185 research outputs found
Bringing closure to microlensing mass measurement
Interferometers offer multiple methods for studying microlensing events and
determining the properties of the lenses. We investigate the study of
microlensing events with optical interferometers, focusing on narrow-angle
astrometry, visibility, and closure phase. After introducing the basics of
microlensing and interferometry, we derive expressions for the signals in each
of these three channels. For various forecasts of the instrumental performance,
we discuss which method provides the best means of measuring the lens angular
Einstein radius theta_E, a prerequisite for determining the lens mass. If the
upcoming generation of large-aperture, AO-corrected long baseline
interferometers (e.g. VLTI, Keck, OHANA) perform as well as expected, theta_E
may be determined with signal-to-noise greater than 10 for all bright events.
We estimate that roughly a dozen events per year will be sufficiciently bright
and have long enough durations to allow the measurement of the lens mass and
distance from the ground. We also consider the prospects for a VLTI survey of
all bright lensing events using a Fisher matrix analysis, and find that even
without individual masses, interesting constraints may be placed on the bulge
mass function, although large numbers of events would be required.Comment: 23 pages, aastex, submitted to Ap
The radius and mass of the subgiant star bet Hyi from interferometry and asteroseismology
We have used the Sydney University Stellar Interferometer (SUSI) to measure
the angular diameter of beta Hydri. This star is a nearby G2 subgiant whose
mean density was recently measured with high precision using asteroseismology.
We determine the radius and effective temperature of the star to be
1.814+/-0.017 R_sun (0.9%) and 5872+/-44 K (0.7%) respectively. By combining
this value with the mean density, as estimated from asteroseismology, we make a
direct estimate of the stellar mass. We find a value of 1.07+/-0.03 M_sun
(2.8%), which agrees with published estimates based on fitting in the H-R
diagram, but has much higher precision. These results place valuable
constraints on theoretical models of beta Hyi and its oscillation frequencies.Comment: 3 figures, 3 tables, to appear in MNRAS Letter
openWAR: An Open Source System for Evaluating Overall Player Performance in Major League Baseball
Within baseball analytics, there is substantial interest in comprehensive
statistics intended to capture overall player performance. One such measure is
Wins Above Replacement (WAR), which aggregates the contributions of a player in
each facet of the game: hitting, pitching, baserunning, and fielding. However,
current versions of WAR depend upon proprietary data, ad hoc methodology, and
opaque calculations. We propose a competitive aggregate measure, openWAR, that
is based upon public data and methodology with greater rigor and transparency.
We discuss a principled standard for the nebulous concept of a "replacement"
player. Finally, we use simulation-based techniques to provide interval
estimates for our openWAR measure.Comment: 27 pages including supplemen
The PRIMA fringe sensor unit
The Fringe Sensor Unit (FSU) is the central element of the Phase Referenced
Imaging and Micro-arcsecond Astrometry (PRIMA) dual-feed facility and provides
fringe sensing for all observation modes, comprising off-axis fringe tracking,
phase referenced imaging, and high-accuracy narrow-angle astrometry. It is
installed at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) and successfully
servoed the fringe tracking loop during the initial commissioning phase. Unique
among interferometric beam combiners, the FSU uses spatial phase modulation in
bulk optics to retrieve real-time estimates of fringe phase after spatial
filtering. A R=20 spectrometer across the K-band makes the retrieval of the
group delay signal possible. The FSU was integrated and aligned at the VLTI in
summer 2008. It yields phase and group delay measurements at sampling rates up
to 2 kHz, which are used to drive the fringe tracking control loop. During the
first commissioning runs, the FSU was used to track the fringes of stars with
K-band magnitudes as faint as m_K=9.0, using two VLTI Auxiliary Telescopes (AT)
and baselines of up to 96 m. Fringe tracking using two Very Large Telescope
(VLT) Unit Telescopes (UT) was demonstrated. During initial commissioning and
combining stellar light with two ATs, the FSU showed its ability to improve the
VLTI sensitivity in K-band by more than one magnitude towards fainter objects,
which is of fundamental importance to achieve the scientific objectives of
PRIMA.Comment: 19 pages, 23 figures. minor changes and language editing. this
version equals the published articl
Uptake and efficacy of a systematic intensive smoking cessation intervention using motivational interviewing for smokers hospitalised for an acute coronary syndrome: a multicentre before-after study with parallel group comparisons.
To compare the efficacy of a proactive approach with a reactive approach to offer intensive smoking cessation intervention using motivational interviewing (MI).
Before-after comparison in 2 academic hospitals with parallel comparisons in 2 control hospitals.
Academic hospitals in Switzerland.
Smokers hospitalised for an acute coronary syndrome (ACS).
In the intervention hospitals during the intervention phase, a resident physician trained in MI systematically offered counselling to all smokers admitted for ACS, followed by 4 telephone counselling sessions over 2 months by a nurse trained in MI. In the observation phase, the in-hospital intervention was offered only to patients whose clinicians requested a smoking cessation intervention. In the control hospitals, no intensive smoking cessation intervention was offered.
The primary outcome was 1 week smoking abstinence (point prevalence) at 12 months. Secondary outcomes were the number of smokers who received the in-hospital smoking cessation intervention and the duration of the intervention.
In the intervention centres during the intervention phase, 87% of smokers (N=193/225) received a smoking cessation intervention compared to 22% in the observational phase (p<0.001). Median duration of counselling was 50 min. During the intervention phase, 78% received a phone follow-up for a median total duration of 42 min in 4 sessions. Prescription of nicotine replacement therapy at discharge increased from 18% to 58% in the intervention phase (risk ratio (RR): 3.3 (95% CI 2.4 to 4.3; p≤0.001). Smoking cessation at 12-month increased from 43% to 51% comparing the observation and intervention phases (RR=1.20, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.46; p=0.08; 97% with outcome assessment). In the control hospitals, the RR for quitting was 1.02 (95% CI 0.84 to 1.25; p=0.8, 92% with outcome assessment).
