228 research outputs found

    Optical spectroscopy of the low-mass X-ray binary GX 9+9

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    Phase-resolved medium-resolution VLT spectroscopy of the low-mass X-ray binary GX 9+9 has revealed narrow C ill emission lines that move in phase relative to our new estimate of the ephemeris, and show a velocity amplitude of 230 +/not superset of 35 km s(-1). We identify the origin of these lines as coming from the surface of the donor star, thereby providing the first estimate of the mass function of f(M-1) >= 0.22 M-circle dot. Rotational broadening estimates together with assumptions for the mass donor give 0.07 <= q <= 0.35 and 182 <= K-2 <= 406 km s(-1). Despite a low-mass ratio, there is no evidence for a superhump in our data set. Doppler maps of GX 9+9 show the presence of a stream overflow, either in the form of material flowing downward along the accretion disc rim or in a similar fashion as occurs in high mass transfer rate cataclysmic variables known as the SW Sex stars. Finally, we note that the Bowen region in GX 9+9 is dominated by C in instead of N III emission as has been the case for most other X-ray binaries

    Landscape-painter as landscape-gardener : the case of Alfred Parsons R.A.

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    In 2 vols.Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN016830 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

    Government expenditures as a citizens'evaluation of public output : public choice and the benefit principle of taxation

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    Combining elements from the theories of public choice and benefit taxation, the author develops a framework in which private citizens can evaluate public activities. Why, and under what circumstances, do bureaucrats increase the size of the public sector and the amount of public spending in their own self interest? What does the private sector think public output should be, what is actual public output, and how does the private sector evaluate that output? The author applies the theoretical results of an attempt to answer these questions in four Central European countries (Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia), using actual data for 1989-91 and projections for 1992. Interpreting indirect evidence, he shows that the private sector would prefer less government activity in all countries, from a low of 5 percent less public spending (in Poland) to a high of one-third less (in Slovenia). If those governments were to follow those guidelines, their spending-to-GDP ratios would more closely resemble the 1987-89 average for a selected group of European market economies. The author also introduces a more rigorous, if not necessarily more objective, approach to determining optimal government spending. This approach requires little information, but uses a static model and requires faith in the direction of causality for some key variables. To the extent that one can accept those limitations, the model may be a useful operational tool in public spending evaluation.Public Sector Economics&Finance,National Governance,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Fiscal&Monetary Policy

    Detection of the irradiated donor in the LMXBs 4U 1636-536 (=V801 Ara) and 4U 1735-444 (=V926 Sco)

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    Phase-resolved VLT spectroscopy of the bursting low-mass X-ray binaries 4U 1636-536/V801 Ara and 4U 1735-444/V926 Sco is presented. Doppler images of the N iiiλ4640 Bowen transition reveal compact spots which we attribute to fluorescent emission from the donor star and enable us to define a new set of spectroscopic ephemerides. We measure Kem= 277 ± 22 and 226 ± 22 km s−1 from the N iii spots in V801 Ara and V926 Sco, respectively, which represent strict lower limits to the radial velocity semi-amplitude of the donor stars. Our new ephemerides provide confirmation that light-curve maxima in V801 Ara and likely V926 Sco occur at superior conjunction of the donor star and hence photometric modulation is caused by the visibility of the X-ray heated donor. The velocities of He iiλ4686 and the broad Bowen blend are strongly modulated with the orbital period, with phasing supporting emission dominated by the disc bulge. In addition, a reanalysis of burst oscillations in V801 Ara, using our spectroscopic T0, leads to K1= 90–113 km s−1. We also estimate the K-corrections for all possible disc flaring angles and present the first dynamical constraints on the masses of these X-ray bursters. These are K2= 360 ± 74 km s−1, f(M) = 0.76 ± 0.47 M⊙ and q= 0.21–0.34 for V801 Ara and K2= 298 ± 83 km s−1, f(M) = 0.53 ± 0.44 M⊙ and q= 0.05–0.41 for V926 Sco. Disc flaring angles α≥ 12° and q≃ 0.26–0.34 are favoured for V801 Ara whereas the lack of K1 constraint for V926 Sco prevents tight constraints on this system. Although both binaries seem to have intermediate inclinations, the larger equivalent width of the narrow N iii line in V801 Ara at phase 0.5 relative to phase 0 suggests that it has the higher inclination of the two

    Book Reviews

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    Book Review 1Book Title: Jaspers's MetaphysicsBook Author: A. Lichtigfeld(Pp. 120 + xviii. 10s.6d.) London: Colibri Press Ltd., 1954.Book Review 2Book Title: British Medical Bulletin: ChromatographyBook Author: n/aVol. 10, No. 3, 1954. Price 15s.Book Review 3Book Title: The SkinBook Author: Arthur C. Allen(Pp. 1048 + xv, with 495 illustrations.  £10 12s. 6&amp;.) St. Louis, U.S.A. C. V. Mosby Co. 1954.Book Review 4Book Title: RabiesBook Author: Bulletin of the World Health OrganizationVol. 10, No. 5, 1954. (pp. 703-866. 105.) Geneva: World Health Organization. 1954.Book Review 5Book Title: Recent Advances in Chemotherapy. Vol. III. AntibioticsBook Authors: F.C.O. Valentine &amp; R.A. Shooter(pp. 292 +viii. Third Edition. 27s.6d.) London: J. and A. Churchill Ltd. 1954.Book Review 6Book Title: BreadBook Authors: Lord Horder,  Sir Charles Dodds &amp; T. Moran(pp. 185 with 20 illustrations. 18s.) London: Constable &amp; Company, Ltd., 1954

    Revenue-productive income tax structures and tax reforms in emerging market economies - evidence from Bulgaria

