378 research outputs found
Abundances in Stars from the Red Giant Branch Tip to the Near the Main Sequence in M71: I. Sample Selection, Observing Strategy and Stellar Parameters
We present the sample for an abundance analysis of 25 members of M71 with
luminosities ranging from the red giant branch tip to the upper main sequence.
The spectra are of high dispersion and of high precision. We describe the
observing strategy and determine the stellar parameters for the sample stars
using both broad band colors and fits of H profiles. The derived
stellar parameters agree with those from the Yale stellar evolutionary
tracks to within 50 -- 100K for a fixed log g, which is within the level of the
uncertainties.Comment: Minor changes to conform to version accepted for publication, with
several new figures (Paper 1 of a pair
Photometric Analysis of Recently Discovered Eclipsing Binary GSC 00008-00901
Photometric analysis of light curves of newly discovered eclipsing
binary GSC 0008-00901 is presented. The orbital period is improved to
0.28948(11) days. Photometric parameters are determined, as well. The analysis
yielded to conclusion that system is an over-contact binary of W UMa type with
components not in thermal contact. The light curves from 2005 show the presence
of a spot on the surface of one of the components, while light curves from 2006
are not affected by maculation.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc
Loneliness Literacy Scale: Development and Evaluation of an Early Indicator for Loneliness Prevention
To develop and evaluate the Loneliness Literacy Scale for the assessment of short-term outcomes of a loneliness prevention programme among Dutch elderly persons. Scale development was based on evidence from literature and experiences from local stakeholders and representatives of the target group. The scale was pre-tested among 303 elderly persons aged 65 years and over. Principal component analysis and internal consistency analysis were used to affirm the scale structure, reduce the number of items and assess the reliability of the constructs. Linear regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between the literacy constructs and loneliness. The four constructs “motivation”, “self-efficacy”, “perceived social support” and “subjective norm” derived from principal component analysis captured 56 % of the original variance. Cronbach’s coefficient α was above 0.7 for each construct. The constructs “self-efficacy” and “perceived social support” were positively and “subjective norm” was negatively associated with loneliness. To our knowledge this is the first study developing a short-term indicator for loneliness prevention. The indicator contributes to the need of evaluating public health interventions more close to the intervention activities. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11205-013-0322-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users
Modelling fully convective stars in eclipsing binaries: KOI-126 and CM Draconis
We present models of the components of the systems KOI-126 and CM Draconis,
the two eclipsing binary systems known to date to contain stars with masses low
enough to have fully convective interiors. We are able to model satisfactorily
the system KOI-126, finding consistent solutions for the radii and surface
temperatures of all three components, using a solar-like value of the
mixing-length parameter \alpha in the convection zone, and PHOENIX NextGen 1D
model atmospheres for the surface boundary conditions. Depending on the
chemical composition, we estimate the age of the system to be in the range 3-5
Gyr. For CM Draconis, on the other hand, we cannot reconcile our models with
the observed radii and T_eff using the current metal-poor composition estimate
based on kinematics. Higher metallicities lessen but do not remove the
discrepancy. We then explore the effect of varying the mixing length parameter
\alpha. As previously noted in the literature, a reduced \alpha can be used as
a simple measure of the lower convective efficiency due to rotation and induced
magnetic fields. Our models show a sensitivity to \alpha (for \alpha < 1.0)
sufficient to partially account for the radius discrepancies. It is, however,
impossible to reconcile the models with the observations on the basis of the
effect of the reduced \alpha alone. We therefore suggest that the combined
effects of high metallicity and \alpha reduction could explain the observations
of CM Draconis. For example, increasing the metallicity of the system towards
super-solar values (i.e. Z = 2 Z_sun) yields an agreement within 2 \sigma with
\alpha = 1.0.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
A Consistency Test of Spectroscopic Gravities for Late-Type Stars
Chemical analyses of late-type stars are usually carried out following the
classical recipe: LTE line formation and homogeneous, plane-parallel,
flux-constant, and LTE model atmospheres. We review different results in the
literature that have suggested significant inconsistencies in the spectroscopic
analyses, pointing out the difficulties in deriving independent estimates of
the stellar fundamental parameters and hence,detecting systematic errors.
