The APM Survey for Cool Carbon Stars in the Galactic Halo - II The Search for Dwarf Carbon Stars

We present proper motion measurements for carbon stars found during the APM Survey for Cool Carbon Stars in the Galactic Halo (Totten & Irwin, 1998). Measurements are obtained using a combination of POSSI, POSSII and UKST survey plates supplemented where necessary by CCD frames taken at the Isaac Newton Telescope. We find no significant proper motion for any of the new APM colour-selected carbon stars and so conclude that there are no dwarf carbon stars present within this sample. We also present proper motion measurements for three previously known dwarf carbon stars and demonstrate that these measurements agree favourably with those previously quoted in the literature, verifying our method of determining proper motions. Results from a complimentary program of JHK photometry obtained at the South African Astronomical Observatory are also presented. Dwarf carbon stars are believed to have anomalous near-infrared colours, and this feature is used for further investigation of the nature of the APM carbon stars. Our results support the use of JHK photomtery as a dwarf/giant discriminator and also reinforce the conclusion that none of the new APM-selected carbon stars are dwarfs. Finally, proper motion measurements combined with extant JHK photometry are presented for a sample of previously known Halo carbon stars, suggesting that one of these stars, CLS29, is likely to be a previously unrecognised dwarf carbon star.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS, Also available at http://www.astro.keele.ac.uk/~ejt/publications.htm

Multiple Tills Near Shenandoah, Richland County, Ohio

Author Institution: Department of Geology, Hanover College, Hanover, IndianaNear Shenandoah, in Richland County, is a geologic section that exposes ten different till units with some intercalated sand and gravel, and some evidence of weathering. The three uppermost tills correlate with the Hayesville, Navarre, and Millbrook Tills of the Killbuck Lobe, which are of Wisconsin age. The remaining seven till units occur below the oldest-named till in the Killbuck Lobe, the Millbrook Till, and are different from any other tills in the area. No definite age is inferred for any of these lower units. However, a 43^2-ft noncalcareous weathered sand between two of the lower tills may represent a major retreat of the ice, possibly the Sangamon Interglacial stage

Observations of Emergent Literary Behaviors in a Literacy-Enriched Play Environment: Does Teacher Guidance Make a Difference?

This study was completed to investigate whether there are differences in emergent literacy behaviors between a teacher guided literacy-enriched play environment and a literacy-enriched play environment without teacher guidance. This study occurred over a five week period. During the first week, base-line data were collected using qualitative naturalistic observations where literacy behaviors were recorded during spontaneous play. The play area was literacy-enriched with play centers, environmental print, and literacy props. Six four-year olds were exposed to the environment for a half hour daily. During the first week of treatment, three of the subjects received teacher guidance / modeling while they played. These three subjects experienced the literacy-enriched environment without teacher guidance at a different time than the treatment group. After three weeks of exposure to the redesigned play environment, observations of the children\u27s literacy behaviors were noted while they played in the enriched environment. Qualitative naturalistic observations of children\u27s literacy behaviors were used to compare the treatment and control groups. There were differences in literacy behaviors between the experimental and control groups

The discovery of a low mass, pre-main-sequence stellar association around gamma Velorum

We report the serendipitous discovery of a population of low mass, pre-main sequence stars (PMS) in the direction of the Wolf-Rayet/O-star binary system gamma^{2} Vel and the Vela OB2 association. We argue that gamma^{2} Vel and the low mass stars are truly associated, are approximately coeval and that both are at distances between 360-490 pc, disagreeing at the 2 sigma level with the recent Hipparcos parallax of gamma^{2} Vel, but consistent with older distance estimates. Our results clearly have implications for the physical parameters of the gamma^{2} Vel system, but also offer an exciting opportunity to investigate the influence of high mass stars on the mass function and circumstellar disc lifetimes of their lower mass PMS siblings.Comment: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Letters - in pres

Multi-lectin Affinity Chromatography and Quantitative Proteomic Analysis Reveal Differential Glycoform Levels between Prostate Cancer and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Sera.

Currently prostate-specific antigen is used for prostate cancer (PCa) screening, however it lacks the necessary specificity for differentiating PCa from other diseases of the prostate such as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), presenting a clinical need to distinguish these cases at the molecular level. Protein glycosylation plays an important role in a number of cellular processes involved in neoplastic progression and is aberrant in PCa. In this study, we systematically interrogate the alterations in the circulating levels of hundreds of serum proteins and their glycoforms in PCa and BPH samples using multi-lectin affinity chromatography and quantitative mass spectrometry-based proteomics. Specific lectins (AAL, PHA-L and PHA-E) were used to target and chromatographically separate core-fucosylated and highly-branched protein glycoforms for analysis, as differential expression of these glycan types have been previously associated with PCa. Global levels of CD5L, CFP, C8A, BST1, and C7 were significantly increased in the PCa samples. Notable glycoform-specific alterations between BPH and PCa were identified among proteins CD163, C4A, and ATRN in the PHA-L/E fraction and among C4BPB and AZGP1 glycoforms in the AAL fraction. Despite these modest differences, substantial similarities in glycoproteomic profiles were observed between PCa and BPH sera