Chromospheric swirls I. Automated detection in Hα\alpha observations and their statistical properties

Chromospheric swirls are considered to play a significant role in the dynamics and heating of the upper solar atmosphere. It is important to automatically detect and track them in chromospheric observations and determine their properties. We applied a recently developed automated chromospheric swirl detection method to time-series observations of a quiet region of the solar chromosphere obtained in the H$\alpha$-0.2 \r{A} wavelength of the H$\alpha$ spectral line by the CRISP instrument at the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope. The algorithm exploits the morphological characteristics of swirling events in high contrast chromospheric observations and results in the detection of these structures in each frame of the time series and their tracking over time. We conducted a statistical analysis to determine their various properties, including a survival analysis for deriving the mean lifetime. A mean number of 146 $\pm$ 9 swirls was detected within the FOV at any given time. The mean surface density is found equal to $\sim$0.08 swirls$$Mm$^{-2}$ and the occurrence rate is $\sim$10$^{-2}$ swirls$$Mm$^{-2}$ min$^{-1}$. These values are much higher than those previously reported from chromospheric observations. The radii of the detected swirls range between 0.5 and 2.5 Mm, with a mean value equal to 1.3 $\pm$ 0.3 Mm, which is slightly higher than previous reports. The lifetimes range between 1.5 min and 33.7 min with an arithmetic mean value of $\sim$8.5 min. A survival analysis of the lifetimes, however, using the Kaplan-Meier estimator in combination with a parametric model results in a mean lifetime of 10.3 $\pm$ 0.6 min. An automated method sheds more light on their abundance than visual inspection, while higher cadence, higher resolution observations will most probably result in the detection of a higher number of such features on smaller scales and with shorter lifetimes

Vortex Motions in the Solar Atmosphere: Definitions, Theory, Observations, and Modelling

Vortex flows, related to solar convective turbulent dynamics at granular scales and their interplay with magnetic fields within intergranular lanes, occur abundantly on the solar surface and in the atmosphere above. Their presence is revealed in high-resolution and high-cadence solar observations from the ground and from space and with state-of-the-art magnetoconvection simulations. Vortical flows exhibit complex characteristics and dynamics, excite a wide range of different waves, and couple different layers of the solar atmosphere, which facilitates the channeling and transfer of mass, momentum and energy from the solar surface up to the low corona. Here we provide a comprehensive review of documented research and new developments in theory, observations, and modelling of vortices over the past couple of decades after their observational discovery, including recent observations in Hα, innovative detection techniques, diverse hydrostatic modelling of waves and forefront magnetohydrodynamic simulations incorporating effects of a non-ideal plasma. It is the first systematic overview of solar vortex flows at granular scales, a field with a plethora of names for phenomena that exhibit similarities and differences and often interconnect and rely on the same physics. With the advent of the 4-m Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope and the forthcoming European Solar Telescope, the ongoing Solar Orbiter mission, and the development of cutting-edge simulations, this review timely addresses the state-of-the-art on vortex flows and outlines both theoretical and observational future research directions

Body size estimation in women with anorexia nervosa and healthy controls using 3D avatars

A core feature of anorexia nervosa is an over-estimation of body size. However, quantifying this over-estimation has been problematic as existing methodologies introduce a series of artefacts and inaccuracies in the stimuli used for judgements of body size. To overcome these problems, we have: (i) taken 3D scans of 15 women who have symptoms of anorexia (referred to henceforth as anorexia spectrum disorders, ANSD) and 15 healthy control women, (ii) used a 3D modelling package to build avatars from the scans, (iii) manipulated the body shapes of these avatars to reflect biometrically accurate, continuous changes in body mass index (BMI), (iv) used these personalized avatars as stimuli to allow the women to estimate their body size. The results show that women who are currently receiving treatment for ANSD show an over-estimation of body size which rapidly increases as their own BMI increases. By contrast, the women acting as healthy controls can accurately estimate their body size irrespective of their own BMI. This study demonstrates the viability of combining 3D scanning and CGI techniques to create personalised realistic avatars of individual patients to directly assess their body image perception

Vortex motions in the solar atmosphere

Vortex flows, related to solar convective turbulent dynamics at granular scales and their interplay with magnetic fields within intergranular lanes, occur abundantly on the solar surface and in the atmosphere above. Their presence is revealed in high-resolution and high-cadence solar observations from the ground and from space and with state-of-the-art magnetoconvection simulations. Vortical flows exhibit complex characteristics and dynamics, excite a wide range of different waves, and couple different layers of the solar atmosphere, which facilitates the channeling and transfer of mass, momentum and energy from the solar surface up to the low corona. Here we provide a comprehensive review of documented research and new developments in theory, observations, and modelling of vortices over the past couple of decades after their observational discovery, including recent observations in Hα , innovative detection techniques, diverse hydrostatic modelling of waves and forefront magnetohydrodynamic simulations incorporating effects of a non-ideal plasma. It is the first systematic overview of solar vortex flows at granular scales, a field with a plethora of names for phenomena that exhibit similarities and differences and often interconnect and rely on the same physics. With the advent of the 4-m Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope and the forthcoming European Solar Telescope, the ongoing Solar Orbiter mission, and the development of cutting-edge simulations, this review timely addresses the state-of-the-art on vortex flows and outlines both theoretical and observational future research directions

Is food addiction a predictor of treatment outcome among patients with eating disorder?

