132 research outputs found
Deep H{\alpha} Observations of NGC 253: a Very Extended and Possibly Declining Rotation Curve?
This study presents a deep H{\alpha} kinematical analysis of the Sculptor
Group galaxy NGC253. The Fabry-Perot data were taken with the 36-cm Marseille
Telescope in La Silla, Chile, using an EMCCD detector. Typical emission
measures of ~0.1 cm^-6 pc are reached. The observations allow the detection of
the Diffuse Ionized Gas component through [N II] emission at very large radii
of 11.5', 12.8' and 19.0', on the receding side of the galaxy. No H{\alpha}
emission is observed at radii larger than the neutral component (11.5'). The
very extended rotation curve confirms previous results and shows signs of a
significant decline, on the order of 30 per cent vmax . Using the rotation
data, mass models are constructed with and without the outer [N II] data
points, and similar results are found. The declining part of the rotation curve
is very well modeled, and seems to be truly declining.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 16 pages, 10 figures, 4 table
Kinetic Monte Carlo Method for Rule-based Modeling of Biochemical Networks
We present a kinetic Monte Carlo method for simulating chemical
transformations specified by reaction rules, which can be viewed as generators
of chemical reactions, or equivalently, definitions of reaction classes. A rule
identifies the molecular components involved in a transformation, how these
components change, conditions that affect whether a transformation occurs, and
a rate law. The computational cost of the method, unlike conventional
simulation approaches, is independent of the number of possible reactions,
which need not be specified in advance or explicitly generated in a simulation.
To demonstrate the method, we apply it to study the kinetics of multivalent
ligand-receptor interactions. We expect the method will be useful for studying
cellular signaling systems and other physical systems involving aggregation
phenomena.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure
Hemodynamic effects of left pulmonary artery stenosis after superior cavopulmonary connection: A patient-specific multiscale modeling study
Mass Calibration and Cosmological Analysis of the SPT-SZ Galaxy Cluster Sample Using Velocity Dispersion and X-ray Measurements
We present a velocity dispersion-based mass calibration of the South Pole
Telescope Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect survey (SPT-SZ) galaxy cluster sample.
Using a homogeneously selected sample of 100 cluster candidates from 720 deg2
of the survey along with 63 velocity dispersion () and 16 X-ray Yx
measurements of sample clusters, we simultaneously calibrate the
mass-observable relation and constrain cosmological parameters. The
calibrations using and Yx are consistent at the level,
with the calibration preferring ~16% higher masses. We use the full
cluster dataset to measure . The
SPT cluster abundance is lower than preferred by either the WMAP9 or
Planck+WMAP9 polarization (WP) data, but assuming the sum of the neutrino
masses is eV, we find the datasets to be consistent at the
1.0 level for WMAP9 and 1.5 for Planck+WP. Allowing for larger
further reconciles the results. When we combine the cluster and
Planck+WP datasets with BAO and SNIa, the preferred cluster masses are
higher than the Yx calibration and higher than the
calibration. Given the scale of these shifts (~44% and ~23% in mass,
respectively), we execute a goodness of fit test; it reveals no tension,
indicating that the best-fit model provides an adequate description of the
data. Using the multi-probe dataset, we measure and
. Within a CDM model we find eV. We present a consistency test of the cosmic growth rate.
Allowing both the growth index and the dark energy equation of state
parameter to vary, we find and ,
demonstrating that the expansion and the growth histories are consistent with a
LCDM model ().Comment: Accepted by ApJ (v2 is accepted version); 17 pages, 6 figure
Analysis of Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect Mass-Observable Relations using South Pole Telescope Observations of an X-ray Selected Sample of Low Mass Galaxy Clusters and Groups
(Abridged) We use 95, 150, and 220GHz observations from the SPT to examine
the SZE signatures of a sample of 46 X-ray selected groups and clusters drawn
from ~6 deg^2 of the XMM-BCS. These systems extend to redshift z=1.02, have
characteristic masses ~3x lower than clusters detected directly in the SPT data
and probe the SZE signal to the lowest X-ray luminosities (>10^42 erg s^-1)
yet.
We develop an analysis tool that combines the SZE information for the full
ensemble of X-ray-selected clusters. Using X-ray luminosity as a mass proxy, we
extract selection-bias corrected constraints on the SZE significance- and
Y_500-mass relations. The SZE significance- mass relation is in good agreement
with an extrapolation of the relation obtained from high mass clusters.
