Experimental investigation of the performance of various wick configurations in single and two fluid heat pipes operating in the gravitational field

Performance of various wick configurations in single and two-fluid heat pipes operating as thermoregulatory system for space suit

The Luminosity Function of Galaxies in Compact Groups

From R-band images of 39 Hickson compact groups (HCGs), we use galaxy counts to determine a luminosity function extending to M_R=-14.0, approximately two magnitudes deeper than previous compact group luminosity functions. We find that a single Schechter function is a poor fit to the data, so we fit a composite function consisting of separate Schechter functions for the bright and faint galaxies. The bright end is best fit with M^*=-21.6 and alpha=-0.52 and the faint end with M^*=-16.1 and alpha=-1.17. The decreasing bright end slope implies a deficit of intermediate luminosity galaxies in our sample of HCGs and the faint end slope is slightly steeper than that reported for earlier HCG luminosity functions. Furthermore, luminosity functions of subsets of our sample reveal more substantial dwarf populations for groups with x-ray halos, groups with tidal dwarf candidates, and groups with a dominant elliptical or lenticular galaxy. Collectively, these results support the hypothesis that within compact groups, the initial dwarf galaxy population is replenished by "subsequent generations" formed in the tidal debris of giant galaxy interactions.Comment: 26 pages, to be published in The Astrophysical Journal, 8 greyscale plates (figures 1 and 2) can be retrieved at http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/sdh/pubs.htm

Physician Care Patterns and Adherence to Postpartum Glucose Testing after Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in Oregon

Objective: This study examines obstetrician/gynecologists and family medicine physicians' reported care patterns, attitudes and beliefs and predictors of adherence to postpartum testing in women with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus. Research Design and Methods: In November-December 2005, a mailed survey went to a random, cross-sectional sample of 683 Oregon licensed physicians in obstetrician/gynecologists and family medicine from a population of 2171. Results: Routine postpartum glucose tolerance testing by both family physicians (19.3%) and obstetrician/gynecologists physicians (35.3%) was reportedly low among the 285 respondents (42% response rate). Factors associated with high adherence to postpartum testing included physician stated priority (OR 4.39, 95% CI: 1.69-7.94) and physician beliefs about norms or typical testing practices (OR 3.66, 95% CI: 1.65-11.69). Specialty, sex of physician, years of practice, location, type of practice, other attitudes and beliefs were not associated with postpartum glucose tolerance testing. Conclusions: Postpartum glucose tolerance testing following a gestational diabetes mellitus pregnancy was not routinely practiced by responders to this survey. Our findings indicate that physician knowledge, attitudes and beliefs may in part explain suboptimal postpartum testing. Although guidelines for postpartum care are established, some physicians do not prioritize these guidelines in practice and do not believe postpartum testing is the norm among their peers

Identifying Old Tidal Dwarf Irregulars

We examine the observational consequences of the two possible origins for irregular galaxies: formation from collapse of a primordial cloud of gas early in the age of the Universe, and formation from tidal tails in an interaction that could have occured any time in the history of the Universe. Because the formation from tidal tails could have occurred a long time ago, proximity to larger galaxies is not sufficient to distinguish tidal dwarfs from traditional dwarfs. We consider the effects of little or no dark matter on rotation speeds and the Tully-Fisher relationship, the metallicity-luminosity relationship, structure, and stellar populations. From these selection criteria, we identify a small list of dwarf irregular galaxies that are candidates for having formed as tidal dwarfs.Comment: ApJ, to appear September 20, 200

Relationship between perception of emotional home atmosphere and fruit and vegetable consumption in European adolescents: Results from the I.Family survey

