The Effect of Three Months of Aerobic Training on Response Preparation in Older Adults

This study assessed the effects of an aerobic training program on reaction time tasks that manipulated preparatory intervals (PI) to produce temporal preparation effects using short (1, 3, 5 s) and long (5, 7, 9 s) PI. Older adults were assigned to either a 3-month aerobic training group or to a control group. Individuals in the training group participated in an aerobic training program of three 60-min sessions per week. The control group did not receive any training. Results indicated that 12 weeks of aerobic training induced a significant improvement in cardiorespiratory capacity (VO2max estimate). All participants who completed the aerobic program showed improvement after training in the choice RT task, along with enhanced preparation, such that they maintained preparation over time more efficiently after the training program. Moreover, enhanced ability to use the short PI was observed but only in lower fit individuals. Results of the present study suggest that improving aerobic fitness may enhance attentional control mechanisms in older adults

A Kinematical Study of Old HII Regions and Optical Counterpart to the DRAO Canadian Galactic Plane Survey

This project aims to tackle a few unresolved problems related to the interstellar medium (ISM) by acting as an optical counterpart to the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey (CGPS). We have three main objectives: 1- The study of large/old HII regions. 2- Observations of targets-of-opportunity that may be found by the CGPS. 3- Comparison of the kinematics of extragalactic (M33) and galactic HII regions. (1) Old HII regions having large spatial extents will be observed to establish their kinematical structure when almost no molecular material is left to produce photodissociated flows. Does turbulence play a role in these objects as for younger nebulae? (2) Ionized nebulae observed by the CGPS that are peculiar, either morphologically or by special association with neutral hydrogen, will also be observed. (3) The kinematical behavior of old HII regions in M33 will be compared with that of galactic HII regions. With both data sets in hand we will check if HII regions, like supernovae, dump ener..

The Herschel-SPIRE Legacy Survey (HSLS): the scientific goals of a shallow and wide submillimeter imaging survey with SPIRE

A large sub-mm survey with Herschel will enable many exciting science opportunities, especially in an era of wide-field optical and radio surveys and high resolution cosmic microwave background experiments. The Herschel-SPIRE Legacy Survey (HSLS), will lead to imaging data over 4000 sq. degrees at 250, 350, and 500 micron. Major Goals of HSLS are: (a) produce a catalog of 2.5 to 3 million galaxies down to 26, 27 and 33 mJy (50% completeness; 5 sigma confusion noise) at 250, 350 and 500 micron, respectively, in the southern hemisphere (3000 sq. degrees) and in an equatorial strip (1000 sq. degrees), areas which have extensive multi-wavelength coverage and are easily accessible from ALMA. Two thirds of the of the sources are expected to be at z > 1, one third at z > 2 and about a 1000 at z > 5. (b) Remove point source confusion in secondary anisotropy studies with Planck and ground-based CMB data. (c) Find at least 1200 strongly lensed bright sub-mm sources leading to a 2% test of general relativity. (d) Identify 200 proto-cluster regions at z of 2 and perform an unbiased study of the environmental dependence of star formation. (e) Perform an unbiased survey for star formation and dust at high Galactic latitude and make a census of debris disks and dust around AGB stars and white dwarfs

The JCMT Gould Belt Survey : a first look at SCUBA-2 observations of the Lupus I molecular cloud

This paper presents observations of the Lupus I molecular cloud at 450 and 850 μm with Submillimetre Common User Bolometer Array (SCUBA-2) as part of the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope Gould Belt Survey (JCMT GBS). Nine compact sources, assumed to be the discs of young stellar objects (YSOs), 12 extended protostellar, pre-stellar and starless cores, and one isolated, low-luminosity protostar, are detected in the region. Spectral energy distributions, including submillimetre fluxes, are produced for 15 YSOs, and each is fitted with the models of Robitaille et al. The proportion of Class 0/I protostars is higher than that seen in other Gould Belt regions such as Ophiuchus and Serpens. Circumstellar disc masses are calculated for more evolved sources, while protostellar envelope masses are calculated for protostars. Up to four very low luminosity objects are found; a large fraction when compared to other Spitzer c2d regions. One YSO has a disc mass greater than the minimum mass solar nebula. 12 starless/protostellar cores are detected by SCUBA-2 and their masses are calculated. The stability of these cores is examined using both the thermal Jeans mass and a turbulent virial mass when possible. Two cores in Lupus I are super-Jeans and contain no known YSOs. One of these cores has a virial parameter of 1.1 ± 0.4, and could therefore be pre-stellar. The high ratio of Class 0/I to Class III YSOs (1:1), and the presence of a pre-stellar core candidate, provides support for the hypothesis that a shock recently triggered star formation in Lupus I

