781 research outputs found
Deliberate evolution in multi-agent systems
and their applications. SMC is sponsored by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). CWI is a member o
Polarization Observations of 1720 MHz OH Masers toward the Three Supernova Remnants W28, W44, and IC443
(abridged) - We present arcsecond resolution observations from the VLA of the
satellite line of the hydroxyl molecule (OH) at 1720.53 MHz toward three
Galactic supernova remnants: W28, W44 and IC443. All of our observations are
consistent with a model in which the OH(1720 MHz) is collisionally excited by
H2 molecules in the postshock gas heated by a non-dissociative shock. Supernova
remnants with OH(1720 MHz) maser emission may be promising candidates to
conduct high energy searches for the sites of cosmic ray acceleration.Comment: ApJ Let (accepted). Hardcopies available from [email protected]
A History of common carp Cyprinus carpio (L.) in Ireland: A Review
This paper represents the most comprehensive and detailed summary of the history of
common carp Cyprinus carpio (L.) in Ireland to date. It charts the earliest known
introductions of the species to Irish waters, the rise in popularity of recreational angling
for the species from c. 1950 onwards, the work carried out to establish the species in
Ireland and explains the primary causes of their more recent distribution increase.
Much of the historical research material gathered on common carp in Irish waters,
including the first recorded details of introduction, is presented here for the first time.Funder: Marine Institut
A survey of agent-oriented methodologies
This article introduces the current agent-oriented methodologies. It discusses what approaches have been followed (mainly extending existing object oriented and knowledge engineering methodologies), the suitability of these approaches for agent modelling, and some conclusions drawn from the survey
Applications of Lie systems in dissipative Milne--Pinney equations
We use the geometric approach to the theory of Lie systems of differential
equations in order to study dissipative Ermakov systems. We prove that there is
a superposition rule for solutions of such equations. This fact enables us to
express the general solution of a dissipative Milne--Pinney equation in terms
of particular solutions of a system of second-order linear differential
equations and a set of constants.Comment: To be published in the Int. J. Geom. Methods Mod. Phy
Condition-specific or generic preference-based measures in oncology? A comparison of the EORTC-8D and the EQ-5D-3L.
PURPOSE: It has been argued that generic health-related quality of life measures are not sensitive to certain disease-specific improvements; condition-specific preference-based measures may offer a better alternative. This paper assesses the validity, responsiveness and sensitivity of a cancer-specific preference-based measure, the EORTC-8D, relative to the EQ-5D-3L. METHODS: A longitudinal prospective population-based cancer genomic cohort, Cancer 2015, was utilised in the analysis. EQ-5D-3L and the EORTC QLQ-C30 (which gives EORTC-8D values) were asked at baseline (diagnosis) and at various follow-up points (3 months, 6 months, 12 months). Baseline values were assessed for convergent validity, ceiling effects, agreement and sensitivity. Quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) were estimated and similarly assessed. Multivariate regression analyses were employed to understand the determinants of the difference in QALYs. RESULTS: Complete case analysis of 1678 patients found that the EQ-5D-3L values at baseline were significantly lower than the EORTC-8D values (0.748 vs 0.829, p < 0.001). While the correlation between the instruments was high, agreement between the instruments was poor. The baseline health state values using both instruments were found to be sensitive to a number of patient and disease characteristics, and discrimination between disease states was found to be similar. Mean generic QALYs (estimated using the EQ-5D-3L) were significantly lower than condition-specific QALYs (estimated using the EORTC-8D) (0.860 vs 0.909, p < 0.001). The discriminatory power of both QALYs was similar. CONCLUSIONS: When comparing a generic and condition-specific preference-based instrument, divergences are apparent in both baseline health state values and in the estimated QALYs over time for cancer patients. The variability in sensitivity between the baseline values and the QALY estimations means researchers and decision makers are advised to be cautious if using the instruments interchangeably
The PALFA Survey: Going to great depths to find radio pulsars
The on-going PALFA survey is searching the Galactic plane (|b| < 5 deg., 32 <
l < 77 deg. and 168 < l < 214 deg.) for radio pulsars at 1.4 GHz using ALFA,
the 7-beam receiver installed at the Arecibo Observatory. By the end of August
2012, the PALFA survey has discovered 100 pulsars, including 17 millisecond
pulsars (P < 30 ms). Many of these discoveries are among the pulsars with the
largest DM/P ratios, proving that the PALFA survey is capable of probing the
Galactic plane for millisecond pulsars to a much greater depth than any
previous survey. This is due to the survey's high sensitivity, relatively high
observing frequency, and its high time and frequency resolution. Recently the
rate of discoveries has increased, due to a new more sensitive spectrometer,
two updated complementary search pipelines, the development of online
collaborative tools, and access to new computing resources. Looking forward,
focus has shifted to the application of artificial intelligence systems to
