87 research outputs found
Detection of Gravitational Lensing in the Cosmic Microwave Background
Gravitational lensing of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), a
long-standing prediction of the standard cosmolgical model, is ultimately
expected to be an important source of cosmological information, but first
detection has not been achieved to date. We report a 3.4 sigma detection, by
applying quadratic estimator techniques to all sky maps from the Wilkinson
Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite, and correlating the result with
radio galaxy counts from the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS). We present our
methodology including a detailed discussion of potential contaminants. Our
error estimates include systematic uncertainties from density gradients in
NVSS, beam effects in WMAP, Galactic microwave foregrounds, resolved and
unresolved CMB point sources, and the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect.Comment: 27 pages, 20 figure
CMBPol Mission Concept Study: Gravitational Lensing
Gravitational lensing of the cosmic microwave background by large-scale
structure in the late universe is both a source of cosmological information and
a potential contaminant of primordial gravity waves. Because lensing imprints
growth of structure in the late universe on the CMB, measurements of CMB
lensing will constrain parameters to which the CMB would not otherwise be
sensitive, such as neutrino mass.
If the instrumental noise is sufficiently small (<~ 5 uK-arcmin), the
gravitational lensing contribution to the large-scale B-mode will be the
limiting source of contamination when constraining a stochastic background of
gravity waves in the early universe, one of the most exciting prospects for
future CMB polarization experiments. High-sensitivity measurements of
small-scale B-modes can reduce this contamination through a lens reconstruction
technique that separates the lensing and primordial contributions to the B-mode
on large scales.
A fundamental design decision for a future CMB polarization experiment such
as CMBpol is whether to have coarse angular resolution so that only the
large-scale B-mode (and the large-scale E-mode from reionization) is measured,
or high resolution to additionally measure CMB lensing. The purpose of this
white paper is to evaluate the science case for CMB lensing in polarization:
constraints on cosmological parameters, increased sensitivity to the gravity
wave B-mode via lens reconstruction, expected level of contamination from
non-CMB foregrounds, and required control of beam systematics
The neXtProt knowledgebase on human proteins: current status
neXtProt (http://www.nextprot.org) is a human protein-centric knowledgebase developed at the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics. Focused solely on human proteins, neXtProt aims to provide a state of the art resource for the representation of human biology by capturing a wide range of data, precise annotations, fully traceable data provenance and a web interface which enables researchers to find and view information in a comprehensive manner. Since the introductory neXtProt publication, significant advances have been made on three main aspects: the representation of proteomics data, an extended representation of human variants and the development of an advanced search capability built around semantic technologies. These changes are presented in the current neXtProt updat
On the Abyssal circulation in the glacial Atlantic
Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Physical Oceanography 38 (2008): 2014-2037, doi:10.1175/2008JPO3895.1.An inverse method is used to evaluate the information contained in sediment data for the Atlantic basin during the Last Glacial Maximum (defined here as the time interval 18–21 kyr before present). The data being considered are an updated compilation of the isotopic ratios 18O/16O (δ18O) and 13C/12C (δ13C) of fossil shells of benthic foraminifera (bottom-dwelling organisms). First, an estimate of the abyssal circulation in the modern Atlantic is obtained, which is consistent with (i) climatologies of temperature and salinity of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment, (ii) observational estimates of volume transport at specific locations, and (iii) the statements of a finite-difference geostrophic model. Second, estimates of water properties (δ18O of equilibrium calcite or δ18Oc and δ13C of dissolved inorganic carbon or δ13CDIC) derived from sediment data are combined with this circulation estimate to test their consistency with the modern flow. It is found that more than approximately 80% of water property estimates (δ18Oc or δ13CDIC) are compatible with the modern flow given their uncertainties. The consistency of glacial δ13CDIC estimates with the modern flow could be rejected after two assumptions are made: (i) the uncertainty in these estimates is ±0.1‰ (this uncertainty includes errors in sediment core chronology and oceanic representativity of benthic δ13C, which alone appears better than this value on average); and (ii) δ13CDIC in the glacial deep Atlantic was dominated by a balance between water advection and organic C remineralization. Measurements of δ13C on benthic foraminifera are clearly useful, but the current uncertainties in the distribution and budget of δ13CDIC in the glacial Atlantic must be reduced to increase the power of the test.Support for this
work comes from the U.S. National Science Foundation
Sharpening the Precision of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Power Spectrum
Using both halo model calculations and a large sample of simulated SZ maps,
we demonstrate that high-mass clusters add significant non-Gaussian variance to
measurements of the SZ power spectrum amplitude. The difficulty in correctly
accounting theoretically for the contribution of these objects to the
uncertainty in C_l leads to a reduced sensitivity to \sigma_8. We show that a
simple solution is to mask out the brightest clusters in the map before
measuring the power spectrum. We demonstrate that fairly conservative masking
can reduce the variance and Gaussianize the statistics significantly, thus
increasing the sensitivity to cosmological parameters. Choosing which objects
to mask is non-trivial; we found that using a fixed sky density produced a
well-defined and well-behaved estimate that can easily be applied to real maps.
