361 research outputs found
Significant uncertainties from calibrating overshooting with eclipsing binary systems
The precise measurement of the masses and radii of stars in eclipsing binary
systems provides a window into uncertain processes in stellar evolution,
especially mixing at convective boundaries. Recently, these data have been used
to calibrate models of convective overshooting in the cores of main sequence
stars. In this study we have used a small representative sample of eclipsing
binary stars with to test how precisely this
method can constrain the overshooting and whether the data support a universal
stellar mass--overshooting relation. We do not recover the previously reported
stellar mass dependence for the extent of overshooting and in each case we find
there is a substantial amount of uncertainty, that is, the same binary pair can
be matched by models with different amounts of overshooting. Models with a
moderate overshooting parameter (using the
scheme from Herwig et al. 1997) are consistent with all eight systems studied.
Generally, a much larger range of is suitable for individual
systems. In the case of main sequence and early post-main sequence stars, large
changes in the amount of overshooting have little effect on the radius and
effective temperature, and therefore the method is of extremely limited
utility.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
Asian American women\u27s resilience: An integrative review
Asian American women face unique stressors that threaten their overall health and well-being. However, resilience is a phenomenon that allows individuals to develop positive adaptation despite adversities and challenges. This integrative review is conducted in order to explore the current state of knowledge regarding the resilience of Asian American women. Twelve databases were used to identify related articles: Academic Search Premier, CINAHL, ERIC, Ethnic NewsWatch, GenderWatch, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global, ProQuest Sociological Abstracts, PsycINFO, PubMed, SAGE (Psychology and Sociology collections), Scopus, and Web of Science. Twenty-one research studies met the inclusion criteria of the integrative review. Five common themes emerged from the analysis of the studies: (a) resilience as conceptualized as a coping strategy, (b) resilience as related to social support and network, (c) resilience as an enduring phenomenon, (d) resilience as connected to bicultural identity, and (e) resilience as an emancipatory perspective and experience. These themes imply that resilience is a developmental process, culture has a significant influence on resilience, and Asian American women are a vulnerable and marginalized group. Further recommendations for nursing practice and research are discussed as related to these implications
The treatment of mixing in core helium burning models -- III. Suppressing core breathing pulses with a new constraint on overshoot
Theoretical predictions for the core helium burning phase of stellar
evolution are highly sensitive to the uncertain treatment of mixing at
convective boundaries. In the last few years, interest in constraining the
uncertain structure of their deep interiors has been renewed by insights from
asteroseismology. Recently, Spruit (2015) proposed a limit for the rate of
growth of helium-burning convective cores based on the higher buoyancy of
material ingested from outside the convective core. In this paper we test the
implications of such a limit for stellar models with a range of initial mass
and metallicity. We find that the constraint on mixing beyond the Schwarzschild
boundary has a significant effect on the evolution late in core helium burning,
when core breathing pulses occur and the ingestion rate of helium is fastest.
Ordinarily, core breathing pulses prolong the core helium burning lifetime to
such an extent that models are at odds with observations of globular cluster
populations. Across a wide range of initial stellar masses (), applying the Spruit constraint reduces the core
helium burning lifetime because core breathing pulses are either avoided or
their number and severity reduced. The constraint suggested by Spruit therefore
helps to resolve significant discrepancies between observations and theoretical
predictions. Specifically, we find improved agreement for , the observed
ratio of asymptotic giant branch to horizontal branch stars in globular
clusters; the luminosity difference between these two groups; and in
asteroseismology, the mixed-mode period spacing detected in red clump stars in
the \textit{Kepler} field.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS; 11 pages, 6 figure
Diagnostics of Stellar Modelling from Spectroscopy and Photometry of Globular Clusters
We conduct a series of comparisons between spectroscopic and photometric
observations of globular clusters and stellar models to examine their
predictive power. Data from medium-to-high resolution spectroscopic surveys of
lithium allow us to investigate first dredge-up and extra mixing in two
clusters well separated in metallicity. Abundances at first dredge-up are
satisfactorily reproduced but there is preliminary evidence to suggest that the
models overestimate the luminosity at which the surface composition first
changes in the lowest-metallicity system. Our models also begin extra mixing at
luminosities that are too high, demonstrating a significant discrepancy with
observations at low metallicity. We model the abundance changes during extra
mixing as a thermohaline process and determine that the usual diffusive form of
this mechanism cannot simultaneously reproduce both the carbon and lithium
observations. Hubble Space Telescope photometry provides turnoff and bump
magnitudes in a large number of globular clusters and offers the opportunity to
better test stellar modelling as function of metallicity. We directly compare
the predicted main-sequence turn-off and bump magnitudes as well as the
distance-independent parameter . We
require 15 Gyr isochrones to match the main-sequence turn-off magnitude in some
clusters and cannot match the bump in low-metallicity systems. Changes to the
distance modulus, metallicity scale and bolometric corrections may impact on
the direct comparisons but , which is
also underestimated from the models, can only be improved through changes to
the input physics. Overshooting at the base of the convective envelope with an
efficiency that is metallicity dependent is required to reproduce the
empirically determined value of .Comment: 20 pages, 11 Figures, 4 Tables, Accepted for publication in MNRA
