2,563 research outputs found
Floating zone process for drawing small diameter fibers of refractory materials
New process produces controlled purity, very high strength, single crystal fibers of materials with melting points to 4000 C. Process has been used to make single crystal fibers of highly refractory ceramics such as aluminum oxide, titanium carbide and yttrium oxide
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A comparison of methods for treatment selection in seamless phase II/III clinical trials incorporating information on short-term endpoints
In an adaptive seamless phase II/III clinical trial interim
analysis data are used for treatment selection, enabling resources to be focussed on comparison of more effective treatment(s) with a control. In this paper we compare two methods recently proposed to enable use of short-term endpoint data for decision-making at the interim analysis. The comparison focusses on the power and the probability of correctly identifying the most promising treatment. We show that the choice of method depends on how well short-term data predict the best treatment, which may be measured by the correlation between treatment effects on short-term and long-term endpoints
The DiskMass Survey. X. Radio synthesis imaging of spiral galaxies
We present results from 21 cm radio synthesis imaging of 28 spiral galaxies
from the DiskMass Survey obtained with the VLA, WSRT, and GMRT facilities. We
detail the observations and data reduction procedures and present a brief
analysis of the radio data. We construct 21 cm continuum images, global HI
emission-line profiles, column-density maps, velocity fields, and
position-velocity diagrams. From these we determine star formation rates
(SFRs), HI line widths, total HI masses, rotation curves, and
azimuthally-averaged radial HI column-density profiles. All galaxies have an HI
disk that extends beyond the readily observable stellar disk, with an average
ratio and scatter of R_{HI}/R_{25}=1.35+/-0.22, and a majority of the galaxies
appear to have a warped HI disk. A tight correlation exists between total HI
mass and HI diameter, with the largest disks having a slightly lower average
column density. Galaxies with relatively large HI disks tend to exhibit an
enhanced stellar velocity dispersion at larger radii, suggesting the influence
of the gas disk on the stellar dynamics in the outer regions of disk galaxies.
We find a striking similarity among the radial HI surface density profiles,
where the average, normalized radial profile of the late-type spirals is
described surprisingly well with a Gaussian profile. These results can be used
to estimate HI surface density profiles in galaxies that only have a total HI
flux measurement. We compare our 21 cm radio continuum luminosities with 60
micron luminosities from IRAS observations for a subsample of 15 galaxies and
find that these follow a tight radio-infrared relation, with a hint of a
deviation from this relation at low luminosities. We also find a strong
correlation between the average SFR surface density and the K-band surface
brightness of the stellar disk.Comment: 22 pages + Appendix, 16 figures + Atlas, 5 tables. Accepted for
publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic
The DiskMass Survey. VIII. On the Relationship Between Disk Stability and Star Formation
We study the relationship between the stability level of late-type galaxy
disks and their star-formation activity using integral-field gaseous and
stellar kinematic data. Specifically, we compare the two-component (gas+stars)
stability parameter from Romeo & Wiegert (Q_RW), incorporating stellar
kinematic data for the first time, and the star-formation rate estimated from
21cm continuum emission. We determine the stability level of each disk
probabilistically using a Bayesian analysis of our data and a simple dynamical
model. Our method incorporates the shape of the stellar velocity ellipsoid
(SVE) and yields robust SVE measurements for over 90% of our sample. Averaging
over this subsample, we find a meridional shape of sigma_z/sigma_R =
0.51^{+0.36}_{-0.25} for the SVE and, at 1.5 disk scale lengths, a stability
parameter of Q_RW = 2.0 +/- 0.9. We also find that the disk-averaged
star-formation-rate surface density (Sigma-dot_e,*) is correlated with the
disk-averaged gas and stellar mass surface densities (Sigma_e,g and Sigma_e,*)
and anti-correlated with Q_RW. We show that an anti-correlation between
Sigma-dot_e,* and Q_RW can be predicted using empirical scaling relations, such
that this outcome is consistent with well-established statistical properties of
star-forming galaxies. Interestingly, Sigma-dot_e,* is not correlated with the
gas-only or star-only Toomre parameters, demonstrating the merit of calculating
a multi-component stability parameter when comparing to star-formation
activity. Finally, our results are consistent with the Ostriker et al. model of
self-regulated star-formation, which predicts