identify pulsar-like candidates, and the development of an improved
full-resolution pipeline incorporating more sophisticated radio interference
rejection. The new pipeline will be used in a complete second analysis of data
already taken, and will be applied to future survey observations. An overview
of recent developments, and highlights of exciting discoveries will be
presented.Comment: Proceedings of IAUS 291 "Neutron Stars and Pulsars: Challenges and
Opportunities after 80 years", J. van Leeuwen (ed.); 6 pages, 4 figure
ASCA View of the Supernova Remnant Gamma Cygni (G78.2+2.1): Bremsstrahlung X-ray Spectrum from Loss-flattened Electron Distribution
We perform X-ray studies of the shell-type supernova remnant (SNR)
gamma-Cygni associated with the brightest EGRET unidentified source 3EG
J2020+4017. In addition to the thermal emissions with characteristic
temperature of kT = 0.5-0.9 keV, we found an extremely hard X-ray component
from several clumps localized in the northern part of the remnant. This
component is described by a power-law with a photon index of 0.8-1.5. Both the
absolute flux and the spectral shape of the nonthermal X-rays cannot be
explained by the synchrotron or inverse-Compton mechanisms. We argue that the
unusually hard X-ray spectrum can be naturally interpreted in terms of
nonthermal bremsstrahlung from Coulomb-loss-flattened electron distribution in
dense environs with the gas density about 10 to 100 cm^-3 . For given spectrum
of the electron population, the ratio of the bremsstrahlung X- and gamma-ray
fluxes depends on the position of the ``Coulomb break'' in the electron
spectrum. The bulk of gamma-rays detected by EGRET would come from the
radio-bright and X-ray dim cloud at southeast, where very dense gas and strong
magnetic field would illuminate the cloud in the radio and gamma-ray bands, but
suppress the bremsstrahlung X-ray emission due to the shift of the ``Coulomb
break'' in the electron spectrum towards higher energies.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, emulateapj5, accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journa
Fast Radio Burst Discovered in the Arecibo Pulsar ALFA Survey
Recent work has exploited pulsar survey data to identify temporally isolated,
millisecond-duration radio bursts with large dispersion measures (DMs). These
bursts have been interpreted as arising from a population of extragalactic
sources, in which case they would provide unprecedented opportunities for
probing the intergalactic medium; they may also be linked to new source
classes. Until now, however, all so-called fast radio bursts (FRBs) have been
detected with the Parkes radio telescope and its 13-beam receiver, casting some
concern about the astrophysical nature of these signals. Here we present FRB
121102, the first FRB discovery from a geographic location other than Parkes.
FRB 121102 was found in the Galactic anti-center region in the 1.4-GHz Pulsar
ALFA survey with the Arecibo Observatory with a DM = 557.4 3 pc
cm, pulse width of ms, and no evidence of interstellar
scattering. The observed delay of the signal arrival time with frequency agrees
precisely with the expectation of dispersion through an ionized medium. Despite
its low Galactic latitude (), the burst has three times the
maximum Galactic DM expected along this particular line-of-sight, suggesting an
extragalactic origin. A peculiar aspect of the signal is an inverted spectrum;
we interpret this as a consequence of being detected in a sidelobe of the ALFA
receiver. FRB 121102's brightness, duration, and the inferred event rate are
all consistent with the properties of the previously detected Parkes bursts.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Ap
The NANOGrav 11-Year Data Set: Limits on Gravitational Waves from Individual Supermassive Black Hole Binaries
Observations indicate that nearly all galaxies contain supermassive black
holes (SMBHs) at their centers. When galaxies merge, their component black
holes form SMBH binaries (SMBHBs), which emit low-frequency gravitational waves
(GWs) that can be detected by pulsar timing arrays (PTAs). We have searched the
recently-released North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves
(NANOGrav) 11-year data set for GWs from individual SMBHBs in circular orbits.
As we did not find strong evidence for GWs in our data, we placed 95\% upper
limits on the strength of GWs from such sources as a function of GW frequency
and sky location. We placed a sky-averaged upper limit on the GW strain of at nHz. We also developed a
technique to determine the significance of a particular signal in each pulsar
using ``dropout' parameters as a way of identifying spurious signals in
measurements from individual pulsars. We used our upper limits on the GW strain
to place lower limits on the distances to individual SMBHBs. At the
most-sensitive sky location, we ruled out SMBHBs emitting GWs with
nHz within 120 Mpc for , and
within 5.5 Gpc for . We also determined that
there are no SMBHBs with emitting
GWs in the Virgo Cluster. Finally, we estimated the number of potentially
detectable sources given our current strain upper limits based on galaxies in
Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) and merger rates from the Illustris
cosmological simulation project. Only 34 out of 75,000 realizations of the
local Universe contained a detectable source, from which we concluded it was
unsurprising that we did not detect any individual sources given our current
sensitivity to GWs.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures. Accepted by Astrophysical Journal. Please send
any comments/questions to S. J. Vigeland ([email protected]
- …