A ROSAT survey of Wolf–Rayet galaxies — II. The extended sample

We present results from an ongoing X-ray survey of Wolf–Rayet (WR) galaxies, a class of objects believed to be very young starbursts. This paper extends the first X-ray survey of WR galaxies by Stevens &38; Strickland by studying WR galaxies identified subsequent to the original WR galaxy catalogue of Conti.   Out of a sample of 40 new WR galaxies a total of 10 have been observed with the ROSAT PSPC, and of these seven have been detected (NGC 1365, NGC 1569, I Zw 18, NGC 3353, NGC 4449, NGC 5408 and a marginal detection of NGC 2366). Of these, all are dwarf starbursts except for NGC 1365, which is a barred spiral galaxy possibly with an active nucleus. We also report on observations of the related emission-line galaxy IRAS 0833+6517.   The X-ray properties of these galaxies are broadly in line with those found for the original sample; they are X-ray overluminous compared with their blue luminosity and have thermal spectra with typically kT  ∼ 0.4 − 1.0 keV. There are some oddities: NGC 5408 is very overluminous in X-rays, even compared with other WR galaxies; I Zw 18 has a harder X-ray spectrum; NGC 1365, although thought to contain an active nucleus, has X-ray properties that are broadly similar to other WR galaxies, and we suggest that the X-ray emission from NGC 1365 is due to starburst activity.   A good correlation between X-ray and blue luminosity is found for the WR galaxy sample as a whole. However, when just dwarf galaxies are considered there is little evidence of correlation. We discuss the implications of these results on our understanding of the X-ray emission from WR galaxies and suggest that the best explanation for the X-ray activity is starburst activity from a young starburst region.     

Bayesian improver of a distribution

 An estimate of a distribution obtained from a sample by any method of classical statistics may be erroneous when the sample is not representative of the population. A subjective distribution elicited from an expert may be miscalibrated when information is scanty and experience limited. The Bayesian Improver of a Distribution (BID) exploits a coherence principle and improves, in the ex ante sense, an initial estimate of a continuous distribution by using (i) the known distribution of a related variate and (ii) information about the dependence structure between the two variates. The theory of BID is developed into an applied (ABID) procedure. The ABID estimator is applicable to any continuous, monotone likelihood ratio dependent variates with arbitrary, strictly increasing marginal distributions, parametric or nonparametric; it is analytic in form and easy to implement via statistical or judgmental methods; it converges to the true distribution, provided the initial estimator does, as the sample size n→∞; it outperforms the initial estimator in the expected Kolmogorov–Smirnov distance for all n; and it offers the greatest gains when n is small – precisely when improved estimates are needed most.     

末次冰消期晚期青藏高原东北部气候变化

我国最大的内陆封闭湖泊青海湖的沉积岩芯为研究末次冰期/全新世过渡期间青藏高原东北部的环境变化和季风降水演变提供了连续高分辨率环境档案。对两孔岩芯的多学科研究结果表明:大约14000～11600aB.P.期间气候干冷,湖泊的自生碳酸盐和有机质生产率远低于全新世;季节性入湖径流量在11600aB.P.突然增大;从10700aB.P.起,夏季蒸发量突然增大,干旱化作用导致碳酸盐滩湖环境;区域降水量在10000aB.P.的增大结束了滩湖环境,标志了早全新世温暖较湿气候的开始。全新世早期的青海湖水深比现在要浅20m左右,表明那时的有效湿度显然比现在要低很多。14000～10000aB.P.期间青海湖水深不超过6m,说明在末次冰消期的这一时段中,青藏高原东北部没有形成大规模冰融水。在10700～10000aB.P.期间突发的干旱事件与西欧的新仙女木事件(YoungerDryas)年代相当,但没有气候变冷的证据。青藏高原东北部末次冰消期的气候变化表现了明显的阶段性特征和有效湿度的突然改变。区域季风降水量和夏季温度的变化决定了该过渡期的这种变化格局。     

Comparison of cell- and vertex-centered discretization methods for flow in a two-dimensional discrete-fracture–matrix system

Simulations of flow for a discrete-fracture model in fractured porous rocks have gradually become more practical, as a consequence of increased computer power and improved simulation and characterization techniques. Discrete-fracture models can be formulated in a lower-dimensional framework, where the fractures are modeled in a lower dimension than the matrix, or in an equi-dimensional form, where the fractures and the matrix have the same dimension.     

Chemical analysis of natural objects by ion chromatographic method in combination with a priori calculations using IONCHROM software

This paper briefly describes original developments in the theoretical and practical ion chromatography. It is demonstrated that new methods may be applied for the highly-selective analysis of complex natural objects. The determination of different species of sulfur and other ions in the condensates of fumarolic gases is considered in detail as an example.