Sigma-dot_e,*/Sigma_e,g/sqrt(Sigma_e,*). Based on this and other theoretical
expectations, we discuss the possibility of a physical link between disk
stability level and star-formation rate in light of our empirical results.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 15 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables. An
electronic version of Table 1 is available by request, or at
http://www.astro.rug.nl/~westfall/research/dmVIII_table1.tx
Nuclear Flow Excitation Function
We consider the dependence of collective flow on the nuclear surface
thickness in a Boltzmann--Uehling--Uhlenbeck transport model of heavy ion
collisions. Well defined surfaces are introduced by giving test particles a
Gaussian density profile of constant width. Zeros of the flow excitation
function are as much influenced by the surface thickness as the nuclear
equation of state, and the dependence of this effect is understood in terms of
a simple potential scattering model. Realistic calculations must also take into
account medium effects for the nucleon--nucleon cross section, and impact
parameter averaging. We find that balance energy scales with the mass number as
, where has a numerical value between 0.35 and 0.5, depending on
the assumptions about the in-medium nucleon-nucleon cross section.Comment: 11 pages (LaTeX), 7 figures (not included), MSUCL-884, WSU-NP-93-
The Extended Shapes of Galactic Satellites
We are exploring the extended stellar distributions of Galactic satellite
galaxies and globular clusters. For seven objects studied thus far, the
observed profile departs from a King function at large r, revealing a ``break
population'' of stars. In our sample, the relative density of the ``break''
correlates to the inferred M/L of these objects. We discuss opposing hypotheses
for this trend: (1) Higher M/L objects harbor more extended dark matter halos
that support secondary, bound, stellar ``halos''. (2) The extended populations
around dwarf spheroidals (and some clusters) consist of unbound, extratidal
debris from their parent objects, which are undergoing various degrees of tidal
disruption. In this scenario, higher M/L ratios reflect higher degrees of
virial non-equilibrium in the parent objects, thus invalidating a precept
underlying the use of core radial velocities to obtain masses.Comment: 8 pages, including 2 figures Yale Cosmology Workshop: The Shapes of
Galaxies and Their Halo
Identifying adequate models in physico-mathematics: Descartes' analysis of the rainbow
The physico-mathematics that emerged at the beginning of the seventeenth century entailed the quantitative analysis of the physical nature with optics, meteorology and hydrostatics as its main subjects. Rather than considering physico-mathematics as the mathematization of natural philosophy, it can be characterized it as the physicalization of mathematics, in particular the subordinate mixed mathematics. Such transformation of mixed mathematics was a process in which physico-mathematics became liberated from Aristotelian constraints. This new approach to natural philosophy was strongly influenced by Jesuit writings and experimental practices. In this paper we will look at the strategies in which models were selected from the mixed sciences, engineering and technology adequate for an analysis of the specific phenomena under investigation. We will discuss Descartes’ analysis of the rainbow in the eight discourse of his Meteorology as an example of carefully selected models for physico-mathematical reasoning. We will further demonstrate that these models were readily available from Jesuit education and literature
Classes of Multiple Decision Functions Strongly Controlling FWER and FDR
This paper provides two general classes of multiple decision functions where
each member of the first class strongly controls the family-wise error rate
(FWER), while each member of the second class strongly controls the false
discovery rate (FDR). These classes offer the possibility that an optimal
multiple decision function with respect to a pre-specified criterion, such as
the missed discovery rate (MDR), could be found within these classes. Such
multiple decision functions can be utilized in multiple testing, specifically,
but not limited to, the analysis of high-dimensional microarray data sets.Comment: 19 page
Differential flow in heavy-ion collisions at balance energies
A strong differential transverse collective flow is predicted for the first
time to occur in heavy-ion collisions at balance energies. We also give a novel
explanation for the disappearance of the total transverse collective flow at
the balance energies. It is further shown that the differential flow especially
at high transverse momenta is a useful microscope capable of resolving the
balance energy's dual sensitivity to both the nuclear equation of state and
in-medium nucleon-nucleon cross sections in the reaction dynamics.Comment: Phys. Rev. Lett. (1999) in pres
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