A proactive strategy offering intensive smoking cessation intervention based on MI to all smokers hospitalised for ACS significantly increases the uptake of smoking cessation counselling and might increase smoking abstinence at 12 months
The future of enterprise groupware applications
This paper provides a review of groupware technology and products. The purpose of this review is to investigate the appropriateness of current groupware technology as the basis for future enterprise systems and evaluate its role in realising, the currently emerging, Virtual Enterprise model for business organisation. It also identifies in which way current technological phenomena will transform groupware technology and will drive the development of the enterprise systems of the future
The Palomar Testbed Interferometer
The Palomar Testbed Interferometer (PTI) is a long-baseline infrared
interferometer located at Palomar Observatory, California. It was built as a
testbed for interferometric techniques applicable to the Keck Interferometer.
First fringes were obtained in July 1995. PTI implements a dual-star
architecture, tracking two stars simultaneously for phase referencing and
narrow-angle astrometry. The three fixed 40-cm apertures can be combined
pair-wise to provide baselines to 110 m. The interferometer actively tracks the
white-light fringe using an array detector at 2.2 um and active delay lines
with a range of +/- 38 m. Laser metrology of the delay lines allows for servo
control, and laser metrology of the complete optical path enables narrow-angle
astrometric measurements. The instrument is highly automated, using a
multiprocessing computer system for instrument control and sequencing.Comment: ApJ in Press (Jan 99) Fig 1 available from
http://huey.jpl.nasa.gov/~bode/ptiPicture.html, revised duging copy edi
The Emergent Flux and Effective Temperature of Delta Canis Majoris
New angular diameter determinations for the bright southern F8 supergiant
Delta CMa enable the bolometric emergent flux and effective temperature of the
star to be determined with improved accuracy. The spectral flux distribution
and bolometric flux have been determined from published photometry and
spectrophotometry and combined with the angular diameter to derive the
bolometric emergent flux F = (6.50 plus/minus 0.24) x 10^7 W/m^2 and the
effective temperature Teff = 5818 plus/minus 53 K. The new value for the
effective temperature is compared with previous interferometric and infrared
flux method determinations. The accuracy of the effective temperature is now
limited by the uncertainty in the bolometric flux rather than by the
uncertainty in the angular diameter.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Modeling the Infrared Bow Shock at delta Velorum: Implications for Studies of Debris Disks and lambda Bootis Stars
We have discovered a bow shock shaped mid-infrared excess region in front of
delta Velorum using 24 micron observations obtained with the Multiband Imaging
Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS). The excess has been classified as a debris disk
from previous infrared observations. Although the bow shock morphology was only
detected in the 24 micron observations, its excess was also resolved at 70
micron. We show that the stellar heating of an ambient interstellar medium
(ISM) cloud can produce the measured flux. Since delta Velorum was classified
as a debris disk star previously, our discovery may call into question the same
classification of other stars. We model the interaction of the star and ISM,
producing images that show the same geometry and surface brightness as is
observed. The modeled ISM is 15 times overdense relative to the average Local
Bubble value, which is surprising considering the close proximity (24 pc) of
delta Velorum.
The abundance anomalies of lambda Bootis stars have been previously explained
as arising from the same type of interaction of stars with the ISM. Low
resolution optical spectra of delta Velorum show that it does not belong to
this stellar class. The star therefore is an interesting testbed for the ISM
accretion theory of the lambda Bootis phenomenon.Comment: 11 pages, 1 table and 13 figures, emulateapj; Accepted for
publication in The Astrophysical Journa
Oblique decision trees for spatial pattern detection: optimal algorithm and application to malaria risk
BACKGROUND: In order to detect potential disease clusters where a putative source cannot be specified, classical procedures scan the geographical area with circular windows through a specified grid imposed to the map. However, the choice of the windows' shapes, sizes and centers is critical and different choices may not provide exactly the same results. The aim of our work was to use an Oblique Decision Tree model (ODT) which provides potential clusters without pre-specifying shapes, sizes or centers. For this purpose, we have developed an ODT-algorithm to find an oblique partition of the space defined by the geographic coordinates. METHODS: ODT is based on the classification and regression tree (CART). As CART finds out rectangular partitions of the covariate space, ODT provides oblique partitions maximizing the interclass variance of the independent variable. Since it is a NP-Hard problem in R(N), classical ODT-algorithms use evolutionary procedures or heuristics. We have developed an optimal ODT-algorithm in R(2), based on the directions defined by each couple of point locations. This partition provided potential clusters which can be tested with Monte-Carlo inference. We applied the ODT-model to a dataset in order to identify potential high risk clusters of malaria in a village in Western Africa during the dry season. The ODT results were compared with those of the Kulldorff' s SaTScan™. RESULTS: The ODT procedure provided four classes of risk of infection. In the first high risk class 60%, 95% confidence interval (CI95%) [52.22–67.55], of the children was infected. Monte-Carlo inference showed that the spatial pattern issued from the ODT-model was significant (p < 0.0001). Satscan results yielded one significant cluster where the risk of disease was high with an infectious rate of 54.21%, CI95% [47.51–60.75]. Obviously, his center was located within the first high risk ODT class. Both procedures provided similar results identifying a high risk cluster in the western part of the village where a mosquito breeding point was located. CONCLUSION: ODT-models improve the classical scanning procedures by detecting potential disease clusters independently of any specification of the shapes, sizes or centers of the clusters
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