ObjectivesThe study aimed to examine whether food addiction (FA) was associated with greater severity in both binge eating disorders (BED) and bulimia nervosa and, therefore, to determine if FA was predictive of treatment outcome.MethodSeventy-one adult patients with bulimia nervosa and BED (42 and 29, respectively) participated in the study. FA was assessed by means of the Yale Food Addiction Scale.ResultsThe results confirmed a high prevalence of FA in patients with binge disorders (around 87%) and also its association with a greater severity of the disorder (i.e., related to an increased eating psychopathology and greater frequency of binge eating episodes). Although FA did not appear as a predictor of treatment outcome in general terms, when the diagnostic subtypes were considered separately, FA was associated with poor prognosis in the BED group. In this vein, FA appeared as a mediator in the relationship between ED severity and treatment outcome.DiscussionsOur findings suggest that FA may act as an indicator of ED severity, and it would be a predictor of treatment outcome in BED but not in BN.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152018/1/erv2705.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152018/2/erv2705_am.pd

Childhood trauma, life-time self-harm, and suicidal behaviour and ideation are associated with polygenic scores for autism

Abstract: Autistic individuals experience significantly elevated rates of childhood trauma, self-harm and suicidal behaviour and ideation (SSBI). Is this purely the result of negative environmental experiences, or does this interact with genetic predisposition? In this study we investigated if a genetic predisposition for autism is associated with childhood trauma using polygenic scores (PGS) and genetic correlations in the UK Biobank (105,222 < N < 105,638), and tested potential mediators and moderators of the association between autism, childhood trauma and SSBI. Autism PGS were significantly associated with childhood trauma (max R2 = 0.096%, P < 2 × 10−16), self-harm ideation (max R2 = 0.108%, P < 2 × 10−16), and self-harm (max R2 = 0.13%, P < 2 × 10−16). Supporting this, we identified significant genetic correlations between autism and childhood trauma (rg = 0.36 ± 0.05, P = 8.13 × 10−11), self-harm ideation (rg = 0.49 ± 0.05, P = 4.17 × 10−21) and self-harm (rg = 0.48 ± 0.05, P = 4.58 × 10−21), and an over-transmission of PGS for the two SSBI phenotypes from parents to autistic probands. Male sex negatively moderated the effect of autism PGS on childhood trauma (β = −0.023 ± 0.005, P = 6.74 × 10−5). Further, childhood trauma positively moderated the effect of autism PGS on self-harm score (β = 8.37 × 10−3 ± 2.76 × 10−3, P = 2.42 × 10−3) and self-harm ideation (β = 7.47 × 10−3 ± 2.76 × 10−3, P = 6.71 × 10−3). Finally, depressive symptoms, quality and frequency of social interactions, and educational attainment were significant mediators of the effect of autism PGS on SSBI, with the proportion of effect mediated ranging from 0.23 (95% CI: 0.09–0.32) for depression to 0.008 (95% CI: 0.004–0.01) for educational attainment. Our findings identify that a genetic predisposition for autism is associated with adverse life-time outcomes, which represent complex gene-environment interactions, and prioritizes potential mediators and moderators of this shared biology. It is important to identify sources of trauma for autistic individuals in order to reduce their occurrence and impact

Automated Detection of Chromospheric Swirls Based on Their Morphological Characteristics

High-resolution observations have revealed that rotating structures known as “chromospheric swirls” are ubiquitous in the solar chromosphere. These structures have circular or spiral shapes, are present across a broad range of spatial and temporal scales and are considered as viable candidates for providing an alternative mechanism for the heating of the chromosphere and corona. Therefore, an accurate determination of their number and a statistical study of their physical properties are deemed necessary. In this work we present a novel, automated swirl detection method, which utilizes image pre-processing, curved structure tracing and machine learning techniques that allow for the detection of swirling events based on their morphological features as they appear in chromosphere filtergrams. The method is applied to Hα chromospheric spectral line images obtained by the CRisp Imaging Spectropolarimeter (CRISP) at the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST). It is also tested on grayscale images of vortical sea current flows represented/visualized by synthetic streamlines from the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio. The results are rather encouraging since swirling events are successfully identified. Further improvements of the algorithm, its prospects for the detection and statistical studies of the properties of these events using a wide range of imaging data and its potential application in other scientific fields for the detection of rotating motions are discussed. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. part of Springer Nature