4,600 research outputs found
Long Gamma-Ray Burst Progenitors: Boundary Conditions and Binary Models
The observed association of Long Gamma-Ray Bursts (LGRBs) with peculiar Type
Ic supernovae gives support to Woosley`s collapsar/hypernova model, in which
the GRB is produced by the collapse of the rapidly rotating core of a massive
star to a black hole. The association of LGRBs with small star-forming galaxies
suggests low-metallicity to be a condition for a massive star to evolve to the
collapsar stage. Both completely-mixed single star models and binary star
models are possible. In binary models the progenitor of the GRB is a massive
helium star with a close companion. We find that tidal synchronization during
core-helium burning is reached on a short timescale (less than a few
millennia). However, the strong core-envelope coupling in the subsequent
evolutionary stages is likely to rule out helium stars with main-sequence
companions as progenitors of hypernovae/GRBs. On the other hand, helium stars
in close binaries with a neutron-star or black-hole companion can, despite the
strong core-envelope coupling in the post-helium burning phase, retain
sufficient core angular momentum to produce a hypernova/GRB.Comment: 8 pp., 2 figs, Proceedings of 5th Stromlo Symposiu
Beam Energy Considerations for Gold Nano-Particle Enhanced Radiation Treatment
Purpose: A novel approach using nano technology enhanced radiation modalities
is investigated. The proposed methodology uses antibodies labeled with
organically inert metals with a high atomic number. Irradiation using photons
with energies in the kilo--electron volt (keV) range show an increase in dose
due to a combination of an increase in photo-electric interactions and a
pronounced generation of Auger and/or Coster-Kronig (A-CK) electrons.
Methods: The dependency of the dose deposition on various factors is
investigated using Monte Carlo simulation models. The factors investigated
include: agent concentration, spectral dependency looking at mono--energetic
sources as well as classical bremsstrahlung sources. The optimization of the
energy spectrum is performed in terms of physical dose enhancement as well as
the dose deposited by Auger and/or Coster-Kronig electrons and their biological
effectiveness.
Results: A quasi-linear dependency on concentration and an exponential
decrease within the target medium is observed. The maximal dose enhancement is
dependent on the position of the target in the beam. Apart from irradiation
with low photon energies (10 - 20 keV) there is no added benefit from the
increase in generation of Auger electrons. Interestingly, a regular 110kVp
bremsstrahlung spectrum shows a comparable enhancement in comparison with the
optimized mono--energetic sources.
Conclusions: In conclusion we find that the use of nano-particle enhanced
shows promise to be implemented quite easily in regular clinic on a physical
level due to the advantageous properties in classical beams.Comment: Preprint submitted to Phys Med Bio
Discovery of Two Relativistic Neutron Star-White Dwarf Binaries
We have discovered two recycled pulsars in relativistic orbits as part of the
first high-frequency survey of intermediate Galactic latitudes. PSR J1157-5112
is a 44 ms pulsar and the first recycled pulsar with an ultra-massive (M > 1.14
Mo) white dwarf companion. Millisecond pulsar J1757-5322 is a relativistic
circular-orbit system which will coalesce due to the emission of gravitational
radiation in less than 9.5 Gyr. Of the ~40 known circular orbit pulsars,
J1757-5322 and J1157-5112 have the highest projected orbital velocities. There
are now three local neutron-star/white-dwarf binaries that will coalesce in
less than a Hubble time, implying a large coalescence rate for these objects in
the local Universe. Systems such as J1141-6545 (Kaspi et al. 2000) are
potential gamma-ray burst progenitors and dominate the coalescence rate, whilst
lighter systems make excellent progenitors of millisecond pulsars with
planetary or ultra-low mass companions.Comment: 4 pages, to appear in ApJ Letters. Uses aastex v 5.0,
emulateapj5.sty, apjfonts.st
Neutrino-Driven Jets and Rapid-Process Nucleosynthesis
We have studied whether the jet in a collapse-driven supernova can be a key
process for the rapid-process (r-process) nucleosynthesis. We have examined the
features of a steady, subsonic, and rigidly rotating jet in which the
centrifugal force is balanced by the magnetic force. As for the models in which
the magnetic field is weak and angular velocity is small, we found that the
r-process does not occur because the final temperature is kept to be too high
and the dynamical timescale becomes too long when the neutrino luminosities are
set to be high. Even if the luminosities of the neutrinos are set to be low,
which results in the low final temperature, we found that the models do not
give a required condition to produce the r-process matter. Furthermore, the
amount of the mass outflow seems to be too little to explain the solar-system
abundance ratio in such low-luminosity models. As for the models in which the
magnetic field is strong and angular velocity is large, we found that the
entropy per baryon becomes too small and the dynamical timescale becomes too
