Filamentary Accretion Flows in the Embedded Serpens South Protocluster

One puzzle in understanding how stars form in clusters is the source of mass -- is all of the mass in place before the first stars are born, or is there an extended period when the cluster accretes material which can continuously fuel the star formation process? We use a multi-line spectral survey of the southern filament associated with the Serpens South embedded cluster-forming region in order to determine if mass is accreting from the filament onto the cluster, and whether the accretion rate is significant. Our analysis suggests that material is flowing along the filament's long axis at a rate of ~30Msol/Myr (inferred from the N2H+ velocity gradient along the filament), and radially contracting onto the filament at ~130Msol/Myr (inferred from HNC self-absorption). These accretion rates are sufficient to supply mass to the central cluster at a similar rate to the current star formation rate in the cluster. Filamentary accretion flows may therefore be very important in the ongoing evolution of this cluster.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables; accepted for publication in Ap

Feeding the Coffee Habit: A Longitudinal Study of a Robo-Barista

Studying Human-Robot Interaction over time can provide insights into what really happens when a robot becomes part of people's everyday lives. "In the Wild" studies inform the design of social robots, such as for the service industry, to enable them to remain engaging and useful beyond the novelty effect and initial adoption. This paper presents an "In the Wild" experiment where we explored the evolution of interaction between users and a Robo-Barista. We show that perceived trust and prior attitudes are both important factors associated with the usefulness, adaptability and likeability of the Robo-Barista. A combination of interaction features and user attributes are used to predict user satisfaction. Qualitative insights illuminated users' Robo-Barista experience and contribute to a number of lessons learned for future long-term studies.Comment: Author Accepted Manuscript, 8 pages, RO-MAN'23, 32nd IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN), August 2023, Busan, South Kore

Applying the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model of HIV- Risk to Youth in Psychiatric Care

This study examined the utility of cognitive and behavioral constructs (AIDS in-formation, motivation, and behavioral skills) in explaining sexual risk taking among 172 12–20–year-old ethnically diverse urban youths in outpatient psy-chiatric care. Structural equation modeling revealed only moderate support for the model, explaining low to moderate levels of variance in global sexual risk taking. The amount of explained variance improved when age was included as a predictor in the model. Findings shed light on the contribution of AIDS informa-tion, motivation, and behavioral skills to risky sexual behavior among teens re-ceiving outpatient psychiatric care. Results suggest that cognitive and behavioral factors alone may not explain sexual risk taking among teens whose cognitive and emotional deficits (e.g., impaired judgment, poor reality testing, affect dysregulation) interfere with HIV preventive behavior. The most powerful ex-planatory model will likely include a combination of cognitive, behavioral, developmental, social (e.g., family), and personal (e.g., psychopathology) risk mechanisms

Strategic analysis of the drought resilience of water supply systems

Severe droughts can result in shortages of water supplies, with widespread social and economic consequences. Here we use a coupled simulation model to assess the reliability of public water supplies in England, in the context of changing scenarios of water demand, water regulation and climate change. The coupled simulation model combines climate simulations, a national-scale hydrological model and a national-scale water resource systems model to demonstrate how extreme meteorological droughts translate into hydrological droughts and water shortages for water users. We use this model to explore the effectiveness of strategic water resource options that are being planned in England to secure water supplies to most of England's population up to a drought return period of 1 in 500 years. We conclude that it is possible to achieve a 1-in-500-years standard in locations where strategic resource options are used, while also reducing water abstraction to restore the aquatic environment. However, the target will be easier to achieve if effective steps are also taken to reduce water demand. This article is part of the Royal Society Science+ meeting issue ‘Drought risk in the Anthropocene’

Patterns of violence exposure and sexual risk in low-income, urban African American girls.

This study examined the relationship between violence exposure and sexual risk-taking among low-income, urban African American (AA) adolescent girls, considering overlap among different types and characteristics of violence

Age and development of active cryoplanation terraces in the alpine permafrost zone at Svartkampan, Jotunheimen, southern Norway

Schmidt-hammer exposure-age dating (SHD) of boulders on cryoplanation terrace treads and associated bedrock cliff faces revealed Holocene ages ranging from 0 ± 825 to 8890 ± 1185 yr. The cliffs were significantly younger than the inner treads, which tended to be younger than the outer treads. Radiocarbon dates from the regolith of 3854 to 4821 cal yr BP (2σ range) indicated maximum rates of cliff recession of ~0.1 mm/year, which suggests the onset of terrace formation prior to the last glacial maximum. Age, angularity and size of clasts, together with planation across bedrock structures and the seepage of groundwater from the cliff foot, all support a process-based conceptual model of cryoplanation terrace development in which frost weathering leads to parallel cliff recession and hence terrace extension. The availability of groundwater during autumn freeze-back is viewed as critical for frost wedging and/or the growth of segregation ice during prolonged winter frost penetration. Permafrost promotes cryoplanation by providing an impermeable frost table beneath the active layer, focusing groundwater flow, and supplying water for sediment transport by solifluction across the tread. Snowbeds are considered an effect rather than a cause of cryoplanation terraces and cryoplanation is seen as distinct from nivation

