Toward an understanding of risk factors for binge-eating disorder in black and white women: A community-based case-control study

This study sought to identify in white women risk factors specific to binge-eating disorder (BED) and for psychiatric disorders in general, and to compare black and white women on risk factors for BED.

Circumstellar Structure around Evolved Stars in the Cygnus-X Star Formation Region

We present observations of newly discovered 24 micron circumstellar structures detected with the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) around three evolved stars in the Cygnus-X star forming region. One of the objects, BD+43 3710, has a bipolar nebula, possibly due to an outflow or a torus of material. A second, HBHA 4202-22, a Wolf-Rayet candidate, shows a circular shell of 24 micron emission suggestive of either a limb-brightened shell or disk seen face-on. No diffuse emission was detected around either of these two objects in the Spitzer 3.6-8 micron Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) bands. The third object is the luminous blue variable candidate G79.29+0.46. We resolved the previously known inner ring in all four IRAC bands. The 24 micron emission from the inner ring extends ~1.2 arcmin beyond the shorter wavelength emission, well beyond what can be attributed to the difference in resolutions between MIPS and IRAC. Additionally, we have discovered an outer ring of 24 micron emission, possibly due to an earlier episode of mass loss. For the two shell stars, we present the results of radiative transfer models, constraining the stellar and dust shell parameters. The shells are composed of amorphous carbon grains, plus polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the case of G79.29+0.46. Both G79.29+0.46 and HBHA 4202-22 lie behind the main Cygnus-X cloud. Although G79.29+0.46 may simply be on the far side of the cloud, HBHA 4202-22 is unrelated to the Cygnus-X star formation region.Comment: Accepted by A

A Post-AGB Star in the Small Magellanic Cloud Observed with the Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph

We have observed an evolved star with a rare combination of spectral features, MSX SMC 029, in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) using the low-resolution modules of the Infrared Spectrograph on the Spitzer Space Telescope. A cool dust continuum dominates the spectrum of MSX SMC 029. The spectrum also shows both emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and absorption at 13.7 micron from C2H2, a juxtaposition seen in only two other sources, AFGL 2688 and IRAS 13416-6243, both post-asymptotic giant branch (AGB) objects. As in these sources, the PAH spectrum has the unusual trait that the peak emission in the 7-9 micron complex lies beyond 8.0 micron. In addition, the 8.6 micron feature has an intensity as strong as the C-C modes which normally peak between 7.7 and 7.9 micron. The relative flux of the feature at 11.3 micron to that at 8 micron suggests that the PAHs in MSX SMC 029 either have a low ionization fraction or are largely unprocessed. The 13-16 micron wavelength region shows strong absorption features similar to those observed in the post-AGB objects AFGL 618 and SMP LMC 11. This broad absorption may arise from the same molecules which have been identified in those sources: C2H2, C4H2, HC3N, and C6H6. The similarities between MSX SMC 029, AFGL 2688, and AFGL 618 lead us to conclude that MSX SMC 029 has evolved off the AGB in only the past few hundred years, making it the third post-AGB object identified in the SMC.Comment: 4 figures, Fig. 4 color; to appear in the 20 November 2006 Astrophysical Journal Letter

R CrB Candidates in the Small Magellanic Cloud: Observations of Cold, Featureless Dust with the Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph

We observed 36 evolved stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) using the low-resolution mode of the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) on the Spitzer Space Telescope. Two of these stars, MSX SMC 014 and 155, have nearly featureless spectral energy distributions over the IRS wavelength range (5.2-35 um) and F_nu peaking at ~8-9 um. The data can be fit by sets of amorphous carbon shells or by single 600-700 K blackbodies. The most similar spectra found in extant spectral databases are of R CrB, although the spectral structure seen in R CrB and similar stars is much weaker or absent in the SMC sources. Both SMC stars show variability in the near-infrared. Ground-based visual spectra confirm that MSX SMC 155 is carbon-rich, as expected for R CrB (RCB) stars, and coincides with an object previously identified as an RCB candidate. The temperature of the underlying star is lower for MSX SMC 155 than for typical RCB stars. The strength of the C_2 Swan bands and the low temperature suggest that it may be a rare DY Per-type star, only the fifth such identified. MSX SMC 014 represents a new RCB candidate in the SMC, bringing the number of RCB candidates in the SMC to six. It is the first RCB candidate discovered with Spitzer and the first identified by its infrared spectral characteristics rather than its visual variability.Comment: Accepted by ApJ Letters 25 August, 2005, 4 pages (emulateapj), 5 figure