Objective: Consumption of fruits and vegetables (F&V) among adolescents falls below recommendations in many Western countries. The impact of social and emotional aspects of family life on adolescent dietary behaviour may contribute to this, yet remains under-investigated. The present study examines the association between adolescents'' perceptions of emotional home atmosphere (EHA) and their F&V consumption frequency. Design: An FFQ was used to assess F&V consumption frequency. EHA was assessed by an eight-item measure with three subscales: Perceived home warmth, strictness and relational tension. EHA subscales were used as binary variables: A score equal to or above the median value was considered as a higher perception, while a score below the median was considered as a lower perception of the EHA in question. Country differences in meeting the European 5-a-day recommendations were described. Further, the association between EHA and F&V consumption frequency was investigated using multiple linear regression. Setting: Regional examination centres in eight European countries. Participants: Adolescents (n 3196) aged 12-18 years. Results: The mean F&V consumption frequency was 3·27 (sd 2·84) times/d. Only 16·1 % of boys and 18 % of girls in our study sample met the recommendation of five F&V daily. After controlling for age, sex, education level of the parents and country of origin, perceived home warmth was associated with a 16 (95 % CI 9, 22) % higher F&V consumption frequency (P < 0·001). Conclusions: F&V consumption frequency was suboptimal in the survey areas. Interventions targeting perceived warmth as a component of EHA could potentially have a positive effect on adolescents'' dietary behaviour

High-intensity activity is more strongly associated with metabolic health in children compared to sedentary time: a cross-sectional study of the I.Family cohort

Background: Physical activity (PA) during childhood is important for preventing future metabolic syndrome (MetS). To examine the relationship between PA and MetS in more detail, accurate measures of PA are needed. Previous studies have only utilized a small part of the information available from accelerometer measured PA. This study investigated the association between measured PA and MetS in children with a new method for data processing and analyses that enable more detailed interpretation of PA intensity level. Methods: The association between PA pattern and risk factors related to MetS was investigated in a cross- sectional sample of children (n = 2592, mean age 10.9 years, 49.4% male) participating in the European multicenter I. Family study. The risk factors examined include body mass index, blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, insulin resistance and a combined risk factor score (MetS score). PA was measured by triaxial accelerometers and raw data was processed using the 10 Hz frequency extended method (FEM). The PA output was divided into an intensity spectrum and the association with MetS risk factors was analyzed by partial least squares regression. Results: PA patterns differed between the European countries investigated, with Swedish children being most active and Italian children least active. Moderate intensity physical activity was associated with lower insulin resistance (R2 = 2.8%), while vigorous intensity physical activity was associated with lower body mass index (R2 = 3.6%), MetS score (R2 = 3.1%) and higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (R2 = 2.3%). PA of all intensities was associated with lower systolic- and diastolic blood pressure, although the associations were weaker than for the other risk factors (R2 = 1.5% and R2 = 1.4%). However, the multivariate analysis implies that the entire PA pattern must be considered. The main difference in PA was observed between normal weight and overweight children. Conclusions: The present study suggests a greater importance of more PA corresponding to an intensity of at least brisk walking with inclusion of high-intense exercise, rather than a limited time spent sedentary, in the association to metabolic health in children. The methods of data processing and statistical analysis enabled accurate analysis and interpretation of the health benefits of high intensity PA that have not been shown previously. © 2021, The Author(s)

Dwarf galaxies in Hickson Compact Groups

We observed 5 Hickson Compact Groups with the ESO/MPI 2.2m telescope and WFI to investigate the dwarf galaxy content and distribution in these galaxy groups. Our deep imaging and careful selection of the candidate galaxies revealed a rich population of mainly passively evolving dwarf galaxies, which is spatially much more extended than the originally defined Hickson Compact groups. The composite luminosity function of the 5 groups shows a bimodal structure with a very steep rise in the low luminosity regime. The faint end slope is close to the predictions of CDM theory for the slope of the Dark Matter halo mass function.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the ESO Astrophysics Symposium: "Groups of Galaxies in the Nearby Universe", eds. I. Saviane, V. Ivanov, J. Borissova, Springer-Verla

Integrating place-specific livelihood and equity outcomes into global assessments of bioenergy deployment