The treatment of mixing in core helium burning models - I. Implications for asteroseismology
The detection of mixed oscillation modes offers a unique insight into the
internal structure of core helium burning (CHeB) stars. The stellar structure
during CHeB is very uncertain because the growth of the convective core, and/or
the development of a semiconvection zone, is critically dependent on the
treatment of convective boundaries. In this study we calculate a suite of
stellar structure models and their non-radial pulsations to investigate why the
predicted asymptotic g-mode period spacing is
systematically lower than is inferred from Kepler field stars. We find that
only models with large convective cores, such as those calculated with our
newly proposed "maximal-overshoot" scheme, can match the average
reported. However, we also find another possible solution that is related to
the method used to determine : mode trapping can raise the
observationally inferred well above its true value. Even after
accounting for these two proposed resolutions to the discrepancy in average
, models still predict more CHeB stars with low ( s) than are observed. We establish two possible remedies for this: i)
there may be a difficulty in determining for early CHeB stars
(when is lowest) because of the effect that the sharp composition
profile at the hydrogen burning shell has on the pulsations, or ii) the mass of
the helium core at the flash is higher than predicted. Our conclusions
highlight the need for the reporting of selection effects in asteroseismic
population studies in order to safely use this information to constrain stellar
evolution theory.Comment: 24 pages. 24 figures. Published in MNRA
Resilience, Acculturative Stress, and Family Norms Against Disclosure of Mental Health Problems Among Foreign-Born Filipino American Women
The present study explores the relationships between resilience, acculturative stress, and family norms against disclosure of mental health problems among foreign-born Filipino American women. The sample consisted of 159 foreign-born Filipino American women aged 18 years and above and residing in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Participants completed paper-and-pencil questionnaires. Results indicated high levels of resilience and moderate levels of acculturative stress. Findings also showed a significant negative correlation between resilience and acculturative stress, and a significant predictive effect of resilience on acculturative stress. We also found a significant negative relationship between resilience and family norms against disclosure of mental health problems but no significant mediating effect of resilience on the relationship between acculturative stress and family norms. This lack of significant findings related to the mediating effect of resilience on the relationship between acculturative stress and family norms against disclosure of mental illness may be due to the absence of theoretical models and research regarding the role of resilience in the context of acculturation among Filipino American women. Our findings imply the need to further explore underlying mechanisms that explain the relationships between resilience, acculturative stress, and family norms. The findings of the study also confirm the need to develop interventions and resources that ameliorate acculturative stress and promote an increase of the disclosure and reporting of mental health problems among Filipino American women
Exploring Challenges in Conducting E-Mental Health Research Among Asian American Women
In this discussion paper, we explore the challenges of conducting e-mental health intervention research among Asian American women and propose a model for addressing these barriers. Based on an extensive literature review, we identify two main types of barriers to conducting e-mental health intervention research among Asian American women: recruitment barriers and adherence barriers. Recruitment barriers are further subcategorized into those related to (1) stigmatized cultural beliefs about mental illness and mental health services; (2) lack of awareness about mental health services; and (3) language barrier. As to adherence barriers, the two identified subtypes concern (1) acuity and severity of mental health condition; and (2) lack of time. In order to enhance recruitment and adherence in e-mental health intervention research among the studied population, we formulate the following three main research strategies, namely: (1) considering the cultural and social contexts of Asian American women in the development of e-mental health interventions; (2) determining appropriate program length; and (3) conducting feasibility studies to test e-mental health interventions. We suggest that nurse researchers integrate our proposed model in conducting e-mental health interventions among Asian American women. Our proposed model also implies that nurses play an important role in encouraging Asian American women’s acceptance of and adherence to e-mental health interventions. In order to overcome the obstacles to conducting e-mental health research among Asian American women, we recommend that nurses familiarize themselves with credible, relevant, and evidence-based e-mental health resources and integrate online mental health services and information within their nursing practice
The microphysics of clouds over the Antarctic Peninsula – Part 1: Observations
Observations of clouds over the Antarctic Peninsula during summer 2010 and 2011 are presented here. The peninsula is up to 2500 m high and acts as a barrier to weather systems approaching from the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean. Observations of the number of ice and liquid particles as well as the ice water content and liquid water content in the clouds from both sides of the peninsula and from both years were compared. In 2011 there were significantly more water drops and ice crystals, particularly in the east, where there were approximately twice the number of drops and ice crystals in 2011.
Ice crystals observations as compared to ice nuclei parameterizations suggest that secondary ice multiplication at temperatures around −5 °C is important for ice crystal formation on both sides of the peninsula below 2000 m. Also, back trajectories have shown that in 2011 the air masses over the peninsula were more likely to have passed close to the surface over the sea ice in the Weddell Sea. This suggests that the sea-ice-covered Weddell Sea can act as a source of both cloud condensation nuclei and ice-nucleating particles
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