Analytical Approximations for Calculating the Escape and Absorption of Radiation in Clumpy Dusty Environments

We present analytical approximations for calculating the scattering, absorption and escape of nonionizing photons from a spherically symmetric two-phase clumpy medium, with either a central point source of isotropic radiation, a uniform distribution of isotropic emitters, or uniformly illuminated by external sources. The analytical approximations are based on the mega-grains model of two-phase clumpy media, as proposed by Hobson & Padman, combined with escape and absorption probability formulae for homogeneous media. The accuracy of the approximations is examined by comparison with 3D Monte Carlo simulations of radiative transfer, including multiple scattering. Our studies show that the combined mega-grains and escape/absorption probability formulae provide a good approximation of the escaping and absorbed radiation fractions for a wide range of parameters characterizing the medium. A realistic test is performed by modeling the absorption of a starlike source of radiation by interstellar dust in a clumpy medium, and by calculating the resulting equilibrium dust temperatures and infrared emission spectrum of both the clumps and the interclump medium. In particular, we find that the temperature of dust in clumps is lower than in the interclump medium if clumps are optically thick. Comparison with Monte Carlo simulations of radiative transfer in the same environment shows that the analytic model yields a good approximation of dust temperatures and the emerging UV to FIR spectrum of radiation for all three types of source distributions mentioned above. Our analytical model provides a numerically expedient way to estimate radiative transfer in a variety of interstellar conditions and can be applied to a wide range of astrophysical environments, from star forming regions to starburst galaxies.Comment: 55 pages, 27 figures. ApJ 523 (1999), in press. Corrected equations and text so as to be same as ApJ versio

Factors influencing the potency of marbofloxacin for pig pneumonia pathogens Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae and Pasteurella multocida

For the pig respiratory tract pathogens, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae and Pasteurella multocida, Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of marbofloxacin was determined in recommended broths and pig serum at three inoculum strengths. MICs in both growth matrices increased progressively from low, through medium to high starting inoculum counts, 104, 106 and 108 CFU/mL, respectively. P. multocida MIC ratios for high:low inocula were 14:4:1 for broth and 28.2:1 for serum. Corresponding MIC ratios for A. pleuropneumoniae were lower, 4.1:1 (broth) and 9.2:1 (serum). MIC high:low ratios were therefore both growth matrix and bacterial species dependent. The effect of alterations to the chemical composition of broths and serum on MIC were also investigated. Neither adjusting broth or serum pH in six increments over the range 7.0 to 8.0 nor increasing calcium and magnesium concentrations of broth in seven incremental steps significantly affected MICs for either organism. In time-kill studies, the killing action of marbofloxacin had the characteristics of concentration dependency against both organisms in both growth matrices. It is concluded that MIC and time-kill data for marbofloxacin, generated in serum, might be preferable to broth data, for predicting dosages of marbofloxacin for clinical use

Potency of marbofloxacin for pig pneumonia pathogens Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae and Pasteurella multocida: Comparison of growth media

Pharmacodynamic properties of marbofloxacin were established for six isolates each of the pig respiratory tract pathogens, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae and Pasteurella multocida. Three in vitro indices of potency were determined; Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC), Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) and Mutant Prevention Concentration (MPC). For MIC determination Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines were modified in three respects: (1) comparison was made between two growth media, an artificial broth and pig serum; (2) a high inoculum count was used to simulate heavy clinical bacteriological loads; and (3) five overlapping sets of two-fold dilutions were used to improve accuracy of determinations. Similar methods were used for MBC and MPC estimations. MIC and MPC serum:broth ratios for A. pleuropneumoniae were 0.79:1 and 0.99:1, respectively, and corresponding values for P. multocida were 1.12:1 and 1.32:1. Serum protein binding of marbofloxacin was 49%, so that fraction unbound (fu) serum MIC values were significantly lower than those predicted by correction for protein binding; fu serum:broth MIC ratios were 0.40:1 (A. pleuropneumoniae) and 0.50:1 (P. multocida). For broth, MPC:MIC ratios were 13.7:1 (A. pleuropneumoniae) and 14.2:1 (P. multocida). Corresponding ratios for serum were similar, 17.2:1 and 18.8:1, respectively. It is suggested that, for dose prediction purposes, serum data might be preferable to potency indices measured in broths

Do wavelets really detect non-Gaussianity in the 4-year COBE data?

We investigate the detection of non-Gaussianity in the 4-year COBE data reported by Pando, Valls-Gabaud & Fang (1998), using a technique based on the discrete wavelet transform. Their analysis was performed on the two DMR faces centred on the North and South Galactic poles respectively, using the Daubechies 4 wavelet basis. We show that these results depend critically on the orientation of the data, and so should be treated with caution. For two distinct orientations of the data, we calculate unbiased estimates of the skewness, kurtosis and scale-scale correlation of the corresponding wavelet coefficients in all of the available scale domains of the transform. We obtain several detections of non-Gaussianity in the DMR-DSMB map at greater than the 99 per cent confidence level, but most of these occur on pixel-pixel scales and are therefore not cosmological in origin. Indeed, after removing all multipoles beyond $\ell = 40$ from the COBE maps, only one robust detection remains. Moreover, using Monte-Carlo simulations, we find that the probability of obtaining such a detection by chance is 0.59. We repeat the analysis for the 53+90 GHz coadded COBE map. In this case, after removing $\ell > 40$ multipoles, two non-Gaussian detections at the 99 per cent level remain. Nevertheless, again using Monte-Carlo simulations, we find that the probability of obtaining two such detections by chance is 0.28. Thus, we conclude the wavelet technique does {\em not} yield strong evidence for non-Gaussianity of cosmological origin in the 4-year COBE data.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures. Revised version including discussion of orientation sensitivity of the wavelet decomposition. MNRAS submitte

Separation of foregrounds from cosmic microwave background observations with the MAP satellite

Simulated observations of a 10\dg \times 10\dg field by the Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) are analysed in order to separate cosmic microwave background (CMB) emission from foreground contaminants and instrumental noise and thereby determine how accurately the CMB emission can be recovered. The simulations include emission from the CMB, the kinetic and thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effects from galaxy clusters, as well as Galactic dust, free-free and synchrotron. We find that, even in the presence of these contaminating foregrounds, the CMB map is reconstructed with an rms accuracy of about 20 $\mu$K per 12.6 arcmin pixel, which represents a substantial improvement as compared to the individual temperature sensitivities of the raw data channels. We also find, for the single 10\dg \times 10\dg field, that the CMB power spectrum is accurately recovered for \ell \la 600.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, MNRAS submitte

Simulations of astronomical imaging phased arrays

We describe a theoretical procedure for analyzing astronomical phased arrays with overlapping beams, and apply the procedure to simulate a simple example. We demonstrate the effect of overlapping beams on the number of degrees of freedom of the array, and on the ability of the array to recover a source. We show that the best images are obtained using overlapping beams, contrary to common practise, and show how the dynamic range of a phased array directly affects the image quality.Comment: 16 pages, 26 figures, submitted to Journal of the Optical Society of America