However, the fit to the Y_500-mass relation at low masses, while in good
agreement with the extrapolation from high mass SPT clusters, is in tension at
2.8 sigma with the constraints from the Planck sample. We examine the tension
with the Planck relation, discussing sample differences and biases that could
contribute.
We also present an analysis of the radio galaxy point source population in
this ensemble of X-ray selected systems. We find 18 of our systems have 843 MHz
SUMSS sources within 2 arcmin of the X-ray centre, and three of these are also
detected at significance >4 by SPT. Of these three, two are associated with the
group brightest cluster galaxies, and the third is likely an unassociated
quasar candidate. We examine the impact of these point sources on our SZE
scaling relation analyses and find no evidence of biases. We also examine the
impact of dusty galaxies using constraints from the 220 GHz data. The stacked
sample provides 2.8 significant evidence of dusty galaxy flux, which
would correspond to an average underestimate of the SPT Y_500 signal that is
(17+-9) per cent in this sample of low mass systems.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure
The Redshift Evolution of the Mean Temperature, Pressure, and Entropy Profiles in 80 SPT-Selected Galaxy Clusters
(Abridged) We present the results of an X-ray analysis of 80 galaxy clusters
selected in the 2500 deg^2 South Pole Telescope survey and observed with the
Chandra X-ray Observatory. We divide the full sample into subsamples of ~20
clusters based on redshift and central density, performing an X-ray fit to all
clusters in a subsample simultaneously, assuming self-similarity of the
temperature profile. This approach allows us to constrain the shape of the
temperature profile over 0<r<1.5R500, which would be impossible on a
per-cluster basis, since the observations of individual clusters have, on
average, 2000 X-ray counts. The results presented here represent the first
constraints on the evolution of the average temperature profile from z=0 to
z=1.2. We find that high-z (0.6<z<1.2) clusters are slightly (~40%) cooler both
in the inner (rR500) regions than their low-z
(0.3<z<0.6) counterparts. Combining the average temperature profile with
measured gas density profiles from our earlier work, we infer the average
pressure and entropy profiles for each subsample. Overall, our observed
pressure profiles agree well with earlier lower-redshift measurements,
suggesting minimal redshift evolution in the pressure profile outside of the
core. We find no measurable redshift evolution in the entropy profile at
rR500 in
our high-z subsample. This flattening is consistent with a temperature bias due
to the enhanced (~3x) rate at which group-mass (~2 keV) halos, which would go
undetected at our survey depth, are accreting onto the cluster at z~1. This
work demonstrates a powerful method for inferring spatially-resolved cluster
properties in the case where individual cluster signal-to-noise is low, but the
number of observed clusters is high.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, submitted to ApJ. Updated following referee
repor
Constraints on the CMB Temperature Evolution using Multi-Band Measurements of the Sunyaev Zel'dovich Effect with the South Pole Telescope
The adiabatic evolution of the temperature of the cosmic microwave background
(CMB) is a key prediction of standard cosmology. We study deviations from the
expected adiabatic evolution of the CMB temperature of the form using measurements of the spectrum of the Sunyaev
Zel'dovich Effect with the South Pole Telescope (SPT). We present a method for
using the ratio of the Sunyaev Zel'dovich signal measured at 95 and 150 GHz in
the SPT data to constrain the temperature of the CMB. We demonstrate that this
approach provides unbiased results using mock observations of clusters from a
new set of hydrodynamical simulations. We apply this method to a sample of 158
SPT-selected clusters, spanning the redshift range , and
measure , consistent with the standard model
prediction of . In combination with other published results, we
constrain , an improvement of over
published constraints. This measurement also provides a strong constraint on
the effective equation of state in models of decaying dark energy
.Comment: Submitted to MNRAS Letter
A General Model for Multilocus Epistatic Interactions in Case-Control Studies
Background: Epistasis, i.e., the interaction of alleles at different loci, is thought to play a central role in the formation and progression of complex diseases. The complexity of disease expression should arise from a complex network of epistatic interactions involving multiple genes. Methodology: We develop a general model for testing high-order epistatic interactions for a complex disease in a casecontrol study. We incorporate the quantitative genetic theory of high-order epistasis into the setting of cases and controls sampled from a natural population. The new model allows the identification and testing of epistasis and its various genetic components. Conclusions: Simulation studies were used to examine the power and false positive rates of the model under different sampling strategies. The model was used to detect epistasis in a case-control study of inflammatory bowel disease, in which five SNPs at a candidate gene were typed, leading to the identification of a significant three-locus epistasis
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