SS Cancri: the shortest modulation-period Blazhko RR Lyrae

In order to study the Blazhko effect, we characterise the modulation of the RR Lyrae star SS Cancri, which has been reported to have the shortest modulation Blazhko period. B, V and R band data have been acquired. The pulsation period is 0.36731 +- 0.00004 d. No significant change in the period over the last 80 years is observed. We measure a periodic variation in the light curve maxima, which has a period of 5.313 +- 0.018 d and an amplitude of 0.016 +- 0.003 mag. The best model that describes the Blazhko effect is the resonance coupling between a low and a high order radial mode

Modeling the Subsurface Structure of Sunspots

While sunspots are easily observed at the solar surface, determining their subsurface structure is not trivial. There are two main hypotheses for the subsurface structure of sunspots: the monolithic model and the cluster model. Local helioseismology is the only means by which we can investigate subphotospheric structure. However, as current linear inversion techniques do not yet allow helioseismology to probe the internal structure with sufficient confidence to distinguish between the monolith and cluster models, the development of physically realistic sunspot models are a priority for helioseismologists. This is because they are not only important indicators of the variety of physical effects that may influence helioseismic inferences in active regions, but they also enable detailed assessments of the validity of helioseismic interpretations through numerical forward modeling. In this paper, we provide a critical review of the existing sunspot models and an overview of numerical methods employed to model wave propagation through model sunspots. We then carry out an helioseismic analysis of the sunspot in Active Region 9787 and address the serious inconsistencies uncovered by \citeauthor{gizonetal2009}~(\citeyear{gizonetal2009,gizonetal2009a}). We find that this sunspot is most probably associated with a shallow, positive wave-speed perturbation (unlike the traditional two-layer model) and that travel-time measurements are consistent with a horizontal outflow in the surrounding moat.Comment: 73 pages, 19 figures, accepted by Solar Physic

False Beliefs About Asylum Seekers to Australia: The Role of Confidence in Such Beliefs, Prejudice, and the Third Person Effect

There has been much controversy about the treatment of asylum seekers in Australia in recent years, with the Australian Government continuing to enforce a very hard-line stance on asylum seekers who arrive to Australia by boat. The present study examined attitudes towards asylum seekers using 164 Australian community members during June 2015 by way of questionnaire. Our primary research question involved how five variables predicted false beliefs about asylum seekers. Specifically, we measured prejudice, the third-person effect, and confidence in the answers given to false beliefs about asylum seekers. Regression results indicated that the main predictors of false beliefs were right-wing political orientation, prejudice, confidence in espousing false beliefs, and the third-person effect (politicians). Furthermore, most of our community participants accepted a large number of false beliefs as being true, with approximately two-thirds of our participants scoring above the midpoint. This reflects similar findings over the last decade or so. Our results indicate that, if one believes in bottom-up change, a more nuanced approach needs to be undertaken with community anti-prejudice interventions

Mapping of variations in child stunting, wasting and underweight within the states of India: the Global Burden of Disease Study 2000–2017

