A Survey of Proper Motion Stars. XVII. A Deficiency of Binary Stars on Retrograde Galactic Orbits and the Possibility that omega Centauri is Related to the Effect

We find a deficiency of binary stars moving on strongly retrograde Galactic orbits. No binary deficiencies are seen for U or W velocities, however. From theoretical analyses, we rule out preferential disruption of pre-existing binary stars due to encounters with massive perturbers. We also rule out globular clusters as the source of the effect since prograde motions are more likely to create such an effect. We search for star streams and find one possible candidate, but it is not on a retrograde orbit and probably represents the remains of a cluster that has passed too near the Galactic center. Based on a very small number of stars, we find that about the right fraction of stars on retrograde Galactic orbits share some chemical similarities to the cluster omega Cen, suggesting that its parent galaxy could be the explanation.Comment: To appear in the Astronomical Journal (March 2005 issue

The Impact of Yoga on Symptom Management in Adults with Depression

Depression is one of the most prevalent mental health conditions worldwide. Despite continual advances in the fields of psychiatry and psychology, hundreds of millions of individuals continue to suffer due to ineffective treatment, adverse effects, lack of access to care, and the relapsing nature of the disease. Depression extends beyond the affected individual and burdens families, healthcare systems, and societies. Yoga is a mind-body modality, growing in popularity, that has been cited in the literature as a promising treatment for depression. The purpose of this paper is to systematically review recent literature on the impact of yoga on depression management in adults. Five databases were searched, yielding 56 research studies published between 2014 and 2019, which were subsequently narrowed to 13 final studies per strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. The 13 studies included four systematic reviews, three randomized controlled trials, two randomized controlled dose finding trials, three prospective cohort randomized controlled trials, and one qualitative descriptive study. The majority of studies report that yoga is as effective as current standard treatments for the short-term symptom management of depression. Research highlights yoga’s safety profile and tolerability. More research is needed regarding the longterm impact of yoga, especially in populations such as the elderly, pregnant women, and cancer patients who would benefit from non-pharmacological treatment options. Current and future healthcare providers must be informed on current research in order to provide high quality patient care to adult patients with depression. Healthcare policy and educational systems (including workplaces) should support the dissemination and integration of evidenced based research into practice

Dynamical evolution of active detached binaries on log Jo - log M diagram and contact binary formation

Orbital angular momentum (Jo), systemic mass (M) and orbital period (P) distributions of chromospherically active binaries (CAB) and W Ursae Majoris (W UMa) systems were investigated. The diagrams of log Jo - log P, log M - log P and log Jo-log M were formed from 119 CAB and 102 W UMa stars. The log Jo-log M diagram is found to be most meaningful in demonstrating dynamical evolution of binary star orbits. A slightly curved borderline (contact border) separating the detached and the contact systems was discovered on the log Jo - log M diagram. Since orbital size (a) and period (P) of binaries are determined by their current Jo, M and mass ratio q, the rates of orbital angular momentum loss (dlog Jo/dt) and mass loss (dlog M/dt) are primary parameters to determine the direction and the speed of the dynamical evolution. A detached system becomes a contact system if its own dynamical evolution enables it to pass the contact border on the log Jo - log M diagram. Evolution of q for a mass loosing detached system is unknown unless mass loss rate for each component is known. Assuming q is constant in the first approximation and using the mean decreasing rates of Jo and M from the kinematical ages of CAB stars, it has been predicted that 11, 23 and 39 cent of current CAB stars would transform to W UMa systems if their nuclear evolution permits them to live 2, 4 and 6 Gyrs respectively.Comment: 28 pages, including 6 figures and 2 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA

Screening of heterogeneous surfaces: charge renormalization of Janus particles

Nonlinear ionic screening theory for heterogeneously charged spheres is developed in terms of a mode-decomposition of the surface charge. A far-field analysis of the resulting electrostatic potential leads to a natural generalization of charge renormalization from purely monopolar to dipolar, quadropolar, etc., including mode-couplings. Our novel scheme is generally applicable to large classes of surface heterogeneities, and is explicitly applied here to Janus spheres with differently charged upper and lower hemispheres, revealing strong renormalization effects for all multipoles.Comment: 2 figure

Climate change effects on human health: projections of temperature-related mortality for the UK during the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s

