Alien Registration- Vaillancourt, Marie J. (Lewiston, Androscoggin County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/27023/thumbnail.jp

Placing Confidence Limits on Polarization Measurements

The determination of the true source polarization given a set of measurements is complicated by the requirement that the polarization always be positive. This positive bias also hinders construction of upper limits, uncertainties, and confidence regions, especially at low signal-to-noise levels. We generate the likelihood function for linear polarization measurements and use it to create confidence regions and upper limits. This is accomplished by integrating the likelihood function over the true polarization (parameter space), rather than the measured polarization (data space). These regions are valid for both low and high signal-to-noise measurements.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, submitted to PAS

The Removal of Artificially Generated Polarization in SHARP Maps

We characterize the problem of artificial polarization for the Submillimeter High Angular Resolution Polarimeter (SHARP) through the use of simulated data and observations made at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO). These erroneous, artificial polarization signals are introduced into the data through misalignments in the bolometer sub-arrays plus pointing drifts present during the data-taking procedure. An algorithm is outlined here to address this problem and correct for it, provided that one can measure the degree of the sub-array misalignments and telescope pointing drifts. Tests involving simulated sources of Gaussian intensity profile indicate that the level of introduced artificial polarization is highly dependent upon the angular size of the source. Despite this, the correction algorithm is effective at removing up to 60% of the artificial polarization during these tests. The analysis of Jupiter data taken in January 2006 and February 2007 indicates a mean polarization of 1.44%+/-0.04% and 0.95%+/-0.09%, respectively. The application of the correction algorithm yields mean reductions in the polarization of approximately 0.15% and 0.03% for the 2006 and 2007 data sets, respectively.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figure

Cutter Assembly for Microscope and Related Method

A low-profile cutter assembly for use on a microscope and related cutting method are provided. The cutter assembly includes a support subassembly having a mounting ring for receiving and engaging the objective of a microscope. A cutter subassembly carried by the support subassembly is displaceable between a home and a forward position in response to actuation. Upon reaching the forward position, additional actuation causes the front end of the cutter subassembly to pivot toward the stage, thereby placing a cutter adjacent to or in contact with the specimen. By selectively actuating the cutter subassembly, multiple cuts may be performed, as necessary or desired for cutting a spore or isolating a particular specimen

Magnetic Field Structure around Low-Mass Class 0 Protostars: B335, L1527 and IC348-SMM2

We report new 350 micron polarization observations of the thermal dust emission from the cores surrounding the low-mass, Class 0 YSOs L1527, IC348-SMM2 and B335. We have inferred magnetic field directions from these observations, and have used them together with results in the literature to determine whether magnetically regulated core-collapse and star-formation models are consistent with the observations. These models predict a pseudo-disk with its symmetry axis aligned with the core magnetic field. The models also predict a magnetic field pinch structure on a scale less than or comparable to the infall radii for these sources. In addition, if the core magnetic field aligns (or nearly aligns) the core rotation axis with the magnetic field before core collapse, then the models predict the alignment (or near alignment) of the overall pinch field structure with the bipolar outflows in these sources. We show that if one includes the distorting effects of bipolar outflows on magnetic fields, then in general the observational results for L1527 and IC348-SMM2 are consistent with these magnetically regulated models. We can say the same for B335 only if we assume the distorting effects of the bipolar outflow on the magnetic fields within the B335 core are much greater than for L1527 and IC348-SMM2. We show that the energy densities of the outflows in all three sources are large enough to distort the magnetic fields predicted by magnetically regulated models.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Relative efficiency of split-marker versus double-crossover replacement protocols for production of deletion mutants in strain PH-1 of Fusarium graminearum

The split-marker (SM) protocol has become a popular method for production of knockout mutations in fungi. We used Southern hybridization to compare the performance and efficiency of the SM protocol with the more traditional double-crossover intact marker (IM) method for creating deletions of the mating type genes in Fusarium graminearum. Both methods successfully produced knockouts at a rate of between 24 and 75%: the SM method produced mutants more efficiently for larger constructs (\u3e1 kb), but it was similar to IM for a smaller construct that was 865 bp. Both methods also produced strains with additional ectopic integrations at a similar rate of approximately 10%, but on average the SM produced a higher number of independent integrations in those strains. Ectopic integrations produce off-site mutations, and strains with multiple integrations are less desirable since it is more difficult to remove them by backcrossing. Southern hybridizations will be generally superior to PCR to identify strains with fewer ectopic integrations for experimental purposes

The 2013 cholesterol guideline controversy: Would better evidence prevent pharmaceuticalization?

AbstractCardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death globally. A class of medications, known as statins, lowers low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, which are associated with CVD. The newest 2013 U.S. cholesterol guideline contains an assessment of risk that greatly expands the number of individuals without CVD for whom statins are recommended. Other countries are also moving in this direction. This article examines the controversy surrounding these guidelines using the 2013 cholesterol guidelines as a case study of broader trends in clinical guidelines to use a narrow evidence base, expand the boundaries of disease and overemphasize pharmaceutical treatment.We find that the recommendation in the 2013 cholesterol guidelines to initiate statins in individuals with a lower risk of CVD is controversial and there is much disagreement on whether there is evidence for the guideline change. We note that, in general, clinical guidelines may use evidence that has a number of biases, are subject to conflicts of interest at multiple levels, and often do not include unpublished research. Further, guidelines may contribute to the “medicalization” or “pharmaceuticalization” of healthcare.Specific policy recommendations to improve clinical guidelines are indicated: these include improving the evidence base, establishing a public registry of all results, including unpublished ones, and freeing the research process from pharmaceutical sector control