Background To inform actions at the district level under the National Nutrition Mission (NNM), we assessed the prevalence trends of child growth failure (CGF) indicators for all districts in India and inequality between districts within the states. Methods We assessed the trends of CGF indicators (stunting, wasting and underweight) from 2000 to 2017 across the districts of India, aggregated from 5 × 5 km grid estimates, using all accessible data from various surveys with subnational geographical information. The states were categorised into three groups using their Socio-demographic Index (SDI) levels calculated as part of the Global Burden of Disease Study based on per capita income, mean education and fertility rate in women younger than 25 years. Inequality between districts within the states was assessed using coefficient of variation (CV). We projected the prevalence of CGF indicators for the districts up to 2030 based on the trends from 2000 to 2017 to compare with the NNM 2022 targets for stunting and underweight, and the WHO/UNICEF 2030 targets for stunting and wasting. We assessed Pearson correlation coefficient between two major national surveys for district-level estimates of CGF indicators in the states. Findings The prevalence of stunting ranged 3.8-fold from 16.4% (95% UI 15.2–17.8) to 62.8% (95% UI 61.5–64.0) among the 723 districts of India in 2017, wasting ranged 5.4-fold from 5.5% (95% UI 5.1–6.1) to 30.0% (95% UI 28.2–31.8), and underweight ranged 4.6-fold from 11.0% (95% UI 10.5–11.9) to 51.0% (95% UI 49.9–52.1). 36.1% of the districts in India had stunting prevalence 40% or more, with 67.0% districts in the low SDI states group and only 1.1% districts in the high SDI states with this level of stunting. The prevalence of stunting declined significantly from 2010 to 2017 in 98.5% of the districts with a maximum decline of 41.2% (95% UI 40.3–42.5), wasting in 61.3% with a maximum decline of 44.0% (95% UI 42.3–46.7), and underweight in 95.0% with a maximum decline of 53.9% (95% UI 52.8–55.4). The CV varied 7.4-fold for stunting, 12.2-fold for wasting, and 8.6-fold for underweight between the states in 2017; the CV increased for stunting in 28 out of 31 states, for wasting in 16 states, and for underweight in 20 states from 2000 to 2017. In order to reach the NNM 2022 targets for stunting and underweight individually, 82.6% and 98.5% of the districts in India would need a rate of improvement higher than they had up to 2017, respectively. To achieve the WHO/UNICEF 2030 target for wasting, all districts in India would need a rate of improvement higher than they had up to 2017. The correlation between the two national surveys for district-level estimates was poor, with Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.7 only in Odisha and four small north-eastern states out of the 27 states covered by these surveys. Interpretation CGF indicators have improved in India, but there are substantial variations between the districts in their magnitude and rate of decline, and the inequality between districts has increased in a large proportion of the states. The poor correlation between the national surveys for CGF estimates highlights the need to standardise collection of anthropometric data in India. The district-level trends in this report provide a useful reference for targeting the efforts under NNM to reduce CGF across India and meet the Indian and global targets. Keywords Child growth failureDistrict-levelGeospatial mappingInequalityNational Nutrition MissionPrevalenceStuntingTime trendsUnder-fiveUndernutritionUnderweightWastingWHO/UNICEF target

Search for dark mesons decaying to top and bottom quarks in proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for dark mesons originating from strongly-coupled, SU(2) dark favor symmetry conserving models and decaying gaugephobically to pure Standard Model final states containing top and bottom quarks is presented. The search targets fully hadronic final states and final states with exactly one electron or muon and multiple jets. The analyzed data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions collected at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess over the Standard Model background expectation is observed and the results are used to set the first direct constraints on this type of model. The two-dimensional signal space of dark pion masses mπD and dark rho-meson masses mρD is scanned. For mπD /mρD = 0.45, dark pions with masses mπD < 940 GeV are excluded at the 95% CL, while for mπD /mρD = 0.25 masses mπD < 740 GeV are excluded

Combination of searches for Higgs boson decays into a photon and a massless dark photon using pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A combination of searches for Higgs boson decays into a visible photon and a massless dark photon (H → γγd) is presented using 139 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The observed (expected) 95% confidence level upper limit on the Standard Model Higgs boson decay branching ratio is determined to be B(H → γγd) < 1.3% (1.5)%. The search is also sensitive to higher-mass Higgs bosons decaying into the same final state. The observed (expected) 95% confidence level limit on the cross-section times branching ratio ranges from 16 fb (20 fb) for mH = 400 GeV to 1.0 fb (1.5 fb) for mH = 3 TeV. Results are also interpreted in the context of a minimal simplified model

Not Available

Not AvailableDespite considerable advances in diagnosis and management over the last three decades, acute myocardial infarction continues to be a major public health problem. It is predicted that ischemic heart diseases will constitute the major disease-burden worldwide in the year 2020. In the present study, an attempt has been made to examine the effects of dietary chitosan supplementation on lipid peroxidation and cardiac antioxidant defense system in isoprenaline- induced myocardial infarction in rats, an animal model of myocardial infarction in man. Dietary chitosan intake significantly attenuated the isoprenaline- induced lipid peroxidation and maintained the level of reduced glutathione at near normal. Its administration demonstrated an antioxidant effect by maintaining the activities of myocardial glutathione dependent antioxidant enzymes (glutathione peroxidase and glutathione - S - transferase) and antiperoxidative enzymes (superoxide dismutase and catalase) at levels comparable to that of controls. The results of the present study indicate that the salubrious effects of dietary supplementation of chitosan is probably related to a counteraction of free radicals and/or to normal maintenance of the activities of free radical enzymes and the level of GSH, which protect myocardial membrane against oxidative damage by decreasing lipid peroxidation.Not Availabl