Far-infrared study of K giants in the solar neighborhood: Connection between Li enrichment and mass-loss

We searched for a correlation between the two anomalous properties of K giants: Li enhancement and IR excess from an unbiased survey of a large sample of RGB stars. A sample of 2000 low-mass K giants with accurate astrometry from the Hipparcos catalog was chosen for which Li abundances have been determined from low-resolution spectra. Far-infrared data were collected from the $WISE$ and $IRAS$ catalogs. To probe the correlation between the two anomalies, we supplemented 15 Li-rich K giants discovered from this sample with 25 known Li-rich K giants from other studies. Dust shell evolutionary models and spectral energy distributions were constructed using the code DUSTY to estimate different dust shell properties, such as dust evolutionary time scales, dust temperatures, and mass-loss rates. Among 2000 K giants, we found about two dozen K giants with detectable far-IR excess, and surprisingly, none of them are Li-rich. Similarly, the 15 new Li-rich K giants that were identified from the same sample show no evidence of IR excess. Of the total 40 Li-rich K giants, only 7 show IR excess. Important is that K giants with Li enhancement and/or IR excess begin to appear only at the bump on the RGB. Results show that K giants with IR excess are very rare, similar to K giants with Li enhancement. This may be due to the rapid differential evolution of dust shell and Li depletion compared to RGB evolutionary time scales. We also infer from the results that during the bump evolution, giants probably undergo some internal changes, which are perhaps the cause of mass-loss and Li-enhancement events. However, the available observational results do not ascertain that these properties are correlated. That a few Li-rich giants have IR excess seems to be pure coincidence.Comment: Accepted for Publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics, 6 figures, 5 tables, 19 page

Subarcsecond mid-infrared imaging of dust in the bipolar nebula Hen 3-401

We present high-resolution, nearly diffraction-limited narrow- and broadband mid-IR images of bipolar reflection nebula Hen 3-401. The deconvolved images yield a pixel-limited spatial resolution of 0″.09, demonstrating the superior imaging quality of the Gemini telescope. The infrared image of Hen 3-401 consists of a prominent core region of size 1″ and extended emissions along the walls of the bipolar lobes. We find that the distribution of aromatic infrared band (AIB) emission is different from that of the continuum emission and that the star has undergone multiple ejection of the AIB emission feature carrier at the end stages of its evolution. From the observed temperature gradient in the core, we suggest that the core has a flared disk geometry. © 2006. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.published_or_final_versio

Breast cancer nutritional chemistry cachexia oncology – A clinical trials perspective

1369-1371Breast cancer is the second largest killer disease among women globally. Annually approximately 48,000 women die of breast cancer. Breast cancer patients are at high risk of developing malnutrition from the underlying disease as well as from various drug regimen, chemotherapy and or radiotherapy interventions. As we work for personalized medicine for breast cancer, a personalized nutrition for breast cancer patients is much needed for their wellbeing both physiologically and psychologically. Most rather than all, of the treatment regimens possesses a concourse of side effects. An effective personalized nutritional therapy during and after cancer treatment leads to better quality of life for the breast cancer patients. Clinical trials are pivotal for any recommendations to be used at the commercial level upon approval of Food & Drug Administration. Several clinical trials have been carried out and many are now undertaken to come up with a significant upshot conclusion based on primary and secondary outcomes to show the after effects of particular nutrient supplements by increasing the overall survival or any other physiological upregulated / downregulated manifestation leading for a disease free survival. Docosahexaenoic acid and glutamine nutritional supplement has been reported to have beneficial effect for breast cancer patients in different clinical trials

2D Monte-Carlo Radiative transfer modeling of the disk shaped secondary of Epsilon Aurigae