__Abstract__ Integrated assessment models suggest that the large-scale deployment of bioenergy could contribute to ambitious climate change mitigation efforts. However, such a shift would intensify the global competition for land, with possible consequences for 1.5 billion smallholder livelihoods that these models do not consider. Maintaining and enhancing robust livelihoods upon bioenergy deployment is an equally important sustainability goal that warrants greater attention. The social implications of biofuel production are complex, varied and place-specific, difficult to model, operationalize and quantify. However, a rapidly developing body of social science literature is advancing the understanding of these interactions. In this letter we link human geography research on the interaction between biofuel crops and livelihoods in developing countries to integrated assessments on biofuels. We review case-study research focused on first-generation biofuel crops to demonstrate that food, income, land and other assets such as health are key livelihood dimensions that can be impacted by such crops and we highlight how place-specific and global dynamics influence both aggregate and distributional outcomes across these livelihood dimensions. We argue that place-specific production models and land tenure regimes mediate livelihood outcomes, which are also in turn affected by global and regional markets and their resulting equilibrium dynamics. The place-specific perspective suggests that distributional consequences are a crucial complement to aggregate outcomes; this has not been given enough weight in comprehensive assessments to date. By narrowing the gap between place-specific case studies and global models, our discussion offers a route towards integrating livelihood and equity considerations into scenarios of future bioenergy deployment, thus contributing to a key challenge in sustainability sciences

The First Swift Ultra-Violet/Optical Telescope GRB Afterglow Catalog

We present the first Swift Ultra-Violet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow catalog. The catalog contains data from over 64,000 independent UVOT image observations of 229 GRBs first detected by Swift, the High Energy Transient Explorer 2 (HETE2), the INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL), and the Interplanetary Network (IPN). The catalog covers GRBs occurring during the period from 2005 Jan 17 to 2007 Jun 16 and includes ~86% of the bursts detected by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT). The catalog provides detailed burst positional, temporal, and photometric information extracted from each of the UVOT images. Positions for bursts detected at the 3-sigma-level are provided with a nominal accuracy, relative to the USNO-B1 catalog, of ~0.25 arcseconds. Photometry for each burst is given in three UV bands, three optical bands, and a 'white' or open filter. Upper limits for magnitudes are reported for sources detected below 3-sigma. General properties of the burst sample and light curves, including the filter-dependent temporal slopes, are also provided. The majority of the UVOT light curves, for bursts detected at the 3-sigma-level, can be fit by a single power-law, with a median temporal slope (alpha) of 0.96, beginning several hundred seconds after the burst trigger and ending at ~1x10^5 s. The median UVOT v-band (~5500 Angstroms) magnitude at 2000 s for a sample of "well" detected bursts is 18.02. The UVOT flux interpolated to 2000 s after the burst, shows relatively strong correlations with both the prompt Swift BAT fluence, and the Swift X-ray flux at 11 hours after the trigger.Comment: 60 pages, 17 figures, 8 tables, accepted for publication by the Astrophysical Journa

Ultraviolet, Optical, and X-Ray Observations of the Type Ia Supernova 2005am with Swift

We present ultraviolet and optical light curves in six broadband filters and grism spectra obtained by Swift's Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope for the Type Ia supernova SN2005am. The data were collected beginning about four days before the B-band maximum, with excellent coverage of the rapid decline phase and later observations extending out to 69 days after the peak. The optical and near UV light curve match well those of SN1992A. The other UV observations constitute the first set of light curves shorter than 2500 Angstroms and allow us to compare the light curve evolution in three UV bands. The UV behavior of this and other low redshift supernovae can be used to constrain theories of progenitor evolution or to interpret optical light curves of high redshift supernovae. Using Swift's X-Ray Telescope, we also report the upper limit to SN2005am's X-ray luminosity to be 1.77 x 10^40 erg s^-1 in the 0.3--10 keV range from 58,117 s of exposure time.Comment: 15 pages, including 3 figures and 2 tables, submitted to Astrophysical Journa