University of Hawaii at Manoa

About: University of Hawaii at Manoa is a education organization based out in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 13693 authors who have published 25161 publications receiving 1023924 citations.

Frequency-tuning technique for remote detection of heartbeat and respiration using low-power double-sideband transmission in the ka-band

Abstract: A Ka-band transceiver using low-power double-sideband transmission to detect human heartbeat and respiration signals is demonstrated. The Ka-band electromagnetic wave offers higher detection sensitivity on small movement due to its shorter wavelength. Indirect-conversion receiver architecture is chosen to reduce the dc offset and 1/f noise that can degrade the signal-to-noise ratio and detection accuracy. Furthermore, the double-sideband signals at the transmitter output can be in quadrature by choosing a proper frequency separation to relieve the severe null point problem that occurs at high frequency. As a result,the detection accuracy is significantly improved with low transmitted power. This radar sensor system achieves better than 80% detection accuracy at a distance of 2.0 m with a combined transmitted power of only 12.5 /spl mu/W in both sidebands.

Seven prostate cancer susceptibility loci identified by a multi-stage genome-wide association study

Abstract: Prostate cancer (PrCa) is the most frequently diagnosed male cancer in developed countries. We conducted a multi-stage genome-wide association study for PrCa and previously reported the results of the first two stages, which identified 16 PrCa susceptibility loci. We report here the results of stage 3, in which we evaluated 1,536 SNPs in 4,574 individuals with prostate cancer (cases) and 4,164 controls. We followed up ten new association signals through genotyping in 51,311 samples in 30 studies from the Prostate Cancer Association Group to Investigate Cancer Associated Alterations in the Genome (PRACTICAL) consortium. In addition to replicating previously reported loci, we identified seven new prostate cancer susceptibility loci on chromosomes 2p11, 3q23, 3q26, 5p12, 6p21, 12q13 and Xq12 (P = 4.0 × 10(-8) to P = 2.7 × 10(-24)). We also identified a SNP in TERT more strongly associated with PrCa than that previously reported. More than 40 PrCa susceptibility loci, explaining ∼25% of the familial risk in this disease, have now been identified.

Ultra-bright Optical Transients are Linked with Type Ic Supernovae

Abstract: Recent searches by unbiased, wide-field surveys have uncovered a group of extremely luminous optical transients The initial discoveries of SN 2005ap by the Texas Supernova Search and SCP-06F6 in a deep Hubble pencil beam survey were followed by the Palomar Transient Factory confirmation of host redshifts for other similar transients The transients share the common properties of high optical luminosities (peak magnitudes ~-21 to -23), blue colors, and a lack of H or He spectral features The physical mechanism that produces the luminosity is uncertain, with suggestions ranging from jet-driven explosion to pulsational pair instability Here, we report the most detailed photometric and spectral coverage of an ultra-bright transient (SN 2010gx) detected in the Pan-STARRS 1 sky survey In common with other transients in this family, early-time spectra show a blue continuum and prominent broad absorption lines of O II However, about 25 days after discovery, the spectra developed type Ic supernova features, showing the characteristic broad Fe II and Si II absorption lines Detailed, post-maximum follow-up may show that all SN 2005ap and SCP-06F6 type transients are linked to supernovae Ic This poses problems in understanding the physics of the explosions: there is no indication from late-time photometry that the luminosity is powered by 56Ni, the broad light curves suggest very large ejected masses, and the slow spectral evolution is quite different from typical Ic timescales The nature of the progenitor stars and the origin of the luminosity are intriguing and open questions

RadVel: The Radial Velocity Modeling Toolkit

Abstract: RadVel is an open-source Python package for modeling Keplerian orbits in radial velocity (RV) timeseries. RadVel provides a convenient framework to fit RVs using maximum a posteriori optimization and to compute robust confidence intervals by sampling the posterior probability density via Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). RadVel allows users to float or fix parameters, impose priors, and perform Bayesian model comparison. We have implemented real-time MCMC convergence tests to ensure adequate sampling of the posterior. RadVel can output a number of publication-quality plots and tables. Users may interface with RadVel through a convenient command-line interface or directly from Python. The code is object-oriented and thus naturally extensible. We encourage contributions from the community. Documentation is available at http://radvel.readthedocs.io.

Spitzer Secondary Eclipses of the Dense, Modestly-irradiated, Giant Exoplanet HAT-P-20b Using Pixel-Level Decorrelation

Abstract: HAT-P-20b is a giant metal-rich exoplanet orbiting a metal-rich star. We analyze two secondary eclipses of the planet in each of the 3.6 and 4.5 μm bands of Warm Spitzer. We have developed a simple, powerful, and radically different method to correct the intra-pixel effect for Warm Spitzer data, which we call pixel-level decorrelation (PLD). PLD corrects the intra-pixel effect very effectively, but without explicitly using—or even measuring—the fluctuations in the apparent position of the stellar image. We illustrate and validate PLD using synthetic and real data and comparing the results to previous analyses. PLD can significantly reduce or eliminate red noise in Spitzer secondary eclipse photometry, even for eclipses that have proven to be intractable using other methods. Our successful PLD analysis of four HAT-P-20b eclipses shows a best-fit blackbody temperature of 1134 ± 29 K, indicating inefficient longitudinal transfer of heat, but lacking evidence for strong molecular absorption. We find sufficient evidence for variability in the 4.5 μm band that the eclipses should be monitored at that wavelength by Spitzer, and this planet should be a high priority for James Webb Space Telescope spectroscopy. All four eclipses occur about 35 minutes after orbital phase 0.5, indicating a slightly eccentric orbit. A joint fit of the eclipse and transit times with extant RV data yields e cos ω = 0.01352^(+0.00054)_(-0.00057) and establishes the small eccentricity of the orbit to high statistical confidence. HAT-P-20b is another excellent candidate for orbital evolution via Kozai migration or other three-body mechanisms.