A search for ionized jets towards massive young stellar objects

Radio continuum observations using the Australia telescope compact array at 5.5, 9.0, 17.0 and 22.8 GHz have detected free-free emission associated with 45 of 49 massive young stellar objects and H II regions. Of these, 26 sources are classified as ionized jets (12 of which are candidates), 2 as ambiguous jets or disc winds, 1 as a disc-wind, 14 as H II regions and 2 were unable to be categorized. Classification as ionized jets is based upon morphology, radio flux and spectral index, in conjunction with previous observational results at other wavelengths. Radio luminosity and momentum are found to scale with bolometric luminosity in the same way as low-mass jets, indicating a common mechanism for jet production across all masses. In 13 of the jets, we see associated non-thermal/optically thin lobes resulting from shocks either internal to the jet and/or at working surfaces. 10 jets display non-thermal (synchrotron emission) spectra in their lobes, with an average spectral index of ? =-0.55 consistent with Fermi acceleration in shocks. This shows that magnetic fields are present, in agreement with models of jet formation incorporatingmagnetic fields. Since the production of collimated radio jets is associated with accretion processes, the results presented in this paper support the picture of disc-mediated accretion for the formation of massive stars with an upper limit on the jet phase lasting approximately 6.5×104 yr. Typical mass-loss rates in the jet are found to be 1.4× 10-5M? yr-1 with associated momentum rates of the order of (1-2) × 10-2M? km s-1 yr-1. © 2016 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal Astronomical Society

The Coordinated Radio and Infrared Survey for High-Mass Star Formation III. A catalogue of northern ultra-compact H II regions

A catalogue of 239 ultra-compact H II regions (UCHIIs) found in the CORNISH survey at 5 GHz and 1.5″ resolution in the region 10° < l < 65°, |b| < 1° is presented. This is the largest complete and well-selected sample of UCHIIs to date and provides the opportunity to explore the global and individual properties of this key state in massive star formation at multiple wavelengths. The nature of the candidates was validated, based on observational properties and calculated spectral indices, and the analysis is presented in this work. The physical sizes, luminosities and other physical properties were computed by utilising literature distances or calculating the distances whenever a value was not available. The near- and mid-infrared extended source fluxes were measured and the extinctions towards the UCHIIs were computed. The new results were combined with available data at longer wavelengths and the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) were reconstructed for 177 UCHIIs. The bolometric luminosities obtained from SED fitting are presented. By comparing the radio flux densities to previous observational epochs, we find about 5% of the sources appear to be time variable. This first high-resolution area survey of the Galactic plane shows that the total number of UCHIIs in the Galaxy is ~750 – a factor of 3–4 fewer than found in previous large area radio surveys. It will form the basis for future tests of models of massive star formation

The coordinated radio and infrared survey for high-mass star formation – IV. A new radio-selected sample of compact galactic planetary nebulae

We present a new radio-selected sample of PNe from the CORNISH survey. This is a radio continuum survey of the inner Galactic plane covering Galactic longitude, 10 1000 K) and located closer than 7 kpc. Within this sample is a water-maser PN with a spectral index of - 0.55 ± 0.08, which indicates non-thermal radio emission. Such a radio-selected sample, unaffected by extinction, will be particularly useful to compare with population synthesis models and should contribute to the understanding of the formation and evolution of PNe

The HO Southern Galactic Plane Survey (HOPS) - I. Techniques and HO maser data

The definitive version can be found at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ Copyright Royal Astronomical SocietyWe present first results of the HO Southern Galactic Plane Survey (HOPS), using the Mopra Radio Telescope with a broad-band backend and a beam size of about 2 arcmin. We have observed 100 deg of the southern Galactic plane at 12mm (19.5-27.5GHz), including spectral line emission from HO masers, multiple metastable transitions of ammonia, cyanoacetylene, methanol and radio recombination lines. In this paper, we report on the characteristics of the survey and HO maser emission. We find 540 HO masers, of which 334 are new detections. The strongest maser is 3933Jy and the weakest is 0.7Jy, with 62 masers over 100Jy. In 14 maser sites, the spread in the velocity of the HO maser emission exceeds 100kms. In one region, the HO maser velocities are separated by 351.3kms. The rms noise levels are typically between 1 and 2Jy, with 95 per cent of the survey under 2Jy. We estimate completeness limits of 98 per cent at around 8.4Jy and 50 per cent at around 5.5Jy. We estimate that there are between 800 and 1500 HO masers in the Galaxy that are detectable in a survey with similar completeness limits to HOPS. We report possible masers in NH (11,9) and (8,6) emission towards G19.61-0.23 and in the NH (3,3) line towards G23.33-0.30.Peer reviewe

