UCD Candidates in the Hydra Cluster

NGC 3311, the giant cD galaxy in the Hydra cluster (A1060), has one of the largest globular cluster systems known. We describe new Gemini GMOS (g',i') photometry of the NGC 3311 field which reveals that the red, metal-rich side of its globular cluster population extends smoothly upward into the mass range associated with the new class of Ultra-Compact Dwarfs (UCDs). We identify 29 UCD candidates with estimated masses > 6x10^6 solar masses and discuss their characteristics. This UCD-like sequence is the most well defined one yet seen, and reinforces current ideas that the high-mass end of the globular cluster sequence merges continuously into the UCD sequence, which connects in turn to the E galaxy structural sequence.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

A rapid equity focused health impact assessment of a policy implementation plan: An Australian case study and impact evaluation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Equity focused health impact assessments (EFHIAs), or health equity impact assessments, are being increasingly promoted internationally as a mechanism for enhancing the consideration of health equity in the development of policies, programs and projects. Despite this there are relatively few examples of examples of completed EFHIAs available. This paper presents a case study of a rapid EFHIA that was conducted in Australia on a health promotion policy implementation plan. It briefly describes the process and findings of the EFHIA and evaluates the impact on decision-making and implementation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The rapid EFHIA was undertaken in four days, drawing on an expert panel and limited review of the literature. A process evaluation was undertaken by email one month after the EFHIA was completed. An impact evaluation was undertaken two years later based on five semi-structured interviews with members of the EFHIA working group and policy officers and managers responsible for implementing the plan. A cost estimation was conducted by the EFHIA working group.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>The EFHIA made both general and specific recommendations about how the health equity impacts of the policy implementation plan could be improved. The impact evaluation identified changes to development and implementation that occurred as a result of the EFHIA, though there was disagreement about the extent to which changes could be attributed solely to the EFHIA. Those responsible considered the recommendations of the EFHIA in the next versions of their ABHI implementation plans. Factors that influenced the impact of the EFHIA included consolidating understandings of equity, enabling discussion of alternatives, and differing understandings of the purpose of the EFHIA. The EFHIA cost US$4,036 to undertake.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This EFHIA was conducted in a short timeframe using relatively few resources. It had some reported impacts on the development of the implementation plan and enhanced overall consideration of health equity. This case highlights some of the factors and preconditions that may maximise the impact of future EFHIAs on decision-making and implementation.</p

From Supermassive Black Holes to Dwarf Elliptical Nuclei: a Mass Continuum

Considerable evidence suggests that supermassive black holes reside at the centers of massive galactic bulges. At a lower galactic mass range, many dwarf galaxies contain extremely compact nuclei that structurally resemble massive globular clusters. We show that both these types of central massive objects (CMO's) define a single unbroken relation between CMO mass and the luminosity of their host galaxy spheroid. Equivalently, M_CMO is directly proportional to the host spheroid mass over 4 orders of magnitude. We note that this result has been simultaneously and independently identified by Cote et al. (2006), see also Ferrarese et al. (2006). We therefore suggest that the dE,N nuclei may be the low-mass analogs of supermassive black holes, and that these two types of CMO's may have both developed starting from similar initial formation processes. The overlap mass interval between the two types of CMO's is small, and suggests that for M_CMO > 10^7 M_sun, the formation of a black hole was strongly favored, perhaps because the initial gas infall to the center was too rapid and violent for star formation to occur efficiently.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to ApJ

Adherence to Nutrition and Physical Activity Cancer Prevention Guidelines and Development of Colorectal Adenoma.

Adherence to the American Cancer Society's (ACS) Nutrition and Physical Activity Cancer Prevention Guidelines is associated with reductions in overall cancer incidence and mortality, including site-specific cancers such as colorectal cancer. We examined the relationship between baseline adherence to the ACS guidelines and (1) baseline adenoma characteristics and (2) odds of recurrent colorectal adenomas over 3 years of follow-up. Cross-sectional and prospective analyses with a pooled sample of participants from the Wheat Bran Fiber (n = 503) and Ursodeoxycholic Acid (n = 854) trials were performed. A cumulative adherence score was constructed using baseline self-reported data regarding body size, diet, physical activity and alcohol consumption. Multivariable logistic regression demonstrated significantly reduced odds of having three or more adenomas at baseline for moderately adherent (odds ratio [OR] = 0.67, 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 0.46⁻0.99) and highly adherent (OR = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.31⁻0.81) participants compared to low adherers (p-trend = 0.005). Conversely, guideline adherence was not associated with development of recurrent colorectal adenoma (moderate adherence OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 0.85⁻1.59, high adherence OR = 1.23, 95% CI: 0.85⁻1.79)

When do children learn from unreliable speakers?

Children do not necessarily disbelieve a speaker with a history of inaccuracy; they take into account reasons for errors. Three- to 5 year-olds (N = 97) aimed to identify a hidden target in collaboration with a puppet. The puppet’s history of inaccuracy arose either from false beliefs, or occurred despite his being fully informed. On a subsequent test trial, children’s realistic expectation about the target was contradicted by the puppet who was fully informed. Children were more likely to revise their belief in line with the puppet’s assertion when his previous errors were due to false beliefs. Children who explained this puppet’s prior inaccuracy in terms of false belief were more likely to believe the puppet than those who did not. As children’s understanding of the mind advances, they increasingly balance the risk of learning falsehoods from unreliable speakers against that of rejecting truths from speakers who made excusable errors

The experience of accommodating privacy restrictions during implementation of a large-scale surveillance study of an osteoporosis medication.