Background The most direct way in which climate change is expected to affect public health relates to changes in mortality rates associated with exposure to ambient temperature. Many countries worldwide experience annual heat-related and cold-related deaths associated with current weather patterns. Future changes in climate may alter such risks. Estimates of the likely future health impacts of such changes are needed to inform public health policy on climate change in the UK and elsewhere. Methods Time-series regression analysis was used to characterise current temperature-mortality relationships by region and age group. These were then applied to the local climate and population projections to estimate temperature-related deaths for the UK by the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s. Greater variability in future temperatures as well as changes in mean levels was modelled. Results A significantly raised risk of heat-related and cold-related mortality was observed in all regions. The elderly were most at risk. In the absence of any adaptation of the population, heat-related deaths would be expected to rise by around 257% by the 2050s from a current annual baseline of around 2000 deaths, and cold-related mortality would decline by 2% from a baseline of around 41 000 deaths. The cold burden remained higher than the heat burden in all periods. The increased number of future temperature-related deaths was partly driven by projected population growth and ageing. Conclusions Health protection from hot weather will become increasingly necessary, and measures to reduce cold impacts will also remain important in the UK. The demographic changes expected this century mean that the health protection of the elderly will be vital

Optical polarisation variability of radio loud narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxies. Search for long rotations of the polarisation plane

Narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLSy1s) constitute the AGN subclass associated with systematically smaller black hole masses. A few radio loud ones have been detected in MeV -- GeV energy bands by Fermi and evidence for the presence of blazar-like jets has been accumulated. In this study we wish to quantify the temporal behaviour of the optical polarisation, fraction and angle, for a selected sample of radio loud NLSy1s. We also search for rotations of the polarisation plane similar to those commonly observed in blazars. We have conducted R-band optical polarisation monitoring of a sample of 10 RL NLSy1s 5 of which have been previously detected by Fermi. The dataset includes observations with the RoboPol, KANATA, Perkins and Steward polarimeters. In the cases where evidences for long rotations of the polarisation plane are found, we carry out numerical simulations to assess the probability that they are caused by intrinsically evolving EVPAs instead of observational noise. Even our moderately sampled sources show indications of variability, both in polarisation fraction and angle. For the four best sampled objects in our sample we find multiple periods of significant polarisation angle variability. In the two best sampled cases, namely J1505+0326 and J0324+3410, we find indications for three long rotations. We show that although noise can induce the observed behaviour, it is much more likely that the apparent rotation is caused by intrinsic evolution of the EVPA. To our knowledge this is the very first detection of such events in this class of sources. In the case of the largest dataset (J0324+3410) we find that the EVPA concentrates around a direction which is at 49.3\degr to the 15-GHz radio jet implying a projected magnetic field at an angle of 40.7\degr to that axis.Comment: Accepted for publication in section 2. Astrophysical processes of Astronomy and Astrophysic

Design for the periphery

In everyday life, we are able to perform various activities simultaneously without consciously paying attention to them. In line with Weiser and Brown s [25] vision of calm technology, we see major opportunities to leverage these skills in interaction with technology by designing interactions that can take place in the periphery of our attention. In order to design such interactions however, a detailed understanding of human attention skills is important. This paper therefore provides an extensive theoretical background on attention theory and links this to the design of interactive systems. The aim is to lay a basis for design-research on interaction design for the periphery

Peripheral interaction: characteristics and considerations

© 2014, Springer-Verlag London. In everyday life, we are able to perceive information and perform physical actions in the background or periphery of attention. Inspired by this observation, several researchers have studied interactive systems that display digital information in the periphery of attention. To broaden the scope of this research direction, a few recent studies have focused on interactive systems that can not only be perceived in the background but also enable users to physically interact with digital information in their periphery. Such peripheral interaction designs can support computing technology to fluently embed in and become a meaningful part of people’s everyday routines. With the increasing ubiquity of technology in our everyday environment, we believe that this direction is highly relevant nowadays. This paper presents an in-depth analysis of three case studies on peripheral interaction. These case studies involved the design and development of peripheral interactive systems and deployment of these systems in the real context of use for a number of weeks. Based on the insights gained through these case studies, we discuss generalized characteristics and considerations for peripheral interaction design and evaluation. The aim of the work presented in this paper is to support interaction design researchers and practitioners in anticipating and facilitating peripheral interaction with the designs they are evaluating or developing

Exploring interactive systems using peripheral sounds

Our everyday interaction in and with the physical world, has facilitated the development of auditory perception skills that enable us to selectively place one auditory channel in the center of our attention and simultaneously monitor others in the periphery. We search for ways to leverage these auditory perception skills in interactive systems. In this paper, we present three working demonstrators that use sound to subtly convey information to users in an open office. To qualitatively evaluate these demonstrators, each of them has been implemented in an office for three weeks. We have seen that such a period of time, sounds can start shifting from the center to the periphery of the attention. Furthermore, we found several issues to be addressed when designing such systems, which can inform future work in this area.</p