Physics of Solar Prominences: I - Spectral Diagnostics and Non-LTE Modelling

This review paper outlines background information and covers recent advances made via the analysis of spectra and images of prominence plasma and the increased sophistication of non-LTE (ie when there is a departure from Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium) radiative transfer models. We first describe the spectral inversion techniques that have been used to infer the plasma parameters important for the general properties of the prominence plasma in both its cool core and the hotter prominence-corona transition region. We also review studies devoted to the observation of bulk motions of the prominence plasma and to the determination of prominence mass. However, a simple inversion of spectroscopic data usually fails when the lines become optically thick at certain wavelengths. Therefore, complex non-LTE models become necessary. We thus present the basics of non-LTE radiative transfer theory and the associated multi-level radiative transfer problems. The main results of one- and two-dimensional models of the prominences and their fine-structures are presented. We then discuss the energy balance in various prominence models. Finally, we outline the outstanding observational and theoretical questions, and the directions for future progress in our understanding of solar prominences.Comment: 96 pages, 37 figures, Space Science Reviews. Some figures may have a better resolution in the published version. New version reflects minor changes brought after proof editin

MeerGAL: the MeerKAT Galactic Plane Survey

Radio surveys of the Milky Way galaxy have transformed our understanding of star formation and stellar evolution. However, due to strong dependence of “survey cost” on frequency most large area surveys have so far been carried out at low frequencies (? a few GHz). These surveys select against dense plasma as the free-free turnover frequency scales directly with electron density which means that there are significant biases against the detection of the youngest and densest HII regions, Young Stellar Objects, jets, winds and Planetary Nebulae. Here we describe the MeerKAT Large Project MeerGAL, which aims to address this issue by making the first sensitive high frequency, high resolution multi-epoch survey of the Galactic Plane. Together with its Northern Hemisphere sister project KuGARS (the Ku-band Galactic Reconnaissance Survey), MeerGAL will revolutionise the study of massive star formation and stellar evolution, Galactic structure, and variability

Improving Genetic Prediction by Leveraging Genetic Correlations Among Human Diseases and Traits

Genomic prediction has the potential to contribute to precision medicine. However, to date, the utility of such predictors is limited due to low accuracy for most traits. Here theory and simulation study are used to demonstrate that widespread pleiotropy among phenotypes can be utilised to improve genomic risk prediction. We show how a genetic predictor can be created as a weighted index that combines published genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics across many different traits. We apply this framework to predict risk of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in the Psychiatric Genomics consortium data, finding substantial heterogeneity in prediction accuracy increases across cohorts. For six additional phenotypes in the UK Biobank data, we find increases in prediction accuracy ranging from 0.7 for height to 47 for type 2 diabetes, when using a multi-trait predictor that combines published summary statistics from multiple traits, as compared to a predictor based only on one trait. © 2018 The Author(s)

Age at first birth in women is genetically associated with increased risk of schizophrenia

Prof. Paunio on PGC:n jäsenPrevious studies have shown an increased risk for mental health problems in children born to both younger and older parents compared to children of average-aged parents. We previously used a novel design to reveal a latent mechanism of genetic association between schizophrenia and age at first birth in women (AFB). Here, we use independent data from the UK Biobank (N = 38,892) to replicate the finding of an association between predicted genetic risk of schizophrenia and AFB in women, and to estimate the genetic correlation between schizophrenia and AFB in women stratified into younger and older groups. We find evidence for an association between predicted genetic risk of schizophrenia and AFB in women (P-value = 1.12E-05), and we show genetic heterogeneity between younger and older AFB groups (P-value = 3.45E-03). The genetic correlation between schizophrenia and AFB in the younger AFB group is -0.16 (SE = 0.04) while that between schizophrenia and AFB in the older AFB group is 0.14 (SE = 0.08). Our results suggest that early, and perhaps also late, age at first birth in women is associated with increased genetic risk for schizophrenia in the UK Biobank sample. These findings contribute new insights into factors contributing to the complex bio-social risk architecture underpinning the association between parental age and offspring mental health.Peer reviewe

7th Drug hypersensitivity meeting: part two

No abstract availabl

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362