864 research outputs found
NEOWISE observations of comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) as it approaches Mars
The Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) mission
observed comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) three times at 3.4 {\mu}m and 4.6
{\mu}m as the comet approached Mars in 2014. The comet is an extremely
interesting target since its close approach to Mars in late 2014 will be
observed by various spacecraft in-situ. The observations were taken in 2014
Jan., Jul. and Sep. when the comet was at heliocentric distances of 3.82 AU,
1.88 AU, and 1.48 AU. The level of activity increased significantly between the
Jan. and Jul. visits but then decreased by the time of the observations in
Sep., approximately 4 weeks prior to its close approach to Mars. In this work
we calculate Af\r{ho} values, and CO/CO2 production rates.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, accepted by Astrophysical Journal Letter
Demonstrating that Medical Devices Satisfy User Related Safety Requirements
One way of contributing to a demonstration that a medical device is acceptably safe is to show that the device satisfies a set of requirements known to mitigate hazards. This paper describes experience using formal techniques to model an IV infusion device and to prove that the modelled device captures a set of requirements. The requirements chosen for the study are based on a draft proposal developed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A major contributor to device related errors are (user) interaction errors. For this reason the chosen models and requirements focus on user interface related issues.FEDER - Federación Española de Enfermedades Raras(000062)This work has been funded by the EPSRC research grant EP/G059063/1: CHI+MED (Computer–Human Interaction for Medical Devices). J. C. Campos was funded by project NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-00006
Variability Flagging in the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer Preliminary Data Release
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer Preliminary Data Release Source Catalog contains over 257 million objects. We describe the method used to flag variable source candidates in the Catalog. Using a method based on the chi-square of single-exposure flux measurements, we generated a variability flag for each object, and have identified almost 460,000 candidate sources that exhibit significant flux variability with greater than ~7σ confidence. We discuss the flagging method in detail and describe its benefits and limitations. We also present results from the flagging method, including example light curves of several types of variable sources including Algol-type eclipsing binaries, RR Lyr, W UMa, and a blazar candidate
Unravelling Active Galactic Nuclei
A complete flat-spectrum radio-loud sample of AGN includes a significant
fraction of Seyfert-like AGN including a NLS1. Analysis of their optical
spectra suggests that the reddest continuum colours are either associated with
AGN in nearby resolved galaxies, or distant quasars showing relatively narrow
permitted emission lines.Comment: Poster contribution presented at the Joint MPE,AIP,ESO workshop on
NLS1s, Bad Honnef, Dec. 1999, to appear in New Astronomy Reviews; also
available at http://wave.xray.mpe.mpg.de/conferences/nls1-worksho
The Population of Tiny Near-Earth Objects Observed by NEOWISE
Only a very small fraction of the asteroid population at size scales
comparable to the object that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia has been
discovered to date, and physical properties are poorly characterized. We
present previously unreported detections of 106 close approaching near-Earth
objects (NEOs) by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mission's NEOWISE
project. These infrared observations constrain physical properties such as
diameter and albedo for these objects, many of which are found to be smaller
than 100 m. Because these objects are intrinsically faint, they were detected
by WISE during very close approaches to the Earth, often at large apparent
on-sky velocities. We observe a trend of increasing albedo with decreasing
size, but as this sample of NEOs was discovered by visible light surveys, it is
likely that selection biases against finding small, dark NEOs influence this
finding.Comment: Accepted to Ap
The Calibration of the WISE W1 and W2 Tully-Fisher Relation
In order to explore local large-scale structures and velocity fields,
accurate galaxy distance measures are needed. We now extend the well-tested
recipe for calibrating the correlation between galaxy rotation rates and
luminosities -- capable of providing such distance measures -- to the all-sky,
space-based imaging data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) W1
(m) and W2 (m) filters. We find a linewidth to absolute
magnitude correlation (known as the Tully-Fisher Relation, TFR) of
(0.54
magnitudes rms) and (0.56 magnitudes rms) from 310 galaxies in 13 clusters. We update the
I-band TFR using a sample 9% larger than in Tully & Courtois (2012). We derive
(0.46 magnitudes
rms). The WISE TFRs show evidence of curvature. Quadratic fits give
(0.52 magnitudes rms) and (0.55
magnitudes rms). We apply an I-band -- WISE color correction to lower the
scatter and derive
and (both 0.46
magnitudes rms). Using our three independent TFRs (W1 curved, W2 curved and
I-band), we calibrate the UNION2 supernova Type Ia sample distance scale and
derive (stat) (sys) kms Mpc with 4%
total error.Comment: 22 page, 21 figures, accepted to ApJ, Table 1 data at
http://spartan.srl.caltech.edu/~neill/tfwisecal/table1.tx
Inhibition of dengue virus replication by novel inhibitors of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and protease activities
Dengue virus (DENV) is the leading mosquito-transmitted viral infection in the world. With more than 390 million new infections annually, and up to 1 million clinical cases with severe disease manifestations, there continues to be a need to develop new antiviral agents against dengue infection. In addition, there is no approved anti-DENV agents for treating DENV-infected patients. In the present study, we identified new compounds with anti-DENV replication activity by targeting viral replication enzymes – NS5, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) and NS3 protease, using cell-based reporter assay. Subsequently, we performed an enzyme-based assay to clarify the action of these compounds against DENV RdRp or NS3 protease activity. Moreover, these compounds exhibited anti-DENV activity in vivo in the ICR-suckling DENV-infected mouse model. Combination drug treatment exhibited a synergistic inhibition of DENV replication. These results describe novel prototypical small anti-DENV molecules for further development through compound modification and provide potential antivirals for treating DENV infection and DENV-related diseases
Preliminary Results from NEOWISE: An Enhancement to the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer for Solar System Science
The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has surveyed the entire sky at four infrared wavelengths with greatly improved sensitivity and spatial resolution compared to its predecessors, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite and the Cosmic Background Explorer. NASA's Planetary Science Division has funded an enhancement to the WISE data processing system called "NEOWISE" that allows detection and archiving of moving objects found in the WISE data. NEOWISE has mined the WISE images for a wide array of small bodies in our solar system, including near-Earth objects (NEOs), Main Belt asteroids, comets, Trojans, and Centaurs. By the end of survey operations in 2011 February, NEOWISE identified over 157,000 asteroids, including more than 500 NEOs and ~120 comets. The NEOWISE data set will enable a panoply of new scientific investigations
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