PurposeTo explore whether privacy restrictions developed to protect patients have complicated research within a 15-year surveillance study conducted with US cancer registries.MethodsData from enrolling 27 cancer registries over a 10-year period were examined to describe the amount of time needed to obtain study approval. We also analyzed the proportion of patients that completed a research interview out of the total reported by the registries and examined factors thought to influence this measure.ResultsThe average length of the research review process from submission to approval of the research was 7 months (range, &lt;1 to 24 months), and it took 6 months or more to obtain approval of the research at 41% of the cancer registries. Most registries (78%) required additional permission steps to gain access to patients for research. After adjustment for covariates, the interview response proportion was 110% greater (ratio of response proportion = 2.1; 95% confidence interval: 1.3, 3.3) when the least restrictive versus the most restrictive permission steps were required. An interview was more often completed for patients (or proxies) if patients were alive, within a year of being diagnosed, or identified earlier in the study.ConclusionsLengthy research review processes increased the time between diagnosis and provision of patient information to the researcher. Requiring physician permission for access to patients was associated with lower subject participation. A single national point of entry for use of cancer registry data in health research is worthy of consideration to make the research approval process efficient. © 2016 The Authors. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety published by John Wiley &amp; Sons Ltd

Interpreting the seasonal cycles of atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations at American Samoa Observatory

We present seven years of atmospheric O2/N2 ratio and CO2 concentration data measured from flask samples collected at American Samoa. These data are unusual, exhibiting higher short-term variability, and seasonal cycles not in phase with other sampling stations. The unique nature of atmospheric data from Samoa has been noted previously from measurements of CO2, methyl chloroform, and ozone. With our O2 data, we observe greater magnitude in the short-term variability, but, in contrast, no clear seasonal pattern to this variability. This we attribute to significant regional sources and sinks existing for O2 in both hemispheres, and a dependence on both the latitudinal and altitudinal origins of air masses. We also hypothesize that some samples exhibit a component of "older" air, demonstrating recirculation of air within the tropics. Our findings could be used to help constrain atmospheric transport models which are not well characterized in tropical regions

Zooplankton and Micronekton in Cyclones and Anticyclones in the Northeast Gulf of Mexico

Two cruises were made to the northeast Gulf of Mexico in October 1996 and August 1997. The main objectives of the cruises were to survey cetacean and seabird populations and describe their hydrographic and biological environments. An additional objective was to characterize cetacean and seabird habitats in terms of food resources. During both cruises a cyclone and an anticyclone were sampled as well as the confluence region between them. Zooplankton and micronekton were sampled both directly with nets and indirectly with a 153-kHz acoustic Doppler current profiler. Within cruises, zooplankton and micronekton biomass was higher in cyclones than in anticyclones. Biomass within the confluence was either highest or intermediate for both cruises. Between cruises, within features, August 1997 biomass was significantly higher than October 1996 biomass

The Globular Cluster Systems around NGC 3311 and NGC 3309

We present extensive new photometry in (g',i') of the large globular cluster (GC) system around NGC 3311, the central cD galaxy in the Hydra cluster. Our GMOS data cover a 5.5' field of view and reach a limiting magnitude i' = 26, about 0.5 magnitude fainter than the turnover point of the GC luminosity function. We find that NGC 3311 has a huge population of ~16, 000 GCs, closely similar to the prototypical high specific frequency Virgo giant M87. The color-magnitude distribution shows that the metal-poor blue GC sequence and the metal-richer red sequence are both present, with nearly equal numbers of clusters. Bimodal fits to the color distributions confirm that the blue sequence shows the same trend of progressively increasing metallicity with GC mass that has previously been found in many other large galaxies; the correlation we find corresponds to a scaling of GC metallicity with mass of Z ~ M^0.6 . By contrast, the red sequence shows no change of mean metallicity with mass, but it shows an upward extension to much higher than normal luminosity into the UCD-like range, strengthening the potential connections between massive GCs and UCDs. The GC luminosity function, which we measure down to the turnover point at M_I = -8.4, also has a normal form like those in other giant ellipticals. Within the Hydra field, another giant elliptical NGC 3309 is sitting just 100" from the cD NGC 3311. We use our data to solve simultaneously for the spatial structure and total GC populations of both galaxies at once. Their specific frequencies are S_N (NGC 3311) = 12.5 +/- 1.5 and S_N (NGC 3309) = 0.6 +/-0.4. NGC 3311 is completely dominant and entirely comparable with other cD-type systems such as M87 in Virgo.Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures. Accepted to the Astrophysical Journal. Version with higher resolution figures is available at http://www.thewehners.net/astro/papers/wehner_n3311_highres.pd

Core Beliefs, Self-Perception, and Cognitive Organization in Depressed Adolescents

The relationships between cognitive products (e.g., self-perception) and cognitive structure (or organization) in clinically depressed adolescents and nonpsychiatric controls (average age = 14.68) were examined. Adolescents with major depressive disorder showed significantly higher scores than did controls on the Young Schema Questionnaire domains of Disconnection, Impaired Autonomy, and Impaired Limits. These individuals also demonstrated poorer self-concept than controls on scholastic abilities, social acceptance, athletic competence, physical appearance, job competence, behavioral conduct, and global self-worth, as well as perceptions of limited social networks. The organization of self-referent adjectives was more tightly interconnected for negative content and less interconnected for positive content in depressed adolescents than in nonpsychiatric controls. Specificity of cognitive organization to themes of interpersonal and achievement beliefs/self-perceptions was also found, particularly for positive content. Implications of the findings for the cognitive vulnerability model of depression and future directions are discussed