Psychological analysis of social structure

It is an unfortunate result of the semi - practical aims which naturally influence social philosophers, that they are apt throughout to take up an indifferent, if not a hostile, attitude to their given object. They hardly believe in actual society as a botanist believes in plants, or a biologist in vital processes. And hence, social theory comes off badly. No student can really appreciate an object for which he is always apologising... It is in no spirit of obscurantism ... that some t.ke up a different position. They are convinced that an actual living society is an infinitely higher creature than a steam -engine, a plant, or an animal; and that the best of their ideas are not too good to be employed in analysing it

Photoelectric measurement of melanophoral activity of frog skin induced in vitro

No Abstract.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/50114/1/1030310202_ftp.pd

DuraSeal Exact is a safe adjunctive treatment for durotomy in spine: Postapproval study

Study designA nonrandomized, two-armed prospective study.ObjectiveWater-tight dural closure is paramount to the prevention of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage and associated complications. Synthetic polyethylene glycol (PEG) hydrogel has been used as an adjunct to sutured dural repair; however, its expansion postoperatively is a concern for neurological complications. A low-swell formulation of PEG sealant was introduced as DuraSeal Exact Spine Sealant System (DESS). A Post-Approval Study was performed primarily to evaluate the safety and efficacy of DESS for spinal dural repair compared to current alternatives, in a large patient population, reflecting a real-world practice.MethodsA total of 36 sites in the United States enrolled 429 patients treated with DESS as an adjunct to dural repair in the spinal sealant group and 406 patients treated with all other modalities in the control arm, from October 2011 to June 2016. The primary endpoint was the incidence of CSF leak within 90 days of operation. The secondary endpoints evaluated were deep surgical site infection and neurological serious adverse events.ResultsThe CSF leakage in the DESS group (6.6%) was not significantly different from the control group (6.5%) (p = .83), and there was no significant difference in the time to first leak. The two groups had no significant differences in deep surgical site infection (1.6% versus control 2.1%, p = .61) or proportion of subjects with neurological serious adverse events (2.9% versus control 1.6%, p = .516).ConclusionsDuraSeal Exact Spinal Sealant is safe when compared to current alternatives for spinal dural repair

The Substellar Mass Function: A Bayesian Approach

We report our efforts to constrain the form of the low-mass star and brown dwarf mass function via Bayesian inference. Recent surveys of M, L, and T dwarfs in the local solar neighborhood are an essential component of our study. Uncertainties in the age distribution of local field stars make reliable inference complicated. We adopt a wide range of plausible assumptions about the rate of galactic star formation and show that their deviations from a uniform rate produce little effect on the resulting luminosity function for a given mass function. We use a Bayesian statistical formalism to evaluate the probability of commonly used mass functions in light of recent discoveries. We consider three functional forms of the mass function, include a two-segment power law, a single power law with a low-mass cutoff, and a log-normal distribution. Our results show that, at a 60% confidence level, the power-law index, $\alpha$, for the low-mass arm of a two-segment power law has a value between -0.5 and 0.5 for objects with masses between $0.04 M_{\odot}$ and $0.10 M_{\odot}$. The best-fit index is $\alpha = 0.3\pm0.6$ at the 60% confidence level for a single-segment mass function. Current data require this function extend to at least $0.05 M_{\odot}$ with no restrictions placed on a lower mass cutoff. Inferences of the parameter values for a log-normal mass function are virtually unaffected by recent estimates of the local space density of L and T dwarfs. We find no preference among these three forms using this method. We discuss current and future capabilities that may eventually discriminate between mass-function models and refine estimates of their associated parameter values.Comment: 40 pages, 15 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Constructing a WISE High Resolution Galaxy Atlas

After eight months of continuous observations, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mapped the entire sky at 3.4 {\mu}m, 4.6 {\mu}m, 12 {\mu}m and 22 {\mu}m. We have begun a dedicated WISE High Resolution Galaxy Atlas (WHRGA) project to fully characterize large, nearby galaxies and produce a legacy image atlas and source catalogue. Here we summarize the deconvolution technique used to significantly improve the spatial resolution of WISE imaging, specifically designed to study the internal anatomy of nearby galaxies. As a case study, we present results for the galaxy NGC 1566, comparing the WISE super-resolution image processing to that of Spitzer, GALEX and ground-based imaging. The is the first paper in a two part series; results for a much larger sample of nearby galaxies is presented in the second paper.Comment: Published in the AJ (2012, AJ, 144, 68

A new method of measuring the cluster peculiar velocity power spectrum

We propose to use spatial correlations of the kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich (KSZ) flux as an estimator of the peculiar velocity power spectrum. In contrast with conventional techniques, our new method does not require measurements of the thermal SZ signal or the X-ray temperature. Moreover, this method has the special advantage that the expected systematic errors are always sub-dominant to statistical errors on all scales and redshifts of interest. We show that future large sky coverage KSZ surveys may allow a peculiar velocity power spectrum estimates of an accuracy reaching ~10%.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, MNRAS in Press (doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13454.x

Supernovae without host galaxy? - Hypervelocity stars in foreign galaxies

Harvesting the SAI supernova catalog, we search for SNe that apparently do not occur within a distinct host galaxy but lie a great distance apart from their assigned host galaxy. Assuming two possible explanations for this host-lessness of a fraction of reported SNe, namely (i) a host galaxy which is too faint to be detected within the limits of currently available surveys or (ii) a hypervelocity star (HVS) as progenitor of the SN,we want to distinguish between these two cases. To do so, we use deep imaging to test explanation (i). If within our detection limit of 27 mag/arcsec^2, the central surface brightness of the faintest known LSB galaxy so far, no galaxy could be identified, we discard this explanation and regard the SN, after several other checks, to have had a hypervelocity star progenitor. Analyzing a selected subsample of five host-less SNe we find one, SN 2006bx in UGC5434, to be put in the hypervelocity progenitor category with a high probability, exhibiting a projected velocity of > 800 km/s. SN 1969L in NGC1058 is most likely an example for a very extended star-forming disk visible only in the far-UV, not in the optical wavebands. Therefore this SN is clearly due to in situ star formation. This mechanism may also apply for two other SNe we investigated (SN 1970L and SN 1997C), but this cannot be determined with final certainty. Another one, SN 2005nc associated with a gamma-ray burst (GRB 050525), is a special case not covered by our initial assumptions. Even with deep Hubble data, a host galaxy could not be unambiguously identified.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication by A&A, abstract abridged due to arXiv requirements, rev. 2 after language correction

Survival and Growth of Hatchling Crocodylus porosus in Saltwater Without Access to Fresh Drinking Water

It has been suggested that C. porosus select nest sites which provide a source of freshwater for hatchlings during the dry season. From a mark-recapture study, we conclude that hatchling C. porosus can survive and grow in hyperosmotic saltwater without drinking fresh water. Hence, the siting of nests is unlikely to be the consequence of a requirement by hatchlings for fresh water. Considered along with other information, our observations imply that hatchling C. porosus have functional salt glands