64 research outputs found
SBS 1150+599A: an extremely oxygen-poor planetary nebula in the Galactic halo?
We report results of a spectrophotometric study of SBS 1150+599A and discuss
the nature of this object based upon our data. Our study shows that SBS
1150+599A is most probably a planetary nebula located in the Galactic halo and
not a cataclysmic variable as originally proposed by the authors of the Second
Byurakan Survey from low resolution spectroscopy. We have further elaborated on
the properties of SBS 1150+599A (now becoming PN G135.9+55.9) with tools used
for planetary nebula analysis. Our photoionization models show that, in order
to match the observational constraints, the oxygen abundance in the nebula is
probably extremely low, around 1/500 solar, which is one order of magnitude
lower than the most oxygen-poor planetary nebulae known so far. This finding
has strong implications on our understanding of the formation of planetary
nebulae and of the evolution of the Galactic halo.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Chemical Abundances of Planetary Nebulae in the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy
Spectrophotometry and imaging of the two planetary nebulae He2-436 and
Wray16-423, recently discovered to be in the Sagittarius dwarf elliptical
galaxy, are presented. Wray16-423 is a high excitation planetary nebula (PN)
with a hot central star. In contrast He2-436 is a high density PN with a cooler
central star and evidence of local dust, the extinction exceeding that for
Wray16-423 by E(B-V)=0.28. The extinction to Wray16-423, (E(B-V)=0.14), is
consistent with the extinction to the Sagittarius (Sgr) Dwarf. Both PN show
Wolf-Rayet features in their spectra, although the lines are weak in
Wray16-423. Images in [O III] and H-alpha+[N II], although affected by poor
seeing, yield a diameter of 1.2'' for Wray16-423 after deconvolution; He~2-436
was unresolved. He2-436 has a luminosity about twice that of Wray16-423 and its
size and high density suggest a younger PN. In order to reconcile the differing
luminosity and nebular properties of the two PN with similar age progenitor
stars, it is suggested that they are on He burning tracks
The abundance pattern is very similar in both nebulae and shows an oxygen
depletion of -0.4 dex with respect to the mean O abundance of Galactic PN and
[O/H] = -0.6. The Sgr PN progenitor stars are representative of the higher
metallicity tail of the Sgr population. The pattern of abundance depletion is
similar to that in the only other PN in a dwarf galaxy companion of the Milky
Way, that in Fornax, for which new spectra are presented. However the
abundances are larger than for Galactic halo PN suggesting a later formation
age. The O abundance of the Sgr galaxy deduced from its PN, shows similarities
with that of dwarf ellipticals around M31, suggesting that this galaxy was a
dwarf elliptical before its interaction with the Milky Way.Comment: 24 pages, Latex (aas2pp4.sty) including 5 postscript figures. To
appear in Ap
Viscous-Inviscid Interactions in a Boundary-Layer Flow Induced by a Vortex Array
In this paper we investigate the asymptotic validity of boundary layer
theory. For a flow induced by a periodic row of point-vortices, we compare
Prandtl's solution to Navier-Stokes solutions at different numbers. We
show how Prandtl's solution develops a finite time separation singularity. On
the other hand Navier-Stokes solution is characterized by the presence of two
kinds of viscous-inviscid interactions between the boundary layer and the outer
flow. These interactions can be detected by the analysis of the enstrophy and
of the pressure gradient on the wall. Moreover we apply the complex singularity
tracking method to Prandtl and Navier-Stokes solutions and analyze the previous
interactions from a different perspective
Numerical instability of the Akhmediev breather and a finite-gap model of it
In this paper we study the numerical instabilities of the NLS Akhmediev
breather, the simplest space periodic, one-mode perturbation of the unstable
background, limiting our considerations to the simplest case of one unstable
mode. In agreement with recent theoretical findings of the authors, in the
situation in which the round-off errors are negligible with respect to the
perturbations due to the discrete scheme used in the numerical experiments, the
split-step Fourier method (SSFM), the numerical output is well-described by a
suitable genus 2 finite-gap solution of NLS. This solution can be written in
terms of different elementary functions in different time regions and,
ultimately, it shows an exact recurrence of rogue waves described, at each
appearance, by the Akhmediev breather. We discover a remarkable empirical
formula connecting the recurrence time with the number of time steps used in
the SSFM and, via our recent theoretical findings, we establish that the SSFM