We present two dimensional Monte-Carlo radiative transfer models for the disk of the eclipsing binary $\epsilon$ Aur by fitting its spectral energy distribution from optical to the far-IR wavelengths. We also report new observations of $\epsilon$ Aur made by AKARI in its five mid and far-IR photometric bands and were used to construct our SED. The disk is optically thick and has flared disk geometry containing gas and dust with a gas to dust mass ratio of 100. We have taken the primary of the binary to be a F0Iae-type post-AGB star and the disk is heated by a B5V hot star with a temperature of 15,000 K at the center of the disk. We take the radius of the disk to be 3.8 AU for our models as constrained from the IR interferometric imaging observations of the eclipsing disk. Our models imply that the disk contains grains which are much bigger than the ISM grains (grain sizes 10$\mu$ to 100$\mu$). The grain chemistry of the disk is carbonaceous and our models show that silicate and ISM dust chemistry do not reproduce the slope of the observed SED in the mid-IR to far-IR regions. This implies that the formation of the disk shaped secondary in $\epsilon$ Aur system could be the result of accretion of matter and or mass transfer from the primary which is now a F0Iae post-AGB star. It is not a proto-planetary disk. The disk is seen nearly edge on with an inclination angle larger than 85$^{o}$. We propose from our radiative transfer modeling that the disk is not solid and have a void of 2AU radius at the center within which no grains are present making the region nearly transparent. The disk is not massive, its mass is derived to be less than 0.005M$_{\odot}$.Comment: 27 pages, 5 figures, 2 table

Breast cancer nutritional chemistry cachexia oncology – A clinical trials perspective

Breast cancer is the second largest killer disease among women globally. Annually approximately 48,000 women die of breast cancer. Breast cancer patients are at high risk of developing malnutrition from the underlying disease as well as from various drug regimen, chemotherapy and or radiotherapy interventions. As we work for personalized medicine for breast cancer, a personalized nutrition for breast cancer patients is much needed for their wellbeing both physiologically and psychologically. Most rather than all, of the treatment regimens possesses a concourse of side effects. An effective personalized nutritional therapy during and after cancer treatment leads to better quality of life for the breast cancer patients. Clinical trials are pivotal for any recommendations to be used at the commercial level upon approval of Food & Drug Administration. Several clinical trials have been carried out and many are now undertaken to come up with a significant upshot conclusion based on primary and secondary outcomes to show the after effects of particular nutrient supplements by increasing the overall survival or any other physiological upregulated / downregulated manifestation leading for a disease free survival. Docosahexaenoic acid and glutamine nutritional supplement has been reported to have beneficial effect for breast cancer patients in different clinical trials

Modelling the light-curve of KIC 12557548b: an extrasolar planet with a comet like tail

An object with a very peculiar light-curve was discovered recently using Kepler data. Authors argue that this object may be a transiting disintegrating planet with a comet like dusty tail. We calculate the light-curves of stars with such planets and take into account the Mie absorption and scattering on spherical dust grains of various sizes assuming realistic dust opacities and phase functions and finite radius of the source of the scattered light. The planet light-curve is reanalysed using long and short cadence Kepler observations from the first 14 quarters. Orbital period of the planet was improved. We prove that the peculiar light-curve of this objects is in agreement with the idea of a planet with a comet like tail. There is an evidence of a quasi periodic long term evolution of the tail. Light-curve has a prominent pre-transit brightening and a less prominent post-transit brightening. Both are caused by the forward scattering and are a strong function of the particle size. This feature enabled us to estimate a typical particle size (radius) in the dust tail of about 0.1-1 micron. However, there is an indication that the particle size changes along the tail. Larger particles better reproduce the pre-transit brightening and transit core while smaller particles are more compatible with the egress and post-transit brightening. Dust density in the tail is a steep decreasing function of the distance from the planet which indicates a significant tail destruction caused by the star. We also argue that the 'planet' does not show uniform behaviour but may have at least two constituents. This light-curve with pre-transit brightening is analogous to the light-curve of $\epsilon$ Aur with mid-eclipse brightening and forward scattering plays a significant role in such eclipsing systems.Comment: Version 2: Submitted to A&A, any comments are welcome. Version 1: Presented at the meeting: The Most Mysterious Binaries: Significance for Astrophysics, Hvar, Croatia, July 2-6, 201

DEVELOPMENT OF PILOCARPINE-LOADED POLY (LACTIC-CO-GLYCOLIC ACID) NANOFIBERS FOR THE TREATMENT OF DRY MOUTH

Master'sMASTER OF SCIENCE (RSH-FOD