long. This tendency is, of course, a bad one for the production of the
r-process nuclei. As a conclusion, we have to say that it is difficult to cause
a successful r-process nucleosynthesis in the jet models in this study.Comment: 34 pages and 6 postscript figures. submitted to Astrophysical Journa
Towards the development of the psychosocial impact of assistive devices scale for continence (C-PIADS)
BACKGROUND: Current outcome measures for continence management devices do not adequately address psychosocial impact. The PIADS is an assessment tool that has been shown to reliably predict the adoption and use of assistive technology devices, but it is not widely used for continence devices. OBJECTIVE: To explore whether the PIADS requires modification to address the particular needs of continence device users and to inform any subsequent item development. METHODS: The study used interpretive methods in which qualitative information from semi-structured interviews was combined with the findings from cognitive interviews for questionnaire pre-testing. A total of 40 participants in UK and Canada were interviewed. RESULTS: Few participants had difficulty in understanding or relating to the majority of PIADS items. Several items were not considered relevant to continence and some areas for potential new items were uncovered. Embarrassment and concealment of urinary incontinence from others were common topics. CONCLUSIONS: The PIADS appears to fundamentally address many, but not all, of the important psychosocial concerns of adults who have continence difficulties. A version for continence, the C-PIADS, will require modification of the PIADS and is likely to contain some new items
Joint modeling with time-dependent treatment and heteroskedasticity: Bayesian analysis with application to the Framingham Heart Study
Medical studies for chronic disease are often interested in the relation
between longitudinal risk factor profiles and individuals' later life disease
outcomes. These profiles may typically be subject to intermediate structural
changes due to treatment or environmental influences. Analysis of such studies
may be handled by the joint model framework. However, current joint modeling
does not consider structural changes in the residual variability of the risk
profile nor consider the influence of subject-specific residual variability on
the time-to-event outcome. In the present paper, we extend the joint model
framework to address these two heterogeneous intra-individual variabilities. A
Bayesian approach is used to estimate the unknown parameters and simulation
studies are conducted to investigate the performance of the method. The
proposed joint model is applied to the Framingham Heart Study to investigate
the influence of anti-hypertensive medication on the systolic blood pressure
variability together with its effect on the risk of developing cardiovascular
disease. We show that anti-hypertensive medication is associated with elevated
systolic blood pressure variability and increased variability elevates risk of
developing cardiovascular disease.Comment: 34 pages, 4 figure
Collisional Hardening of Compact Binaries in Globular Clusters
We consider essential mechanisms for orbit-shrinkage or "hardening" of
compact binaries in globular clusters to the point of Roche-lobe contact and
X-ray emission phase, focussing on the process of collisional hardening due to
encounters between binaries and single stars in the cluster core. The interplay
between this kind of hardening and that due to emission of gravitational
radiation produces a characteristic scaling of the orbit-shrinkage time with
the single-star binary encounter rate in the cluster which we
introduce, clarify, and explore. We investigate possible effects of this
scaling on populations of X-ray binaries in globular clusters within the
framework of a simple "toy" scheme for describing the evolution of pre-X-ray
binaries in globular clusters. We find the expected qualitative trends
sufficiently supported by data on X-ray binaries in galactic globular clusters
to encourage us toward a more quantitative study.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Evolution of Neutron-Star, Carbon-Oxygen White-Dwarf Binaries
At least one, but more likely two or more, eccentric neutron-star,
carbon-oxygen white-dwarf binaries with an unrecycled pulsar have been
observed. According to the standard scenario for evolving neutron stars which
are recycled in common envelope evolution we expect to observe \gsim 50 such
circular neutron star-carbon oxygen white dwarf binaries, since their formation
rate is roughly equal to that of the eccentric binaries and the time over which
they can be observed is two orders of magnitude longer, as we shall outline. We
observe at most one or two such circular binaries and from that we conclude
that the standard scenario must be revised. Introducing hypercritical accretion
into common envelope evolution removes the discrepancy by converting the
neutron star into a black hole which does not emit radio waves, and therefore
would not be observed.Comment: 25 pages, 1 figure, accepted in Ap
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