opens up a vertical unstable gap whose length can be computed with high
accuracy, and is proportional to the inverse of the square of the number of
time steps used in the SSFM. This neat picture essentially changes when the
round-off error is sufficiently large. Indeed experiments in standard double
precision show serious instabilities in both the periods and phases of the
recurrence. In contrast with it, as predicted by the theory, replacing the
exact Akhmediev Cauchy datum by its first harmonic approximation, we only
slightly modify the numerical output. Let us also remark, that the first rogue
wave appearance is completely stable in all experiments and is in perfect
agreement with the Akhmediev formula and with the theoretical prediction in
terms of the Cauchy data.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures, Formula (30) at page 11 was corrected, arXiv
admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1707.0565
Tamoxifen and risk of contralateral breast cancer for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers
Purpose To determine whether adjuvant tamoxifen treatment for breast cancer (BC) is associated with reduced contralateral breast cancer (CBC) risk for BRCA1 and/or BRCA2 mutation carriers. Methods Analysis of pooled observational cohort data, self-reported at enrollment and at follow-up from the International BRCA1, and BRCA2 Carrier Cohort Study, Kathleen Cuningham Foundation Consortium for Research into Familial Breast Cancer, and Breast Cancer Family Registry. Eligible women were BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers diagnosed with unilateral BC since 1970 and no other invasive cancer or tamoxifen use before first BC. Hazard ratios (HRs) for CBC associated with tamoxifen use were estimated using Cox regression, adjusting for year and age of diagnosis, country, and bilateral oophorectomy and censoring at contralateral mastectomy, death, or loss to follow-up. Results Of 1,583 BRCA1 and 881 BRCA2 mutation carriers, 383 (24%) and 454 (52%), respectively, took tamoxifen after first BC d
Increased power by harmonizing structural MRI site differences with the ComBat batch adjustment method in ENIGMA
A common limitation of neuroimaging studies is their small sample sizes. To overcome this hurdle, the Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium combines neuroimaging data from many institutions worldwide. However, this introduces heterogeneity due to different scanning devices and sequences. ENIGMA projects commonly address this heterogeneity with random-effects meta-analysis or mixed-effects mega-analysis. Here we tested whether the batch adjustment method, ComBat, can further reduce site-related heterogeneity and thus increase statistical power. We conducted random-effects meta-analyses, mixed-effects mega-analyses and ComBat mega-analyses to compare cortical thickness, surface area and subcortical volumes between 2897 individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and 3141 healthy controls from 33 sites. Specifically, we compared the imaging data between individuals with schizophrenia and healthy controls, covarying for age and sex. The use of ComBat substantially increased the statistical significance of the findings as compared to random-effects meta-analyses. The findings were more similar when comparing ComBat with mixed-effects mega-analysis, although ComBat still slightly increased the statistical significance. ComBat also showed increased statistical power when we repeated the analyses with fewer sites. Results were nearly identical when we applied the ComBat harmonization separately for cortical thickness, cortical surface area and subcortical volumes. Therefore, we recommend applying the ComBat function to attenuate potential effects of site in ENIGMA projects and other multi-site structural imaging work. We provide easy-to-use functions in R that work even if imaging data are partially missing in some brain regions, and they can be trained with one data set and then applied to another (a requirement for some analyses such as machine learning)
Numerical methods for the computation of the confluent and Gauss hypergeometric functions
The two most commonly used hypergeometric functions are the confluent hypergeometric function and the Gauss hypergeometric function. We review the available techniques for accurate, fast, and reliable computation of these two hypergeometric functions in different parameter and variable regimes. The methods that we investigate include Taylor and asymptotic series computations, Gauss-Jacobi quadrature, numerical solution of differential equations, recurrence relations, and others. We discuss the results of numerical experiments used to determine the best methods, in practice, for each parameter and variable regime considered. We provide 'roadmaps' with our recommendation for which methods should be used in each situation
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