The trigonometric parallaxes measured by the HIPPARCOS mission provide
accurate appraisals of the stellar surface gravity for nearby stars, which are
used here to check the gravities obtained from the photospheric iron ionization
balance. We find an approximate agreement for stars in the metallicity range -1
<= [Fe/H] <= 0, but the comparison shows that the differences between the
spectroscopic and trigonometric gravities decrease towards lower metallicities
for more metal-deficient dwarfs (-2.5 <= [Fe/H] <= -1.0), which casts a shadow
upon the abundance analyses for extreme metal-poor stars that make use of the
ionization equilibrium to constrain the gravity. The comparison with the
strong-line gravities derived by Edvardsson (1988) and Fuhrmann (1998a)
confirms that this method provides systematically larger gravities than the
ionization balance. The strong-line gravities get closer to the physical ones
for the stars analyzed by Fuhrmann, but they are even further away than the
iron ionization gravities for the stars of lower gravities in Edvardsson's
sample. The confrontation of the deviations of the iron ionization gravities in
metal-poor stars reported here with departures from the excitation balance
found in the literature, show that they are likely to be induced by the same
physical mechanism(s).Comment: AAS LaTeX v4.0, 35 pages, 10 PostScript files; to appear in The
Astrophysical Journa
Physical Orbit for Lambda Virginis and a Test of Stellar Evolution Models
Lambda Virginis (LamVir) is a well-known double-lined spectroscopic Am binary
with the interesting property that both stars are very similar in abundance but
one is sharp-lined and the other is broad-lined. We present combined
interferometric and spectroscopic studies of LamVir. The small scale of the
LamVir orbit (~20 mas) is well resolved by the Infrared Optical Telescope Array
(IOTA), allowing us to determine its elements as well as the physical
properties of the components to high accuracy. The masses of the two stars are
determined to be 1.897 Msun and 1.721 Msun, with 0.7% and 1.5% errors
respectively, and the two stars are found to have the same temperature of 8280
+/- 200 K. The accurately determined properties of LamVir allow comparisons
between observations and current stellar evolution models, and reasonable
matches are found. The best-fit stellar model gives LamVir a subsolar
metallicity of Z=0.0097, and an age of 935 Myr. The orbital and physical
parameters of LamVir also allow us to study its tidal evolution time scales and
status. Although currently atomic diffusion is considered to be the most
plausible cause of the Am phenomenon, the issue is still being actively debated
in the literature. With the present study of the properties and evolutionary
status of LamVir, this system is an ideal candidate for further detailed
abundance analyses that might shed more light on the source of the chemical
anomalies in these A stars.Comment: 43 Pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
Towards the integration and development of a cross-European research network and infrastructure:the DEterminants of DIet and Physical ACtivity (DEDIPAC) Knowledge Hub
To address major societal challenges and enhance cooperation in research across Europe, the European Commission has initiated and facilitated ‘joint programming’. Joint programming is a process by which Member States engage in defining, developing and implementing a common strategic research agenda, based on a shared vision of how to address major societal challenges that no Member State is capable of resolving independently. Setting up a Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) should also contribute to avoiding unnecessary overlap and repetition of research, and enable and enhance the development and use of standardised research methods, procedures and data management. The Determinants of Diet and Physical Activity (DEDIPAC) Knowledge Hub (KH) is the first act of the European JPI ‘A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life’. The objective of DEDIPAC is to contribute to improving understanding of the determinants of dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviours. DEDIPAC KH is a multi-disciplinary consortium of 46 consortia and organisations supported by joint programming grants from 12 countries across Europe. The work is divided into three thematic areas: (I) assessment and harmonisation of methods for future research, surveillance and monitoring, and for evaluation of interventions and policies; (II) determinants of dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviours across the life course and in vulnerable groups; and (III) evaluation and benchmarking of public health and policy interventions aimed at improving dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviours. In the first three years, DEDIPAC KH will organise, develop, share and harmonise expertise, methods, measures, data and other infrastructure. This should further European research and improve the broad multi-disciplinary approach needed to study the interactions between multilevel determinants in influencing dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviours. Insights will be translated into more effective interventions and policies for the promotion of healthier behaviours and more effective monitoring and evaluation of the impacts of such intervention
A critical evaluation of network and pathway based classifiers for outcome prediction in breast cancer
Recently, several classifiers that combine primary tumor data, like gene
expression data, and secondary data sources, such as protein-protein
interaction networks, have been proposed for predicting outcome in breast
cancer. In these approaches, new composite features are typically constructed
by aggregating the expression levels of several genes. The secondary data
sources are employed to guide this aggregation. Although many studies claim
that these approaches improve classification performance over single gene