Tracing the Roots of Early Sexual Debut Among Adolescents in Psychiatric Care

To identify the most important social and personal characteristics related to early sexual debut among troubled teenagers

‘Stumbling through’? Relationship-based social work practice in austere times

In recent times relationship-based practice has become a familiar term in social work practice and education. Despite its widespread adoption, how relationship-based practice is understood varies widely. Drawing on contemporary conceptualisations of the child and family and individuals as psychosocial subjects experiencing social suffering, this paper explores how current social work practice can be understood in the context of neoliberalism and austerity. Setting these ideas in an historical context helps to inform our understanding as to why social work seems to be the focus of sustained political discontent and scrutiny, making it difficult to retain a balanced relationship-based professional stance. Contemporary responses to the current challenges of everyday practice are outlined and the contribution of psychodynamic and systemic ideas to promoting relationship-based practice is explored. The paper concludes by considering how the concept of social systems as defences against anxiety can inform our understanding of the resistance amongst practitioners to relationship-based practice and emphasises the importance of reflective spaces and places for developing and maintaining integrated, mature relational approaches to practice which impact on practice at both the individual casework and social structural level

High sensitivity of summer temperatures to stratospheric sulfur loading from volcanoes in the Northern Hemisphere

This work was funded by an ERC (European Research Council) Marie Curie Career Integration Grant (CIG14-631752) and a Philip Leverhulme prize in Earth Sciences (PLP-2021-167) from the Leverhulme Trust awarded to A.B. WH is funded by a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (MR/S033505/1). M.S. acknowledges the support of the ERC under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement 820047). H.M.I. and L.C. were both funded by IAPETUS and IAPETUS2 NERC Doctoral Training Partnership. The Tunu2013 and NEEM_2011_S1 ice cores were collected and analyzed for sulfur and other chemical species used to establish the ice core chronologies with funding from NSF grants 1204176 and 0909541 to J.R.M., respectively, and ice cores were sampled with funding from NSF grant 1340174.The 540s, 1450s, and 1600s represent three of the five coldest decades in the Common Era (CE). In each of these cases, the cause of these cold pulses has been attributed to large volcanic eruptions. However, the provenance of the eruption and magnitude of the volcanic forcing remains uncertain. Here, we use high-resolution sulfur isotopes in Greenland and Antarctic ice cores measured across these events to provide a means of improving sulfur loading estimates for these eruptions. In each case, the largest reconstructed tree-ring cooling is associated with an extratropical eruption, and the high-altitude stratospheric sulfate loading of these events is substantially smaller than previous estimates (by up to a factor of two). These results suggest an increased sensitivity of the reconstructed Northern Hemisphere summer temperature response to extratropical eruptions. This highlights the importance of climate feedbacks and processes that amplify and prolong the cooling signal from high latitudes, such as changes in sea ice extent and ocean heat content.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Accurate mitochondrial DNA sequencing using off-target reads provides a single test to identify pathogenic point mutations.

PURPOSE: Mitochondrial disorders are a common cause of inherited metabolic disease and can be due to mutations affecting mitochondrial DNA or nuclear DNA. The current diagnostic approach involves the targeted resequencing of mitochondrial DNA and candidate nuclear genes, usually proceeds step by step, and is time consuming and costly. Recent evidence suggests that variations in mitochondrial DNA sequence can be obtained from whole-exome sequence data, raising the possibility of a comprehensive single diagnostic test to detect pathogenic point mutations. METHODS: We compared the mitochondrial DNA sequence derived from off-target exome reads with conventional mitochondrial DNA Sanger sequencing in 46 subjects. RESULTS: Mitochondrial DNA sequences can be reliably obtained using three different whole-exome sequence capture kits. Coverage correlates with the relative amount of mitochondrial DNA in the original genomic DNA sample, heteroplasmy levels can be determined using variant and total read depths, and-providing there is a minimum read depth of 20-fold-rare sequencing errors occur at a rate similar to that observed with conventional Sanger sequencing. CONCLUSION: This offers the prospect of using whole-exome sequence in a diagnostic setting to screen not only all protein coding nuclear genes but also all mitochondrial DNA genes for pathogenic mutations. Off-target mitochondrial DNA reads can also be used to assess quality control and maternal ancestry, inform on ethnic origin, and allow genetic disease association studies not previously anticipated with existing whole-exome data sets