Emission Line Stars In and Beyond the Perseus Arm

I present low-resolution (Dl 6 A° ) follow-up spectroscopy of 370 Ha emitters (12 . r . 17) identified with IPHAS, in a 100 deg2 wide section of the Galactic plane that is located between ` = (120 ; 140 ) and b = (1 ; +4 ). Classical Be stars are found to be the most numerous group of the observed targets ( 60%). Sixty-eight classical Be stars have also been observed at higher spectral resolution (Dl 24 A° ) and S/N ratio, which allows spectral typing to an estimated precision of 1 sub-type. Colour excesses were measured via spectral energy distribution fitting of flux-calibrated data. I took care to remove the circumstellar contribution to the measured colour excess, using an established scaling to the Ha equivalent widths. In doing so, this method of correction was re-evaluated and modified to better suit the data at hand. Spectroscopic parallaxes were measured constraining the luminosity class via estimates of distances to main sequence A/F stars, which are found within a few arcminutes of each classical Be star on the sky. In order to probe the structure of the outer Galactic disc, I studied the spatial distribution of 63 out of 248 classical Be stars identified. Their cumulative distribution function with respect to the distance is statistically compatible both with a smooth exponential density profile and with a simple spiral arms representation. The distribution of reddenings of classical Be stars is compared with estimates of the total Galactic reddening along their sightlines. It is expected that the measured reddenings match the integrated Galactic values, for distant stars located outside the Galactic dust layer, or they are smaller than the asymptotic values if the stars are less distant. The outcome meets expectations, and lends support to the conclusion that the measured reddenings are determined to a precision of 10%. The sample of 248 objects doubles the number of known classical Be stars in this part of the Galactic plane. Unlike the pre-existing bright sample, the new objects are seen at large distances, between 2 – 8 kpc with typical E(BV) 0:9. Only four stars are members of known clusters. Ten classical Be stars are proposed to be well beyond the putative Outer Arm, at distances larger than 8 kpc. The large sample of stars, which has been identified here, is the result of a successful selection and analysis of classical Be stars that is offered for more exploitation in future. The proposition is that GAIA observations will use the present sample of classical Be stars as a new tracer of the Galactic disc

The population of hot subdwarf stars studied with Gaia II. The Gaia DR2 catalogue of hot subluminous stars

Based on data from the ESA Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2) and several ground-based, multi-band photometry surveys we compiled an all-sky catalogue of $39\,800$ hot subluminous star candidates selected in Gaia DR2 by means of colour, absolute magnitude and reduced proper motion cuts. We expect the majority of the candidates to be hot subdwarf stars of spectral type B and O, followed by blue horizontal branch stars of late B-type (HBB), hot post-AGB stars, and central stars of planetary nebulae. The contamination by cooler stars should be about $10\%$. The catalogue is magnitude limited to Gaia $G<19\,{\rm mag}$ and covers the whole sky. Except within the Galactic plane and LMC/SMC regions, we expect the catalogue to be almost complete up to about $1.5\,{\rm kpc}$. The main purpose of this catalogue is to serve as input target list for the large-scale photometric and spectroscopic surveys which are ongoing or scheduled to start in the coming years. In the long run, securing a statistically significant sample of spectroscopically confirmed hot subluminous stars is key to advance towards a more detailed understanding of the latest stages of stellar evolution for single and binary stars.Comment: 13 pages, A&A, accepte

High-frequency seasonal variation of leaf fluorescence and reflectance in Mediterranean forest species under natural environmental conditions

The strategies of two evergreen Mediterranean tree species (Arbutus unedo L. and Quercus ilex L.) to face annual temperature variability and extreme event responses has been monitored in continuum by leaf fluorescence and reflectance. The effect of chilling spells and the accumulation of cold days with chilling and freezing temperatures on winter photo-inhibition was discussed in terms of modulation capacity for fluorescence parameters to daily temperature and irradiance conditions. Throughout the winter Q. ilex resulted less photoinhibited than A. unedo, showing a more dynamic response in all fluorescence parameters and a higher non-photochemical quenching capacity. These characteristics effectively act to maintain a higher electron transport capacity in Q. ilex than in A. unedo

Redação coletiva de memórias : elemento “autobiográfico” do processo grupal a ser levado em conta no âmbito da metodologia de pesquisa em ensino?

Trata-se de uma análise comparativa entre resultados obtidos por um grupo de pesquisa em ensino de ciências, a partir de duas experiências metodológicas – uma delas, aplicada ao âmbito da formação de professores e a outra, ao da produção grupal de conhecimentos– tendo em comum, o recurso a narrativas. A discussão dos resultados é desenvolvida, a partir do referencial teórico da Psicanálise, em termos do cotejamento de especificidades destas metodologias com momentos da constituição do sujeito – teorizados, segundo violência primária (Aulagier) e tempos de diferenciação do ego-instância(Laplanche)- cuja reativação parece-nos favorecida, por “cenários intersubjetivos” configurados por estas metodologias. Conclui-se, buscando identificar características diferenciais delas, potencializadoras de contextos favoráveis à reflexão/construção de conhecimentos

Prevalence of depression and anxiety in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients in tertiary care hospital

Background: The prevalence of depression and anxiety in diabetes is considerably higher than normal population and found to have a negative impact on diabetes. Objective of the study was to assess the prevalence of depression and anxiety and to identify their associated risk factors among people with type 2 diabetes mellitus.Methods: Descriptive study was done in Endocrine and medicine outpatient Department of Vijaya Hospital in Belagavi, South India. Total 384 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were interviewed for depression and anxiety by administering the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).Results: Of the total 384 patients surveyed, depression and anxiety were found in 32.56%. (95%CI 27.8-37.2%) and 37.76% (95% CI 33.1-42.9%) respectively. In Multiple Logistic regression analysis age, unmarried, religion, duration of type II diabetes and type of treatment were significantly associated with depression symptoms, Anxiety symptoms were associated with age, Qualification, Occupation, Religion, Duration and type of treatment.Conclusions: This study found a high prevalence of depression and anxiety in patients with Type 2 DM. Therefore, the care of individuals with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM) should include the screening and possible treatment of depression and anxiety in order to achieve and sustain treatment goals

The Field White Dwarf Mass Distribution

We revisit the properties and astrophysical implications of the field white dwarf mass distribution in preparation of Gaia applications. Our study is based on the two samples with the best established completeness and most precise atmospheric parameters, the volume-complete survey within 20 pc and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) magnitude-limited sample. We explore the modelling of the observed mass distributions with Monte Carlo simulations, but find that it is difficult to constrain independently the initial mass function (IMF), the initial-to-final-mass relation (IFMR), the stellar formation history (SFH), the variation of the Galactic disk vertical scale height as a function of stellar age, and binary evolution. Each of these input ingredients has a moderate effect on the predicted mass distributions, and we must also take into account biases owing to unidentified faint objects (20 pc sample), as well as unknown masses for magnetic white dwarfs and spectroscopic calibration issues (SDSS sample). Nevertheless, we find that fixed standard assumptions for the above parameters result in predicted mean masses that are in good qualitative agreement with the observed values. It suggests that derived masses for both studied samples are consistent with our current knowledge of stellar and Galactic evolution. Our simulations overpredict by 40-50% the number of massive white dwarfs (M > 0.75 Msun) for both surveys, although we can not exclude a Salpeter IMF when we account for all biases. Furthermore, we find no evidence of a population of double white dwarf mergers in the observed mass distributions.Comment: 15 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA