Herschel observations in the ultracompact HII region Mon R2: Water in dense photon-dominated regions (PDRs)

Context. Monoceros R2, at a distance of 830 pc, is the only ultracompact Hii region (UC H_(II)) where the photon-dominated region (PDR) between the ionized gas and the molecular cloud can be resolved with Herschel. Therefore, it is an excellent laboratory to study the chemistry in extreme PDRs (G_0 > 10^5 in units of Habing field, n > 10^6 cm^9−3)). Aims. Our ultimate goal is to probe the physical and chemical conditions in the PDR around the UC H_(II) Mon R2. Methods. HIFI observations of the abundant compounds ^(13)CO, C^(18)O, o-H_2^(18)O, HCO^+, CS, CH, and NH have been used to derive the physical and chemical conditions in the PDR, in particular the water abundance. The modeling of the lines has been done with the Meudon PDR code and the non-local radiative transfer model described by Cernicharo et al. Results. The ^(13)CO, C^(18)O, o-H^(18)_2O, HCO^+ and CS observations are well described assuming that the emission is coming from a dense (n = 5 × 10^6 cm^(−3), N(H_2) > 10^(22) cm^(−2)) layer of molecular gas around the H_(II) region. Based on our o-H^(18)_2O observations, we estimate an o-H_2O abundance of ≈2 × 10^(−8). This is the average ortho-water abundance in the PDR. Additional H^(18)_2O and/or water lines are required to derive the water abundance profile. A lower density envelope (n ~ 10^5 cm^(−3), N(H_2) = 2−5 × 10^(22) cm^(−2)) is responsible for the absorption in the NH 1_1 → 0_2 line. The emission of the CH ground state triplet is coming from both regions with a complex and self-absorbed profile in the main component. The radiative transfer modeling shows that the ^(13)CO and HCO^+ line profiles are consistent with an expansion of the molecular gas with a velocity law, v_e = 0.5 × (r/R_(out))^(−1) km s^(−1), although the expansion velocity is poorly constrained by the observations presented here. Conclusions. We determine an ortho-water abundance of ≈2 × 10^(−8) in Mon R2. Because shocks are unimportant in this region and our estimate is based on H^(18)_2O observations that avoids opacity problems, this is probably the most accurate estimate of the water abundance in PDRs thus far

Packing defects and the width of biopolymer bundles

The formation of bundles composed of actin filaments and cross-linking proteins is an essential process in the maintenance of the cells' cytoskeleton. It has also been recreated by in-vitro experiments, where actin networks are routinely produced to mimic and study the cellular structures. It has long been observed that these bundles seem to have a well defined width distribution, which has not been adequately described theoretically. We propose here that packing defects of the filaments, quenched and random, contribute an effective repulsion that counters the cross-linking adhesion energy and leads to a well defined bundle width. This is a two-dimensional strain-field version of the classic Rayleigh instability of charged droplets

A 100 pc Elliptical and Twisted Ring of Cold and Dense Molecular Clouds Revealed by Herschel Around the Galactic Center

Thermal images of cold dust in the Central Molecular Zone of the Milky Way, obtained with the far-infrared cameras on board the Herschel satellite, reveal a ~3 × 10^7 M_☉ ring of dense and cold clouds orbiting the Galactic center. Using a simple toy model, an elliptical shape having semi-major axes of 100 and 60 pc is deduced. The major axis of this 100 pc ring is inclined by about 40° with respect to the plane of the sky and is oriented perpendicular to the major axes of the Galactic Bar. The 100 pc ring appears to trace the system of stable x_2 orbits predicted for the barred Galactic potential. Sgr A⋆ is displaced with respect to the geometrical center of symmetry of the ring. The ring is twisted and its morphology suggests a flattening ratio of 2 for the Galactic potential, which is in good agreement with the bulge flattening ratio derived from the 2MASS data

Gas morphology and energetics at the surface of PDRs: New insights with Herschel observations of NGC 7023

