The Metallicity Dependence of the Fourier Components of RR Lyrae Light Curves is the Oosterhoff/Arp/Preston Period Ratio Effect in Disguise

The correlation of particular Fourier components of the light curves of RR Lyrae variables with metallicity, discovered by Simon and later by Kovacs and his coworkers, is shown to have the same explanation as the period ratios (period shifts in log P) between RRab Lyrae variables that have the same colors, amplitudes, and light-curve shapes but different metallicities. A purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the model which predicts the period-metallicity relations is the mediating parameters of colors, amplitudes, and light-curve shapes also explains the Simon/Kovacs et al. correlation between period, Phi_31, and metallicity. The proof is made by demonstrating that the combination of the first and third phase terms in a Fourier decomposition of RRab light curves, called Phi_31 by Simon and Lee, varies monotonically across the RR Lyrae instability strip in the same way that amplitude, color, and rise time vary with period within the strip. The premise of the model is that if horizontal branches at the RR Lyrae strip are stacked in luminosity according to the metallicity, then there necessarily must be a log period shift between RR Lyraes with different metallicities at the same Phi_31 values. However, there are exceptions to the model. (...)Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in The A

Including People with Disabilities in Emergency Relief Efforts

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that around 15 per cent of the world’s population, or one billion people, have some form of disability. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 80 per cent live in poor countries, where communities are already more vulnerable to disasters and crises such as the current Ebola epidemic, with people with disabilities often disproportionately affected. More must be done to ensure the needs and rights of people with disabilities are fully recognised in disaster risk reduction and emergency responses. Accelerating progress will require inclusive humanitarian programming and the use of technological solutions to be effectively promoted and incentivised, and people with disabilities and their organisations to be involved from the outset in the design and implementation of policies and programmes.UK Department for International Developmen

Transgender at Work: Livelihoods for Transgender People in Vietnam

The laws in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam promote equality for all citizens and refer to ‘persons’ rather than ‘men’ or ‘women’. However, because of traditional gender norms, transgender people in Vietnam are facing severe stigma and discrimination in public, in schools, at home and in the workplace (CCIHP 2011; Hoang 2012; ICS 2015; iSEE 2013). Parents, teachers and policemen are among the most common perpetrators (CCIHP 2011, 2012a, 2012b). Before 1975, homosexuality and transgenderism were considered ‘social diseases’, ‘social evils’, and were targets for elimination in government health and public policies; after 1975, there was a higher emphasis on this as the public saw them as remnants of American neo-colonialism (Blanc 2005). People who were found to practice same-sex sex could be sent to an education centre (Blanc 2005). Transgender people have difficulty accessing services and rights as they cannot change their personal identification (ID) card, which is an obstacle to obtaining social services, housing and work. Gender roles and norms affect the employment practices, options and preferences of transmen and transwomen differently. This study, undertaken by the Center for Creative Initiatives in Health and Population (CCIHP) and Institute of Development Studies (IDS), does not claim to report on behalf of all transgender people in Vietnam, but we hope to gain more insights into both the opportunities and the obstacles that transmen and transwomen face and to understand how they could be supported to increase their livelihood options. First, the research involved a case study on transgender people and livelihood opportunities which sought to answer the following questions: What are the different employment options and preferences for Vietnamese transmen and transwomen? What are the links between stigma, education and employment? Second, it involved testing an integrated application of new quantitative online participatory methodologies on young transmen and transwomen communities, alongside qualitative face-to-face methods to reach elderly transgender people and employers who are not members of online communities. Qualitative interviews also help understand these communities better and provide information that can inform their development.UK Department for International Developmen

RR LYRAE VARIABLE STARS: PULSATIONAL CONSTRAINTS RELEVANT TO THE OOSTERHOFF CONTROVERSY

A solution to the old Oosterhoff controversy is proposed on the basis of a new theoretical pulsational scenario concerning RR Lyrae cluster variables (Bono and coworkers). We show that the observed constancy of the lowest pulsation period in both Oosterhoff type I (OoI) and Oosterhoff type II (OoII) prototypes (M3, M15) can be easily reproduced only by assuming the canonical evolutionary horizontal-branch luminosity levels of these Galactic globular clusters and therefore by rejecting the Sandage period shift effect (SPSE).Comment: postscript file of 7 pages and 2 figures; one non postcript figure is available upon request; for any problem please write to [email protected]