For example, masking the 10 (90) brightest clusters in a 100 deg^2 SZ map will
improve the sensitivity to C_l by a factor of two at l = 1000 (2000) and 1.5 at
l = 2000 (4000). We show that even in the presence of astrophysical foregrounds
(primary CMB and point sources) and instrument noise, one can increase the
precision on measurements of \sigma_8 by masking up to 0.9 clusters/deg^2.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Ap
Gravitational Lensing
Gravitational lensing of the cosmic microwave background by large‐scale structure in the late universe is both a source of cosmological information and a potential contaminant of primordial gravity waves. Because lensing imprints growth of structure in the late universe on the CMB, measurements of CMB lensing will constrain parameters to which the CMB would not otherwise be sensitive, such as neutrino mass.
In CMB polarization, gravitational lensing is the largest guaranteed source of B‐mode (or curl‐like) polarization. Future CMB polarization experiments with sufficient sensitivity to measure B‐modes on small angular scales (l ∼ 1000) can measure lensing with better sensitivity, and on different scales, than could be achieved by measuring CMB temperature alone. If the instrumental noise is sufficiently small (≲ 5 μK‐arcmin), the gravitational lensing contribution to the large‐scale B‐mode will be the limiting source of contamination when constraining a stochastic background of gravity waves in the early universe, one of the most exciting prospects for future CMB polarization experiments. High‐sensitivity measurements of small‐scale B‐modes can reduce this contamination through a lens reconstruction technique that separates the lensing and primordial contributions to the B‐mode on large scales.
A fundamental design decision for a future CMB polarization experiment such as CMBpol is whether to have coarse angular resolution so that only the large‐scale B‐mode (and the large‐scale E‐mode from reionization) is measured, or high resolution to additionally measure CMB lensing. The purpose of this white paper is to evaluate the science case for CMB lensing in polarization: constraints on cosmological parameters, increased sensitivity to the gravity wave B‐mode via lens reconstruction, expected level of contamination from non‐CMB foregrounds, and required control of beam systematics
Observing the Evolution of the Universe
How did the universe evolve? The fine angular scale (l>1000) temperature and
polarization anisotropies in the CMB are a Rosetta stone for understanding the
evolution of the universe. Through detailed measurements one may address
everything from the physics of the birth of the universe to the history of star
formation and the process by which galaxies formed. One may in addition track
the evolution of the dark energy and discover the net neutrino mass.
We are at the dawn of a new era in which hundreds of square degrees of sky
can be mapped with arcminute resolution and sensitivities measured in
microKelvin. Acquiring these data requires the use of special purpose
telescopes such as the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), located in Chile, and
the South Pole Telescope (SPT). These new telescopes are outfitted with a new
generation of custom mm-wave kilo-pixel arrays. Additional instruments are in
the planning stages.Comment: Science White Paper submitted to the US Astro2010 Decadal Survey.