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    Using a household budget survey for 1992, The author shows the poor revenue performance and distributional impact of Bulgaria's personal income tax system. He explores the implications for revenue and income distribution of two alternative tax systems - a flat tax and a progressive but simpler three-brackets tax system. He demonstrates that simpler tax structures with lower tax rates could achieve at least equal revenue and distributional objectives and are superior in terms of efficiency and equity. (The findings are robust when Bulgaria's significant tax evasion is included). But tax changes since 1992 have, if anything, moved Bulgaria even further from a simple income tax system: the number of rates and brackets increased from 7 to 10, and the levels of exemption remain unchanged. (Complex, higher rates complicate administration and enforcement and provide incentives for tax evasions. And in the alternative systems the author explores, the poor are protected with higher exemptions.) Fortunately, the country's personal income tax structure began to move toward less nominal progressivity after Bulgaria's 1997 tax reform program. The tax rate in thetop income bracket was reduced from 52 percent to 40 percent, the number of tax brackets was halved, and the exemption level was increased 20 percent (reducing tax burdens on the poor).Environmental Economics&Policies,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Regional Governance,Tax Policy and Administration,Economic Theory&Research,Governance Indicators,Economic Theory&Research,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Tax Policy and Administration

    The Juvenile forget-me-not : a Christmas and New Year's present.

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    A reissue of The Jewel; or, Token of friendship, 1843, with different plates.Plates have guardsheets.Plate, "Child of the delightful brow," opposite p. 18 is signed: R. Westall, W. Cook. Plate, "Simplicity," opposite p. 102, signed: "Engraved by Chas. Phillips, New York, after a Picture by Sir Joshua Reynolds, P.R.A." Plate opposite p. 193 signed: Drawn by E. Wakefield, Engraved by E. Hobart.Frontispiece painted by W. Collins, R.A.; engraved by T. Illman.Added engraved title page, included in plate list.The mother's jewel / by the author of "The brothers" -- Sweet stream -- Stanzas / by Miss Elizabeth M. Allison -- The would-be-genteel lady / by Mrs. Charles Sedgwick -- At home / by Mrs. Anna Bache -- To the whip-poor-will -- The child's best friend -- Napoeon and the iron crown / by Grenville Mellen -- The Barlow knife / by Robert Jonathan -- Gertrude / by Miss A. D. Woodbridge -- Sodus Bay -- Mary Wallace : a juvenile story -- The Genoese emigrant / by Miss E. M. Allison -- Sonnet : on a sleeping infant -- Child of my heart -- May morning -- My first born : the hour of her birth -- Condy O'Neal -- On the Hudson / by Elizabeth Mary Allison -- Charades -- The English flower -- The young mother / by Grenville Mellen -- The isle of rest -- The italian lover -- The fate of the hornet -- A vision -- "I'll think of thee, love" -- Cottage life -- The guardian watcher -- Interrogatories -- GnadenhuttenMode of access: Internet

    Woodrow Wilson’s diplomatic agenda and strategic military interventions: how they affected the Russian Civil War 1918-1920

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    This thesis aims to understand the factors that affected Woodrow Wilson’s foreign and military policy actions, which subsequently led to decisions that dictated United States’ intervention into the Russian Civil War, 1918-1920. The background information discussed demonstrates the importance of the Russian Civil War. This chaotic time in history surrounding World War I caused much of Woodrow Wilson’s dilemma and consequentially changed future of Soviet-American relations. It details how it would take numerous foreign policy shifts to convince Mr. Wilson to send U.S. troops to intervene into North Russia and Siberia. Lenin’s opposing perspective will encompass what is contained in much of the supporting information surrounding this thesis. In conjunction with military operations there, the allies attempted to broker peace with Lenin and the Bolsheviks in the form of the Prinkipo Proposal, the Bullitt Mission, and the Hoover-Nansen Proposal. The concluding question that frames the argument of this research will answer what happened because Wilson intervened on Russian soil and how it affected the Communist world revolution. What positive results, if any, can be discovered? (Author abstract)Rinehart, R.A. (2017) Woodrow Wilson’s diplomatic agenda and strategic military interventions: how they affected the Russian Civil War 1918-1920. Retrieved from http://academicarchive.snhu.eduMaster ArtsHistoryCollege of Online and Continuing Educatio

    Boundary Algebra: A Simple Notation for Boolean Algebra and the Truth Functors

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    Boundary algebra [BA] is a simpler notation for Spencer-Brown’s (1969) primary algebra [pa], the Boolean algebra 2, and the truth functors. The primary arithmetic [PA] consists of the atoms ‘()’ and the blank page, concatenation, and enclosure between ‘(‘ and ‘)’, denoting the primitive notion of distinction. Inserting letters denoting the presence or absence of () into a PA formula yields a BA formula. The BA axioms are "()()=()" (A1), and "(()) [=?] may be written or erased at will” (A2). Repeated application of these axioms to a PA formula yields a member of B= {(),?} called its simplification. (a) has two intended interpretations: (a) ? a? (Boolean algebra 2), and (a) ? ~a (sentential logic). BA is self-dual: () ? 1 [dually 0] so that B is the carrier for 2, ab ? a?b [a?b], and (a)b [(a(b))] ? a=b, so that ?=() [()=?] follows trivially and B is a poset. The BA basis abc= bca (Dilworth 1938), a(ab)= a(b), and a()=() (Bricken 2002) facilitates clausal reasoning and proof by calculation. BA also simplifies normal forms and Quine’s (1982) truth value analysis. () ? true [false] yields boundary logic.G. Spencer Brown; boundary algebra; boundary logic; primary algebra; primary arithmetic; Boolean algebra; calculation proof; C.S. Peirce; existential graphs.
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