Modelling Dust Evolution in Galaxies with a Multiphase, Inhomogeneous ISM

We develop a model of dust evolution in a multiphase, inhomogeneous ISM including dust growth and destruction processes. The physical conditions for grain evolution are taken from hydrodynamical simulations of giant molecular clouds in a Milky Way-like spiral galaxy. We improve the treatment of dust growth by accretion in the ISM to investigate the role of the temperature-dependent sticking coefficient and ion-grain interactions. From detailed observational data on the gas-phase Si abundances [Si/H]_{gas} measured in the local Galaxy, we derive a relation between the average [Si/H]_{gas} and the local gas density n(H) which we use as a critical constraint for the models. This relation requires a sticking coefficient that decreases with the gas temperature. The synthetic relation constructed from the spatial dust distribution reproduces the slope of -0.5 of the observed relation in cold clouds. This slope is steeper than that for the warm medium and is explained by the dust growth. We find that it occurs for all adopted values of the minimum grain size a_{min} from 1 to 5nm. For the classical cut-off of a_{min}=5 nm, the ion-grain interactions result in longer growth timescales and higher [Si/H]_{gas} than the observed values. For a_{min} below 3 nm, the ion-grain interactions enhance the growth rates, steepen the slope of [Si/H]_{gas}-n(H) relation and provide a better match to observations. The rates of dust re-formation in the ISM by far exceed the rates of dust production by stellar sources as expected from simple evolution models. After the cycle of matter in and out of dust reaches a steady state, the dust growth balances the destruction operating on similar timescales of 350 Myr.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, accepted to Ap

Beneficial effects of childhood selective dorsal rhizotomy in adulthood

Background: Selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) has been used to treat children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP) for over three decades. However, little is known about the outcomes of childhood SDR in adults.  Objectives: 1) To study the effects of childhood SDR on the quality of life and ambulatory function in adult life. 2) To determine late side effects of SDR in adults.   Methods: Adults (> 17.9 years) who underwent SDR in childhood (2 - 17.9 years) between 1987 and 2013 were surveyed in 2015. Patients completed a survey, including questions on demographic information, quality of life, health, surgical outcomes, motor function, manual ability, pain, braces/orthotics, post-SDR treatment, living situation, education level, work status, and side effects of SDR.  Results: In our study population of 294 patients (18.0 - 37.4 years), patients received SDR during the ages of 2.0 - 17.9 years and were followed up 2.2 to 28.3 years after surgery. Eighty-four percent had spastic diplegia, 12% had spastic quadriplegia, and 4% had spastic triplegia. The majority (88%) of patients reported improved post-SDR quality of life and 1% considered the surgery detrimental. Most (83%) would recommend the procedure to others and 3% would not. However, patients who would not recommend SDR to others ambulated with a walker or were not ambulatory at all prior to SDR. The majority (83%) of patients improved (30%) or remained stable (53%) in ambulation. Twenty-nine percent of patients reported pain, mostly in the back and lower limbs, with a mean pain level of 4.4 ± 2.4 on the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS). Decreased sensation in small areas of the lower limbs was reported by 8% of patients, though this did not affect daily life. Scoliosis was diagnosed in 28%, with 40% of these patients pursuing treatment. Whether scoliosis was related to SDR is not clear, though scoliosis is known to occur in patients with CP and also in the general population. Only 4% of patients underwent spinal fusion.  Orthopedic surgeries were pursued by 59% of patients. The most common orthopedic surgeries were hamstring lengthenings (31%), Achilles tendon lengthenings (18%), adductor lengthenings (16%), and derotational osteotomies (16%). Twenty-four percent of all patients later underwent hip surgery and 8% had surgeries on their knees.  Conclusion: Results of this study indicate that the beneficial effects of childhood SDR extend to adulthood quality of life and ambulatory function without late side effects of surgery

Planetary Evaporation and the Dynamics of Planet Wind/Stellar Wind Bow Shocks

We present initial results of a new campaign of simulations focusing on the interaction of planetary winds with stellar environments using Adaptive Mesh Refinement methods. We have confirmed the results of Stone & Proga 2009 that an azimuthal flow structure is created in the planetary wind due to day/night temperatures differences. We show that a backflow towards the planet will occur with a strength that depends on the escape parameter. When a stellar outflow is included, we see unstable bow waves forming through the outflow's interaction with the planetary wind.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of IAU Symposium 314 "Young Stars and Planets Near the Sun

Effects of non-Kozai mutual inclinations on two-planet system stability through all phases of stellar evolution

Previous full-lifetime simulations of single-star multi-planet systems across all phases of stellar evolution have predominately assumed coplanar or nearly coplanar orbits. Here we assess the consequences of this assumption by removing it and exploring the effect of giant branch mass loss on the stability of two-planet systems with small to moderate non-Kozai (<40º) relative inclinations. We run nearly 104 simulations over 14 Gyr for F-star, A-star and B-star planet hosts, incorporating main-sequence stellar masses of 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 and 5.0 solar masses, and initial planetary semimajor axis ratios that straddle their three-dimensional Hill stability limits. We find that the near-coplanar assumption can approximate well the stability frequencies and critical separations found for higher inclinations, except around strong mean-motion commensurabilities. Late instabilities – after the star has become a white dwarf – occur throughout the explored mutual inclination range. Consequently, non-Kozai mutual inclination should not be used as a predictive orbital proxy for determining which white dwarf multi-planet systems discovered by Gaia should represent high-priority follow-up targets for the detection of metal pollution and planetary debris discs