Full list of 177 author available at http://cmbpol.uchicago.ed
Asteroseismology and Interferometry
Asteroseismology provides us with a unique opportunity to improve our
understanding of stellar structure and evolution. Recent developments,
including the first systematic studies of solar-like pulsators, have boosted
the impact of this field of research within Astrophysics and have led to a
significant increase in the size of the research community. In the present
paper we start by reviewing the basic observational and theoretical properties
of classical and solar-like pulsators and present results from some of the most
recent and outstanding studies of these stars. We centre our review on those
classes of pulsators for which interferometric studies are expected to provide
a significant input. We discuss current limitations to asteroseismic studies,
including difficulties in mode identification and in the accurate determination
of global parameters of pulsating stars, and, after a brief review of those
aspects of interferometry that are most relevant in this context, anticipate
how interferometric observations may contribute to overcome these limitations.
Moreover, we present results of recent pilot studies of pulsating stars
involving both asteroseismic and interferometric constraints and look into the
future, summarizing ongoing efforts concerning the development of future
instruments and satellite missions which are expected to have an impact in this
field of research.Comment: Version as published in The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review, Volume
14, Issue 3-4, pp. 217-36
The Changing Landscape for Stroke\ua0Prevention in AF: Findings From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase 2
Background GLORIA-AF (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation) is a prospective, global registry program describing antithrombotic treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke. Phase 2 began when dabigatran, the first non\u2013vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), became available. Objectives This study sought to describe phase 2 baseline data and compare these with the pre-NOAC era collected during phase 1. Methods During phase 2, 15,641 consenting patients were enrolled (November 2011 to December 2014); 15,092 were eligible. This pre-specified cross-sectional analysis describes eligible patients\u2019 baseline characteristics. Atrial fibrillation disease characteristics, medical outcomes, and concomitant diseases and medications were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Of the total patients, 45.5% were female; median age was 71 (interquartile range: 64, 78) years. Patients were from Europe (47.1%), North America (22.5%), Asia (20.3%), Latin America (6.0%), and the Middle East/Africa (4.0%). Most had high stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc [Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age 6575 years, Diabetes mellitus, previous Stroke, Vascular disease, Age 65 to 74 years, Sex category] score 652; 86.1%); 13.9% had moderate risk (CHA2DS2-VASc = 1). Overall, 79.9% received oral anticoagulants, of whom 47.6% received NOAC and 32.3% vitamin K antagonists (VKA); 12.1% received antiplatelet agents; 7.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. For comparison, the proportion of phase 1 patients (of N = 1,063 all eligible) prescribed VKA was 32.8%, acetylsalicylic acid 41.7%, and no therapy 20.2%. In Europe in phase 2, treatment with NOAC was more common than VKA (52.3% and 37.8%, respectively); 6.0% of patients received antiplatelet treatment; and 3.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. In North America, 52.1%, 26.2%, and 14.0% of patients received NOAC, VKA, and antiplatelet drugs, respectively; 7.5% received no antithrombotic treatment. NOAC use was less common in Asia (27.7%), where 27.5% of patients received VKA, 25.0% antiplatelet drugs, and 19.8% no antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701
The SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics' resources: focus on curated databases
The SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (www.isb-sib.ch) provides world-class bioinformatics databases, software tools, services and training to the international life science community in academia and industry. These solutions allow life scientists to turn the exponentially growing amount of data into knowledge. Here, we provide an overview of SIB's resources and competence areas, with a strong focus on curated databases and SIB's most popular and widely used resources. In particular, SIB's Bioinformatics resource portal ExPASy features over 150 resources, including UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot, ENZYME, PROSITE, neXtProt, STRING, UniCarbKB, SugarBindDB, SwissRegulon, EPD, arrayMap, Bgee, SWISS-MODEL Repository, OMA, OrthoDB and other databases, which are briefly described in this article
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