classifiers, the gain in performance is difficult to assess. This stems mainly
from the fact that different breast cancer data sets and validation procedures
are employed to assess the performance. Here we address these issues by
employing a large cohort of six breast cancer data sets as benchmark set and by
performing an unbiased evaluation of the classification accuracies of the
different approaches. Contrary to previous claims, we find that composite
feature classifiers do not outperform simple single gene classifiers. We
investigate the effect of (1) the number of selected features; (2) the specific
gene set from which features are selected; (3) the size of the training set and
(4) the heterogeneity of the data set on the performance of composite feature
and single gene classifiers. Strikingly, we find that randomization of
secondary data sources, which destroys all biological information in these
sources, does not result in a deterioration in performance of composite feature
classifiers. Finally, we show that when a proper correction for gene set size
is performed, the stability of single gene sets is similar to the stability of
composite feature sets. Based on these results there is currently no reason to
prefer prognostic classifiers based on composite features over single gene
classifiers for predicting outcome in breast cancer
Validation of a novel numerical model to predict regionalized blood flow in the coronary arteries
Aims
Ischaemic heart disease results from insufficient coronary blood flow. Direct measurement of absolute flow (mL/min) is feasible, but has not entered routine clinical practice in most catheterization laboratories. Interventional cardiologists, therefore, rely on surrogate markers of flow. Recently, we described a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method for predicting flow that differentiates inlet, side branch, and outlet flows during angiography. In the current study, we evaluate a new method that regionalizes flow along the length of the artery.
Methods and results
Three-dimensional coronary anatomy was reconstructed from angiograms from 20 patients with chronic coronary syndrome. All flows were computed using CFD by applying the pressure gradient to the reconstructed geometry. Side branch flow was modelled as a porous wall boundary. Side branch flow magnitude was based on morphometric scaling laws with two models: a homogeneous model with flow loss along the entire arterial length; and a regionalized model with flow proportional to local taper. Flow results were validated against invasive measurements of flow by continuous infusion thermodilution (Coroventis™, Abbott). Both methods quantified flow relative to the invasive measures: homogeneous (r 0.47, P 0.006; zero bias; 95% CI −168 to +168 mL/min); regionalized method (r 0.43, P 0.013; zero bias; 95% CI −175 to +175 mL/min).
Conclusion
During angiography and pressure wire assessment, coronary flow can now be regionalized and differentiated at the inlet, outlet, and side branches. The effect of epicardial disease on agreement suggests the model may be best targeted at cases with a stenosis close to side branches
Process evaluation of a stepped-care program to prevent depression in primary care: patients' and practice nurses' experiences
Background: Depression is common in patients with diabetes type 2 (DM2) and/or coronary heart disease (CHD), with high personal and societal burden and may even be preventable. Recently, a cluster randomized trial of stepped care to prevent depression among patients with DM2 and/or CHD and subthreshold depression in Dutch primary care (Step-Dep) versus usual care showed no effectiveness. This paper presents its process evaluation, exploring in-depth experiences from a patient and practice nurse perspective to further understand the results. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted. Using a purposive sampling strategy, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 24 participants (15 patients and nine practice nurses). All interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Atlas.ti 5.7.1 software was used for coding and structuring of themes. A thematic analysis of the data was performed. Results: The process evaluation showed, even through a negative trial, that Step-Dep was perceived as valuable by both patients and practice nurses; perceived effectiveness on improving depressive symptoms varied greatly, but most felt that it had been beneficial for patients' well-being. Facilitators were: increased awareness of mental health problems in chronic disease management and improved accessibility and decreased experienced stigma of receiving mental health care. The Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9), used to determine depression severity, functioned as a useful starting point for the conversation on mental health and patients gained more insight into their mental health by regularly filling out the PHQ-9. However, patients and practice nurses did not widely support its use for monitoring depressive symptoms or making treatment decisions. Monitoring mental health was deemed important in chronically ill patients by both patients and practice nurses and was suggested to start at the time of diagnosis of a chronic disease. Appointed barriers were that patients were primarily motivated to participate in scientific research rather than their intrinsic need to improve depressive symptoms. Additionally, various practice nurses preferred offering individually based therapy over pre-determined interventions in a protocolled sequence and somatic practice nurses expressed a lack of competence to recognise and treat mental health problems. Conclusion: This study demonstrates both the benefits and unique demands of programs such as Step-Dep. The appointed facilitators and barriers could guide the development of future studies aiming to prevent depression in similar patient groups
- …