Context. We investigate the physics and chemistry of the gas and dust in dense photon-dominated regions (PDRs), along with their dependence on the illuminating UV field. Aims. Using Herschel/HIFI observations, we study the gas energetics in NGC 7023 in relation to the morphology of this nebula. NGC 7023 is the prototype of a PDR illuminated by a B2V star and is one of the key targets of Herschel. Methods. Our approach consists in determining the energetics of the region by combining the information carried by the mid-IR spectrum (extinction by classical grains, emission from very small dust particles) with that of the main gas coolant lines. In this letter, we discuss more specifically the intensity and line profile of the 158 μm (1901 GHz) [C ii] line measured by HIFI and provide information on the emitting gas. Results. We show that both the [C ii] emission and the mid-IR emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) arise from the regions located in the transition zone between atomic and molecular gas. Using the Meudon PDR code and a simple transfer model, we find good agreement between the calculated and observed [C ii] intensities. Conclusions. HIFI observations of NGC 7023 provide the opportunity to constrain the energetics at the surface of PDRs. Future work will include analysis of the main coolant line [O i] and use of a new PDR model that includes PAH-related species

Effectiveness of the ADEC as a level 2 screening test for young children with suspected autism spectrum disorders in a clinical setting

Background The Autism Detection in Early Childhood (ADEC) is a clinician-administered, Level 2 screening tool. A retrospective file audit was used to investigate its clinical effectiveness. Method Toddlers referred to an Australian child development service between 2008 and 2010 (N?=?53, M age?=?32.2 months) were screened with the ADEC. Their medical records were reviewed in 2013 when their mean age was 74.5 months, and the original ADEC screening results were compared with later diagnostic outcomes. Results The ADEC had good sensitivity (87.5%) and moderate specificity (62%). Three behaviours predicted autism spectrum disorders (ASDs): response to name, gaze switching, and gaze monitoring (p???.001). Conclusions The ADEC shows promise as a screening tool that can discriminate between young children with ASDs and those who have specific communication disorders or developmental delays that persist into middle childhood but who do not meet the criteria for ASDs

A new chiral electro-optic effect: Sum-frequency generation from optically active liquids in the presence of a dc electric field

We report the observation of sum-frequency signals that depend linearly on an applied electrostatic field and that change sign with the handedness of an optically active solution. This recently predicted chiral electro-optic effect exists in the electric-dipole approximation. The static electric field gives rise to an electric-field-induced sum-frequency signal (an achiral third-order process) that interferes with the chirality-specific sum-frequency at second-order. The cross-terms linear in the electrostatic field constitute the effect and may be used to determine the absolute sign of second- and third-order nonlinear optical susceptibilities in isotropic media.Comment: Submitted to Physical Revie

Stratified shear flow instabilities at large Richardson numbers

Numerical simulations of stratified shear flow instabilities are performed in two dimensions in the Boussinesq limit. The density variation length scale is chosen to be four times smaller than the velocity variation length scale so that Holmboe or Kelvin-Helmholtz unstable modes are present depending on the choice of the global Richardson number Ri. Three different values of Ri were examined Ri =0.2, 2, 20. The flows for the three examined values are all unstable due to different modes namely: the Kelvin-Helmholtz mode for Ri=0.2, the first Holmboe mode for Ri=2, and the second Holmboe mode for Ri=20 that has been discovered recently and it is the first time that it is examined in the non-linear stage. It is found that the amplitude of the velocity perturbation of the second Holmboe mode at the non-linear stage is smaller but comparable to first Holmboe mode. The increase of the potential energy however due to the second Holmboe modes is greater than that of the first mode. The Kelvin-Helmholtz mode is larger by two orders of magnitude in kinetic energy than the Holmboe modes and about ten times larger in potential energy than the Holmboe modes. The results in this paper suggest that although mixing is suppressed at large Richardson numbers it is not negligible, and turbulent mixing processes in strongly stratified environments can not be excluded.Comment: Submitted to Physics of Fluid

The methanol lines and hot core of OMC2-FIR4, an intermediate-mass protostar, with Herschel/HIFI

In contrast with numerous studies on the physical and chemical structure of low- and high-mass protostars, much less is known about their intermediate-mass counterparts, a class of objects that could help to elucidate the mechanisms of star formation on both ends of the mass range. We present the first results from a rich HIFI spectral dataset on an intermediate-mass protostar, OMC2-FIR4, obtained in the CHESS (Chemical HErschel Survey of Star forming regions) key programme. The more than 100 methanol lines detected between 554 and 961 GHz cover a range in upper level energy of 40 to 540 K. Our physical interpretation focusses on the hot core, but likely the cold envelope and shocked regions also play a role in reality, because an analysis of the line profiles suggests the presence of multiple emission components. An upper limit of 10^(-6) is placed on the methanol abundance in the hot core, using a population diagram, large-scale source model and other considerations. This value is consistent with abundances previously seen in low-mass hot cores. Furthermore, the highest energy lines at the highest frequencies display asymmetric profiles, which may arise from infall around the hot core