensional framework; the emergence of
high-energy astrophysics with space-borne observatories has opened new windows
to observe the Universe, from a novel panchromatic perspective; cosmochemists
have isolated tiny pieces of stardust embedded in primitive meteorites, giving
clues on the processes operating in stars as well as on the way matter
condenses to form solids; and nuclear physicists have measured reactions near
stellar energies, through the combined efforts using stable and radioactive ion
beam facilities. This review provides comprehensive insight into the nuclear
history of the Universe and related topics: starting from the Big Bang, when
the ashes from the primordial explosion were transformed to hydrogen, helium,
and few trace elements, to the rich variety of nucleosynthesis mechanisms and
sites in the Universe. Particular attention is paid to the hydrostatic
processes governing the evolution of low-mass stars, red giants and asymptotic
giant-branch stars, as well as to the explosive nucleosynthesis occurring in
core-collapse and thermonuclear supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, classical novae,
X-ray bursts, superbursts, and stellar mergers.Comment: Invited Review. Accepted for publication in "Reports on Progress in
Physics" (version with low-resolution figures
THE BRIKEN PROJECT: EXTENSIVE MEASUREMENTS OF beta-DELAYED NEUTRON EMITTERS FOR THE ASTROPHYSICAL r PROCESS
An ambitious program to measure decay properties, primarily β-delayed
neutron emission probabilities and half-lives, for a significant number of
nuclei near or on the path of the rapid neutron capture process, has been
launched at the RIKEN Nishina Center. We give here an overview of the
status of the project
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