SMC-Last Extracted Photometry

We present point-source photometry from the Spitzer Space Telescope's final survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). We mapped nearly 30 deg2 in two epochs in 2017, with the second extending to early 2018 at 3.6 and 4.5 μm using the Infrared Array Camera. This survey duplicates the footprint from the SAGE-SMC program in 2008. Together, these surveys cover a nearly 10 yr temporal baseline in the SMC. We performed aperture photometry on the mosaicked maps produced from the new data. We did not use any prior catalogs as inputs for the extractor in order to be sensitive to any moving objects (e.g., foreground brown dwarfs) and other transient phenomena (e.g., cataclysmic variables or FU Ori–type eruptions). We produced a point-source catalog with high-confidence sources for each epoch as well as a combined-epoch catalog. For each epoch and the combined-epoch data, we also produced a more complete archive with lower-confidence sources. All of these data products will be made available to the community at the Infrared Science Archive

Classification of 2.4-45.2 Micron Spectra from the ISO Short Wavelength Spectrometer

The Infrared Space Observatory observed over 900 objects with the Short Wavelength Spectrometer in full-grating-scan mode (2.4-45.2 micron). We have developed a comprehensive system of spectral classification using these data. Sources are assigned to groups based on the overall shape of the spectral energy distribution (SED). The groups include naked stars, dusty stars, warm dust shells, cool dust shells, very red sources, and sources with emission lines but no detected continuum. These groups are further divided into subgroups based on spectral features that shape the SED such as silicate or carbon-rich dust emission, silicate absorption, ice absorption, and fine-structure or recombination lines. Caveats regarding the data and data reduction, and biases intrinsic to the database, are discussed. We also examine how the subgroups relate to the evolution of sources to and from the main sequence and how this classification scheme relates to previous systems.Comment: 91 pages (40 for Table 6), 6 figures, accepted by ApJS. Figures 1-5 have degraded resolution due to astro-ph size limits. For full-resolution figures see: http://isc.astro.cornell.edu/~sloan/library/swsclass.html and for the classification table (Table 6) in ASCII format, see: http://isc.astro.cornell.edu/~sloan/library/cat.htm

Conduct disorder in girls: neighborhoods, family characteristics, and parenting behaviors

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Little is known about the social context of girls with conduct disorder (CD), a question of increasing importance to clinicians and researchers. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between three social context domains (neighborhood, family characteristics, and parenting behaviors) and CD in adolescent girls, additionally testing for race moderation effects. We predicted that disadvantaged neighborhoods, family characteristics such as parental marital status, and parenting behaviors such as negative discipline would characterize girls with CD. We also hypothesized that parenting behaviors would mediate the associations between neighborhood and family characteristics and CD.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We recruited 93 15–17 year-old girls from the community and used a structured psychiatric interview to assign participants to a CD group (n = 52) or a demographically matched group with no psychiatric disorder (n = 41). Each girl and parent also filled out questionnaires about neighborhood, family characteristics, and parenting behaviors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Neighborhood quality was not associated with CD in girls. Some family characteristics (parental antisociality) and parenting behaviors (levels of family activities and negative discipline) were characteristic of girls with CD, but notll. There was no moderation by race. Our hypothesis that the association between family characteristics and CD would be mediated by parenting behaviors was not supported.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study expanded upon previous research by investigating multiple social context domains in girls with CD and by selecting a comparison group who were not different in age, social class, or race. When these factors are thus controlled, CD in adolescent girls is not significantly associated with neighborhood, but is associated with some family characteristics and some types of parental behaviors. However, the mechanisms underlying these relationships need to be further investigated. We discuss possible explanations for our findings and suggest directions for future research.</p