On mesogranulation, network formation and supergranulation

We present arguments which show that in all likelihood mesogranulation is not a true scale of solar convection but the combination of the effects of both highly energetic granules, which give birth to strong positive divergences (SPDs) among which we find exploders, and averaging effects of data processing. The important role played by SPDs in horizontal velocity fields appears in the spectra of these fields where the scale $\sim$4 Mm is most energetic; we illustrate the effect of averaging with a one-dimensional toy model which shows how two independent non-moving (but evolving) structures can be transformed into a single moving structure when time and space resolution are degraded. The role of SPDs in the formation of the photospheric network is shown by computing the advection of floating corks by the granular flow. The coincidence of the network bright points distribution and that of the corks is remarkable. We conclude with the possibility that supergranulation is not a proper scale of convection but the result of a large-scale instability of the granular flow, which manifests itself through a correlation of the flows generated by SPDs.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, to appear in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Qualitative focus group study investigating experiences of accessing and engaging with social care services: perspectives of carers from diverse ethnic groups caring for stroke survivors

OBJECTIVES: Informal carers, often family members, play a vital role in supporting stroke survivors with post-stroke disability. As populations age, numbers of carers overall and those from minority ethnic groups in particular, are rising. Carers from all ethnic groups, but especially those from black and minority ethnic groups frequently fail to access support services, making understanding their experiences important. The study therefore explored the experiences of carers of stroke survivors aged 45+ years from 5 ethnic groups in accessing and receiving social care services after hospital discharge. DESIGN: This qualitative study used 7 recorded focus groups with informal carers of stroke survivors. Data were analysed thematically focusing on similarities and differences between ethnic groups. SETTING: Carers were recruited from voluntary sector organisations supporting carers, stroke survivors and black and minority ethnic groups in the UK. PARTICIPANTS: 41 carers from 5 ethnic groups (Asian Indian, Asian Pakistani, black African, black Caribbean, white British) participated in the focus groups. RESULTS: Several interconnected themes were identified including: the service gap between hospital discharge and home; carers as the best person to care and cultural aspects of caring and using services. Many themes were common to all the included ethnic groups but some related to specific groups. CONCLUSIONS: Across ethnic groups there were many similarities in the experiences of people caring for stroke survivors with complex, long-term care needs. Accessing services demands effort and persistence on carers' part. If carers believe services are unsatisfactory or that they, rather than formal services, should be providing support for stroke survivors, they are unlikely to persist in their efforts. Cultural and language differences add to the challenges black and minority ethnic group carers face

The effects of pre-retirement factors and retirement route on circumstances in retirement: findings from the Whitehall II study

Retirement has traditionally been seen as the beginning of old age. It has been depicted as mandatory expulsion from the workforce and seen to mark the transition to a period of ill health and poverty. Such ideas and associations are however being challenged in the developed world by socio-demographic changes in retirement and old age. People in the United Kingdom as elsewhere are living longer and healthier lives, and many older people have access to non-state incomes that afford them a reasonable standard of living in retirement. There is however still concern that inequalities persist into old age. Data from two waves of the British Whitehall II study have been used to assess the relative effects of occupational grade, psychological and general health during working life, and retirement patterns or pathways on activities, attitudes to health and income in retirement. The results show that the majority of the sample reported good health, financial security and overall satisfaction with life, but with observable inequalities. Regression analyses demonstrate that pre-retirement circumstances generally had a greater effect on later life than the retirement route or pathway. Retirement no longer represents a drastic break between working and post-work life but rather, the results suggest, there are continuities between the two periods. It is concluded that the main causes of inequalities in retirement are work-based rather than in retirement itself

Micromamíferos vallesienses del yacimiento La Salle en las Arcillas Rojas de Teruel

El hallazgo de unos restos de micromamiferos en las proximidades del Colegio La Salle de Teruel permite datar la formación de las arcillas rojas conocida con 10s nombres de "Los Monotos", "Formación de Los Tejares" y "Pera1 Formation". La ausencia casi total de fósiles ha hecho que la edad de esa formación fuera largamente discutida. Los fósiles recientemente encontrados permiten atribuirle una edad vallesiense (MN 10 basal). La fauna recogida comprende: Galerix (Parasorex) socialis, Crusafontina excultus, Hispanomys peralensis, Progonomys hispanicus, P. cathalai y Prolagus crusafonti, que se Gade a la de Tetralophodon longirostris, e Hippmion sp

Estimation of solar prominence magnetic fields based on the reconstructed 3D trajectories of prominence knots

We present an estimation of the lower limits of local magnetic fields in quiescent, activated, and active (surges) promineces, based on reconstructed 3-dimensional (3D) trajectories of individual prominence knots. The 3D trajectories, velocities, tangential and centripetal accelerations of the knots were reconstructed using observational data collected with a single ground-based telescope equipped with a Multi-channel Subtractive Double Pass imaging spectrograph. Lower limits of magnetic fields channeling observed plasma flows were estimated under assumption of the equipartition principle. Assuming approximate electron densities of the plasma n_e = 5*10^{11} cm^{-3} in surges and n_e = 5*10^{10} cm^{-3} in quiescent/activated prominences, we found that the magnetic fields channeling two observed surges range from 16 to 40 Gauss, while in quiescent and activated prominences they were less than 10 Gauss. Our results are consistent with previous detections of weak local magnetic fields in the solar prominences.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, 1 tabl

On the existence of oscillations in solar filaments observed in H alpha and C IV lines

Time sequence observations of filaments in both the H alpha line and the 1548 A C IV line were analyzed with the Fourier transform technique in the frequency range (1 - 10 mHz). No oscillation is detected in filaments except at the footpoints where a steady velocity gradient is large. The energy is probably due to convective motions rather than pressure oscillations

The Cristo Rei section (Lower Miocene). Distal fluviatile environments in a marine series, plants, vertebrates and other evidence, age

The section at Cristo Rei shows sandy beds with intercalated clayey lenses (IVb division from the Lisbon Miocene series) that correspond to a major regression event dated from between ca. 17.6 and 17 Ma. They also correspond to a distal position (relatively to the typical fluviatile facies in Lisbon), nearer the basin's axis. Geologic data and paleontological analysis (plant fossils, fishes, crocodilians, land mammals) allow the reconstruction of environments that were represented in the concerned area: estuary with channels and ox-bows; upstream, areas occupied by brackish waters where Gryphaea griphoides banks developped; still farther upstream, freshwaters sided by humid forests and low mountain subtropical forests under warm temperate and rainy conditions, as well as not far away, seasonally dry environments (low density tree or shrub cover, or steppe)