Working with older drinkers

Findings presented in this report demonstrate that older drinkers have different stressors, precipitating factors and risk factors for relapse than younger drinkers. They also face a number of unique barriers to treatment and are more likely to remain ‘hidden’ from services. Despite these challenges, age-specific practices required to meet the needs of older people and draw them into treatment are poorly understood. The purpose of this project was to develop guidelines on what strategies and treatment approaches are likely to work best with older drinkers based on synthesis of relevant literature, insight from alcohol practitioners who specialise in working with older people and the perspectives of older people receiving alcohol treatment. A set of concise guidance documents will be prepared for health and social care workers and alcohol service providers in due course

Prominence Mass Supply and the Cavity

A prevalent but untested paradigm is often used to describe the prominence-cavity system: the cavity is under-dense because it is evacuated by supplying mass to the condensed prominence. The thermal non-equilibrium (TNE) model of prominence formation offers a theoretical framework to predict the thermodynamic evolution of the prominence and the surrounding corona. We examine the evidence for a prominence-cavity connection by comparing the TNE model with diagnostics of dynamic extreme ultraviolet emission (EUV) surrounding the prominence, specifically prominence horns. Horns are correlated extensions of prominence plasma and coronal plasma which appear to connect the prominence and cavity. The TNE model predicts that large-scale brightenings will occur in the SDO/AIA 171\AA\ bandpass near the prominence that are associated with the cooling phase of condensation formation. In our simulations, variations in the magnitude of footpoint heating lead to variations in the duration, spatial scale, and temporal offset between emission enhancements in the other EUV bandpasses. While these predictions match well a subset of the horn observations, the range of variations in the observed structures is not captured by the model. We discuss the implications of our one-dimensional loop simulations for the three-dimensional time-averaged equilibrium in the prominence and the cavity. Evidence suggests that horns are likely caused by condensing prominence plasma, but the larger question of whether this process produces a density-depleted cavity requires a more tightly constrained model of heating and better knowledge of the associated magnetic structure

Diagnosing the Prominence-Cavity Connection

Prominences and cavities are ubiquitously observed together, but the physical link between these disparate structures has not been established. We address this issue by using dynamic emission in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) to probe the connections of these structures. The SDO/AIA observations show that the cavity exhibits excessive emission variability compared to the surrounding quiet-sun streamer, particularly in the 171\AA bandpass. We find that this dynamic emission takes the form of coherent loop-like brightening structures which emanate from the prominence into the central cavity. The geometry of these structures, dubbed prominence horns, generally mimics the curvature of the cavity boundary. We use a space-time statistical analysis of two cavities in multiple AIA bandpasses to constrain the energetic properties of 45 horns. In general, we find there is a positive correlation between the light curves of the horns in the 171\AA and 193\AA bandpasses, however the 193\AA emission is a factor of 5 weaker. There is also a strong correlation between structural changes to the prominence as viewed in the He II 304\AA bandpass and the enhanced 171\AA emission. In that bandpass, the prominence appears to extend several megameters along the 171\AA horn where we observe co-spatial, co-temporal 304\AA and 171\AA emission dynamics. We present these observations as evidence of the magnetic and energetic connection between the prominence and the cavity. Further modeling work is necessary to explain the physical source and consequences of these events, particularly in the context of the traditional paradigm: the cavity is under dense because it supplies mass to the over dense prominence

The Binary Black Hole Model for Mrk 231 Bites the Dust

Mrk 231 is a nearby quasar with an unusually red near-UV-to-optical continuum, generally explained as heavy reddening by dust (e.g., Leighly et al. 2014). Yan et al. 2015 proposed that Mrk~231 is a milli-parsec black-hole binary with little intrinsic reddening. We show that if the observed FUV continuum is intrinsic, as assumed by Yan et al. 2015, it fails by a factor of about 100 in powering the observed strength of the near-infrared emission lines, and the thermal near and mid-infrared continuum. In contrast, the line and continuum strengths are typical for a reddened AGN spectral energy distribution. We find that the HeI*/Pbeta ratio is sensitive to the spectral energy distribution for a one-zone model. If this sensitivity is maintained in general broad-line region models, then this ratio may prove a useful diagnostic for heavily reddened quasars. Analysis of archival HST STIS and FOC data revealed evidence that the far-UV continuum emission is resolved on size scales of ~40 parsecs. The lack of broad absorption lines in the far-UV continuum might be explained if it were not coincident with the central engine. One possibility is that it is the central engine continuum reflected from the receding wind on the far side of the quasar.Comment: Consistent with the accepted ApJ pape

Molecular absorption in transition region spectral lines

Aims: We present observations from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) of absorption features from a multitude of cool atomic and molecular lines within the profiles of Si IV transition region lines. Many of these spectral lines have not previously been detected in solar spectra. Methods: We examined spectra taken from deep exposures of plage on 12 October 2013. We observed unique absorption spectra over a magnetic element which is bright in transition region line emission and the ultraviolet continuum. We compared the absorption spectra with emission spectra that is likely related to fluorescence. Results: The absorption features require a population of sub-5000 K plasma to exist above the transition region. This peculiar stratification is an extreme deviation from the canonical structure of the chromosphere-corona boundary . The cool material is not associated with a filament or discernible coronal rain. This suggests that molecules may form in the upper solar atmosphere on small spatial scales and introduces a new complexity into our understanding of solar thermal structure. It lends credence to previous numerical studies that found evidence for elevated pockets of cool gas in the chromosphere.Comment: accepted by A&A Letter

Cynicism, Trust, and Internal-External Locus of Control Among Home Educated Students

Home education, also known colloquially as home schooling, has been on the rise for the past two decades. Estimates of the number home educated students range from 1.7% to 3% of the student population (Blok, 2003). It has gained legitimacy as noted by its evolution from being prohibited in 30 states in 1980 to now being legal in all fifty states (Blok, 2003). Probably the greatest sign of this new legitimacy is its general acceptance and positive coverage in the media where home education is presented as a viable alternative to traditional schooling. Often stories present some exceptional and phenomenal successes, which are portrayed against a backdrop of public school failings (Medlin, 2000)

Formation of Box Canyon, Idaho, by megaflood: implications for seepage erosion on Earth and Mars

Amphitheater- headed canyons have been used as diagnostic indicators of erosion by groundwater seepage, which has important implications for landscape evolution on Earth and astrobiology on Mars. Of perhaps any canyon studied, Box Canyon, Idaho, most strongly meets the proposed morphologic criteria for groundwater sapping because it is incised into a basaltic plain with no drainage network upstream, and approximately 10 cubic meters per second of seepage emanates from its vertical headwall. However, sediment transport constraints, ^4He and ^14C dates, plunge pools, and scoured rock indicate that a megaflood (greater than 220 cubic meters per second) carved the canyon about 45,000 years ago. These results add to a growing recognition of Quaternary catastrophic flooding in the American northwest, and may imply that similar features on Mars also formed by floods rather than seepage erosion