37,271 research outputs found
Resonant-state expansion for open optical systems: Generalization to magnetic, chiral, and bi-anisotropic materials
The resonant-state expansion, a recently developed powerful method in
electrodynamics, is generalized here for open optical systems containing
magnetic, chiral, or bi-anisotropic materials. It is shown that the key matrix
eigenvalue equation of the method remains the same, but the matrix elements of
the perturbation now contain variations of the permittivity, permeability, and
bi-anisotropy tensors. A general normalization of resonant states in terms of
the electric and magnetic fields is presented.Comment: 4 page
Low-luminosity Extragalactic Water Masers toward M82, M51, and NGC4051
Sub-arcsecond observations using the Very Large Array (VLA) are presented for
low-luminosity water maser in M82, M51, and NGC4051. New maser features have
been detected within the M82 starburst complex. They are largely associated
with star-forming activity, such as optically identified starburst-driven
winds, H II regions, or the early phase of star formation in the galaxy. The
water maser in M51 consists of blueshifted and redshifted features relative to
thesystemic velocity of the galaxy. The redshifted features are measured to the
northwest of the nuclear radio source, while the location of the blueshifted
counterpart is displaced by about 2" from the radio source. A small velocity
gradient closely aligned with the radio jet is detected from the redshifted
features. The redshifted maser most likely amplifies the background radio
continuum jet, while the blueshifted counterpart marks off-nuclear star
formation in the galaxy. All of the detected maser features in the narrow-line
Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4051 remain unresolved by new VLA observations. Due to the
low luminosity of the maser, the maser excitation is not directly related to
the active galactic nucleus.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in AJ (17/Oct/2006
Maternal Weight after Childbirth versus Aging-Related Weight Changes
Background Pregnancy weight gain is believed to contribute to female overweight and obesity. However, most studies do not account for the changes in body weight expected to occur as women age. We examined the long-term weight trajectory of childbearing women relative to weight progression that could be expected in the absence of pregnancy. Methods From the hospital records of 32,187 women with two births in Wisconsin during 2006 to 2013, we extracted the maternal weight at pregravid, delivery, and subsequent pregravid. We predicted the corresponding aging-progressed weights using a weight-for-age equation adjusted for sociodemographic variables. Nonparametric mixed effects models estimated the average maternal weight trajectory and the corresponding aging-related progression through 5 years after birth. Results The estimated aging-related progression predicted a gradual annual weight increase of 1.94 pounds (95% confidence interval 1.90–1.98), from 152.79 pounds at pregravid to 163.76 pounds by 5 years after birth. Actual maternal weight followed a sinusoidal pattern: increasing during gestation, decreasing during the first postbirth year, converging with the aging-related progression during the second postbirth year, and then increasing at 2.89 pounds (95% confidence interval 2.23–3.55) annually and diverging upward from the aging-related progression to 168.03 pounds by 5 years after birth. Conclusion Pregnancy weight gain did not contribute to the aging-related trend, but lifestyle changes of parenthood may later exacerbate the long-term trend
Peer effects and the Freshman 15: Evidence from a natural experiment
This study investigates the importance of peer effects in explaining weight gain among freshman college students. We exploit a natural experiment that takes place on most college campuses in the US - randomized roommate assignments. While previous studies suggest that having an obese spouse, friend, or sibling increases one\u27s likelihood of becoming obese, these social interactions are clearly non-random. We collect data from female students living on campus at a private Midwestern university at the beginning and end of their first year of college. Our findings suggest that the amount of weight gained during the freshman year is strongly and negatively correlated to the roommate\u27s initial weight. Further, our analysis of behaviors suggests that female students adopt some of their roommates\u27 weight-loss behaviors which cause them to gain less weight than they otherwise would have. In particular, we find evidence that this effect may be through influences in eating, exercise, and use of weight loss supplements
The core helium flash revisited: II. Two and three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations
We study turbulent convection during the core helium flash close to its peak
by comparing the results of two and three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations.
We use a multidimensional Eulerian hydrodynamics code based on
state-of-the-art numerical techniques to simulate the evolution of the helium
core of a Pop I star.
Our three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of the evolution of a star
during the peak of the core helium flash do not show any explosive behavior.
The convective flow patterns developing in the three-dimensional models are
structurally different from those of the corresponding two-dimensional models,
and the typical convective velocities are smaller than those found in their
two-dimensional counterparts. Three-dimensional models also tend to agree
better with the predictions of mixing length theory. Our hydrodynamic
simulations show the presence of turbulent entrainment that results in a growth
of the convection zone on a dynamic time scale. Contrary to mixing length
theory, the outer part of the convection zone is characterized by a
sub-adiabatic temperature gradient.Comment: 19 pages, 18 figure
Potential landscapes and induced charges near metallic islands in three dimensions
We calculate electrostatic potential landscapes for an external probe charge
in the presence of a set of metallic islands. Our numerical calculation in
three dimensions (3D)uses an efficient grid relaxation technique. The
well-known relaxation algorithm for solving the Poisson equation in two
dimensions is generalized to 3D. In addition,all charges on the system, free as
well as induced charges,are determined accurately and self-consistently to
satisfy the desired boundary conditions. This allows the straightforward
calculation of the potential on the outer boundary using the free space
electrostatic Green's function,as well as the calculation of the entire
capacitance matrix of the system. Physically interesting examples of nanoscale
systems are presented and analyzed.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, submitted to PR
Ground state energy of a homogeneous Bose-Einstein condensate beyond Bogoliubov
The standard calculations of the ground-state energy of a homogeneous Bose
gas rely on approximations which are physically reasonable but difficult to
control. Lieb and Yngvason [Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 2504 (1998)] have proved
rigorously that the commonly accepted leading order term of the ground state
energy is correct in the zero-density-limit. Here, strong indications are given
that also the next to leading term is correct. It is shown that the first terms
obtained in a perturbative treatment provide contributions which are lost in
the Bogoliubov approach.Comment: 6 pages, accepted for publication in Europhys. Lett.
http://www.epletters.ch
Sex, lies and self-reported counts: Bayesian mixture models for heaping in longitudinal count data via birth-death processes
Surveys often ask respondents to report nonnegative counts, but respondents
may misremember or round to a nearby multiple of 5 or 10. This phenomenon is
called heaping, and the error inherent in heaped self-reported numbers can bias
estimation. Heaped data may be collected cross-sectionally or longitudinally
and there may be covariates that complicate the inferential task. Heaping is a
well-known issue in many survey settings, and inference for heaped data is an
important statistical problem. We propose a novel reporting distribution whose
underlying parameters are readily interpretable as rates of misremembering and
rounding. The process accommodates a variety of heaping grids and allows for
quasi-heaping to values nearly but not equal to heaping multiples. We present a
Bayesian hierarchical model for longitudinal samples with covariates to infer
both the unobserved true distribution of counts and the parameters that control
the heaping process. Finally, we apply our methods to longitudinal
self-reported counts of sex partners in a study of high-risk behavior in
HIV-positive youth.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/15-AOAS809 in the Annals of
Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of
Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org
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