17,110 research outputs found
A CLEAN-based Method for Deconvolving Interstellar Pulse Broadening from Radio Pulses
Multipath propagation in the interstellar medium distorts radio pulses, an
effect predominant for distant pulsars observed at low frequencies. Typically,
broadened pulses are analyzed to determine the amount of propagation-induced
pulse broadening, but with little interest in determining the undistorted pulse
shapes. In this paper we develop and apply a method that recovers both the
intrinsic pulse shape and the pulse broadening function that describes the
scattering of an impulse. The method resembles the CLEAN algorithm used in
synthesis imaging applications, although we search for the best pulse
broadening function, and perform a true deconvolution to recover intrinsic
pulse structre. As figures of merit to optimize the deconvolution, we use the
positivity and symmetry of the deconvolved result along with the mean square
residual and the number of points below a given threshold. Our method makes no
prior assumptions about the intrinsic pulse shape and can be used for a range
of scattering functions for the interstellar medium. It can therefore be
applied to a wider variety of measured pulse shapes and degrees of scattering
than the previous approaches. We apply the technique to both simulated data and
data from Arecibo observations.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Anomalous Radio-Wave Scattering from Interstellar Plasma Structures
This paper considers scattering screens that have arbitrary spatial
variations of scattering strength transverse to the line of sight, including
screens that are spatially well confined, such as disks and filaments. We
calculate the scattered image of a point source and the observed pulse shape of
a scattered impulse. The consequences of screen confinement include: (1) Source
image shapes that are determined by the physical extent of the screen rather
than by the shapes of much-smaller diffracting microirregularities. These
include image elongations and orientations that are frequency dependent. (2)
Variation with frequency of angular broadening that is much weaker than the
trademark \nu^{-2} scaling law (for a cold, unmagnetized plasma), including
frequency-independent cases; and (3) Similar departure of the pulse broadening
time from the usually expected \nu^{-4} scaling law. We briefly discuss
applications that include scattering of pulses from the Crab pulsar by
filaments in the Crab Nebula; image asymmetries from Galactic scattering of the
sources Cyg X-3, Sgr A*, and NGC 6334B; and scattering of background active
galactic nuclei by intervening galaxies. We also address the consequences for
inferences about the shape of the wavenumber spectrum of electron density
irregularities, which depend on scaling laws for the image size and the pulse
broadening. Future low-frequency (< 100 MHz) array observations will also be
strongly affected by the Galactic structure of scattering material. Our
formalism is derived in the context of radio scattering by plasma density
fluctuations. It is also applicable to optical, UV and X-ray scattering by
grains in the interstellar medium.Comment: 21 pages, LaTeX2e with AASTeX-4.0, 6 PostScript figures, accepted by
ApJ, revised version has minor changes to respond to referee comments and
suggestion
Phenomenology of B -> pi pi, pi K Decays at O(alpha^2 beta_0) in QCD Factorization
We study O(alpha^2 beta_0) perturbative corrections to matrix elements
entering two-body exclusive decays of the form B -> pi pi, pi K in the QCD
factorization formalism, including chirally enhanced power corrections, and
discuss the effect of these corrections on direct CP asymmetries, which receive
their first contribution at O(alpha). We find that the O(alpha^2 beta_0)
corrections are often as large as the O(alpha) corrections. We find large
uncertainties due to renormalization scale dependence as well as poor knowledge
of the non-perturbative parameters. We assess the effect of the perturbative
corrections on the direct CP violation parameters of B -> pi^+ pi^-.Comment: 27 pages, 5 figures. Updated input parameters and added citations;
expanded discussio
Willingness to participate in future HIV prevention studies among gay and bisexual men in Scotland, UK: a challenge for intervention trials
This article examines willingness to participate in future HIV prevention research among gay and bisexual men in Scotland, UK. Anonymous, self-complete questionnaires and Orasure GĆ¤Ć³ oral fluid samples were collected in commercial gay venues. 1,320 men were eligible for inclusion. 78.2% reported willingness to participate in future HIV prevention research; 64.6% for an HIV vaccine, 57.4% for a behaviour change study, and 53.0% for a rectal microbicide. In multivariate analysis, for HIV vaccine research, greater age, minority ethnicity, and not providing an oral fluid sample were associated with lower willingness; heterosexual orientation and not providing an oral fluid sample were for microbicides; higher education and greater HIV treatment optimism were for behaviour change. STI testing remained associated with being more willing to participate in microbicide research and frequent gay scene use remained associated with being more willing to participate in behaviour change research. Having an STI in the past 12 months remained significantly associated with being willing to participate in all three study types. There were no associations between sexual risk behaviour and willingness. Although most men expressed willingness to participate in future research, recruitment of high-risk men, who have the potential to benefit most, is likely to be more challenging
Recommended from our members
Temperature and strain rate effects on the mechanical properties of a polymer-bonded explosive
Abstract: The aim of the research reported here was to investigate the strain rate and temperature sensitivity of Rowanex 1100 Type 1A, a polymer-bonded explosive (PBX). The stress supported by this PBX at high rates of deformation (1750 Ā± 225 sā1) was found to be about an order of magnitude greater than that supported at low rates (0.015 sā1). Temperature was also found to have a large effect, with the strength of the material decreasing exponentially with temperature over the range studied (ā60 to +60 Ā°C). The exponents for the decay of the PBXās strength with temperature at both low and high strain rates were the same within experimental error. So a temperature/strain rate shift factor could be determined and was found to be 31.2 Ā± 2.4 K/decade of strain rate
Sub-Filter Scale Models for Scalar Transport in Large Eddy Simulations
Large eddy simulation (LES) of turbulent heat transfer in an in- nite channel has been used to compare the performance of several promising sub-lter-scale models for modelling the transport of a passive scalar. The dynamic mixed model and the dynamic reconstruction model (a higher order version of the mixed model) have been reported in the literature to perform very well in LES of turbulent ow. Here these models are tested to determine the model's suitability for modelling transport of a passive scalar. These models together with the dynamic Smagorinsky model and a no-model case, are tested at a Prandtl number of 0.71 and Reynolds number of 180 based on wall friction velocity and channel half width. Both the dynamic reconstruction model and the dynamic mixed model perform very well showing clear improvement in the prediction of the mean ow and other turbulent statistics compared to the no-model case. The standard dynamic Smagorinsky model without the additional reconstruction terms performs quite poorly
Chronic Pancreatitis and Neoplasia: Correlation or Coincidence
Any link between pancreatic carcinoma and chronic pancreatitis could reflect the malignant potential of a chronic inflammatory process. Four patients with ductal adenocarcinomas had a long history of pancreatic pain (median duration 5 years) and showed clearcut evidence of chronic pancreatitis ādownstreamā of the tumour. Four were alcoholics and two heavy smokers. These four cases arose within a surgical series of approximately 250 patients with chronic pancreatitis, giving an incidence of 1.6 per cent. The incidence and anatomical distribution of carcinoma and chronic pancreatitis could possibly be consistent with a casual relationship
- ā¦