The JCMT Gould Belt Survey : a first look at IC 5146

We present 450 and 850 μm submillimeter continuum observations of the IC 5146 star-forming region taken as part of the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope Gould Belt Survey. We investigate the location of bright submillimeter (clumped) emission with the larger-scale molecular cloud through comparison with extinction maps, and find that these denser structures correlate with higher cloud column density. Ninety-six individual submillimeter clumps are identified using FellWalker, and their physical properties are examined. These clumps are found to be relatively massive, ranging from 0.5 M⊙ to 116 M⊙ with a mean mass of 8 M⊙ and a median mass of 3.7 M⊙ . A stability analysis for the clumps suggests that the majority are (thermally) Jeans stable, with M/Mj < 1. We further compare the locations of known protostars with the observed submillimeter emission, finding that younger protostars, i.e., Class 0 and I sources, are strongly correlated with submillimeter peaks and that the clumps with protostars are among the most Jeans unstable. Finally, we contrast the evolutionary conditions in the two major star-forming regions within IC 5146: the young cluster associated with the Cocoon Nebula and the more distributed star formation associated with the Northern Streamer filaments. The Cocoon Nebula appears to have converted a higher fraction of its mass into dense clumps and protostars, the clumps are more likely to be Jeans unstable, and a larger fraction of these remaining clumps contain embedded protostars. The Northern Streamer, however, has a larger number of clumps in total and a larger fraction of the known protostars are still embedded within these clumps

From Clouds to Young Stellar Objects and back again: the all-in-one view from the Herschel infrared Galactic Plane Survey

From diffuse interstellar cirrus to dense atomic and molecular clouds, from protostellar to post-AGB envelopes, from super-shells to supernovae remnants, the Herschel Hi-GAL survey offer an unprecedented snapshot of all the different phases of the Galactic ISM, its evolution and interactions. I will present early results on a variety of topics including the lifetime of massive pre-stellar phases, the fragmentation and collapse of extended structures, the timeline for massive star formation, dust properties in cirrus and molecular clouds

The Herschel-SPIRE Legacy Survey (HSLS): the scientific goals of a shallow and wide submillimeter imaging survey with SPIRE

White paper supplement to the proposal submitted by the HSLS science team to ESA for Herschel open-time programsA large sub-mm survey with Herschel will enable many exciting science opportunities, especially in an era of wide-field optical and radio surveys and high resolution cosmic microwave background experiments. The Herschel-SPIRE Legacy Survey (HSLS), will lead to imaging data over 4000 sq. degrees at 250, 350, and 500 micron. Major Goals of HSLS are: (a) produce a catalog of 2.5 to 3 million galaxies down to 26, 27 and 33 mJy (50% completeness; 5 sigma confusion noise) at 250, 350 and 500 micron, respectively, in the southern hemisphere (3000 sq. degrees) and in an equatorial strip (1000 sq. degrees), areas which have extensive multi-wavelength coverage and are easily accessible from ALMA. Two thirds of the of the sources are expected to be at z > 1, one third at z > 2 and about a 1000 at z > 5. (b) Remove point source confusion in secondary anisotropy studies with Planck and ground-based CMB data. (c) Find at least 1200 strongly lensed bright sub-mm sources leading to a 2% test of general relativity. (d) Identify 200 proto-cluster regions at z of 2 and perform an unbiased study of the environmental dependence of star formation. (e) Perform an unbiased survey for star formation and dust at high Galactic latitude and make a census of debris disks and dust around AGB stars and white dwarfs