A global climatology for equatorial plasma bubbles in the topside ionosphere

We have developed a global climatology of equatorial plasma bubble (EPB) occurrence based on evening sector plasma density measurements from polar-orbiting Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft during 1989-2004. EPBs are irregular plasma density depletions in the post-sunset ionosphere that degrade communication and navigation signals. More than 14400 EPBs were identified in ~134000 DMSP orbits. DMSP observations basically agree with Tsunoda's (1985) hypothesis that EPB rates peak when the terminator is aligned with the Earth's magnetic field, but there are also unpredicted offsets in many longitude sectors. We present an updated climatology for the full database from 1989-2004 along with new plots for specific phases of the solar cycle: maximum 1989-1992 and 1999-2002, minimum 1994-1997, and transition years 1993, 1998, and 2003. As expected, there are significant differences between the climatologies for solar maximum and minimum and between the two solar maximum phases as well. We also compare DMSP F12, F14, F15, and F16 observations at slightly different local times during 2000-2004 to examine local time effects on EPB rates. The global climatologies developed using the DMSP EPB database provide an environmental context for the long-range prediction tools under development for the Communication/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) mission

Evidence of a Metal Rich Galactic Bar from the Vertex Deviation of the Velocity Ellipsoid

We combine radial velocities, proper motions, and low resolution abundances for a sample of 315 K and M giants in the Baade's Window (l,b)=(0.9,-4) Galactic bulge field. The velocity ellipsoid of stars with [Fe/H]>-0.5 dex shows a vertex deviation in the plot of radial versus transverse velocity, consistent with that expected from a population with orbits supporting a bar. We demonstrate that the significance of this vertex deviation using non-parametric rank correlation statistic is >99%. The velocity ellipsoid for the metal poor ([FeH]<-0.5) part of the population shows no vertex deviation and is consistent with an isotropic, oblate rotating population. We find no evidence for kinematic subgroups, but there is a mild tendency for the vertical velocity dispersion sigma_b to decrease with increasing metallicity.Comment: 4 pages, ApJ Letters, submitte

The Effects of Diffuse Ionized Gas and Spatial Resolution on Metallicity Gradients: TYPHOON Two-Dimensional Spectrophotometry of M83

We present a systematic study of the diffuse ionized gas (DIG) in M83 and its effects on the measurement of metallicity gradients at varying resolution scales. Using spectrophotometric data cubes of M83 obtained at the 2.5m duPont telescope at Las Campanas Observatory as part of the TYPHOON program, we separate the HII regions from the DIG using the [SII]/H$\alpha$ ratio, HIIphot (HII finding algorithm) and the H$\alpha$ surface brightness. We find that the contribution to the overall H$\alpha$ luminosity is approximately equal for the HII and DIG regions. The data is then rebinned to simulate low-resolution observations at varying resolution scales from 41 pc up to 1005 pc. Metallicity gradients are measured using five different metallicity diagnostics at each resolution. We find that all metallicity diagnostics used are affected by the inclusion of DIG to varying degrees. We discuss the reasons of why the metallicity gradients are significantly affected by DIG using the HII dominance and emission line ratio radial profiles. We find that applying the [SII]/H$\alpha$ cut will provide a closer estimate of the true metallicity gradient up to a resolution of 1005 pc for all metallicity diagnostics used in this study.Comment: 26 pages, 12 figures + Appendix/Supplementary Material, accepted for publication by MNRA

Starburst-AGN mixing: TYPHOON observations of NGC 1365, NGC 1068, and the effect of spatial resolution on the AGN fraction

We demonstrate a robust method of resolving the star-formation and AGN contributions to emission lines using two very well known AGN systems: NGC 1365, and NGC 1068, using the high spatial resolution data from the TYPHOON/PrISM survey. We expand the previous method of calculating the AGN fraction by using theoretical-based model grids rather than empirical points. The high spatial resolution of the TYPHOON/PrISM observations show evidence of both star formation and AGN activity occurring in the nuclei of the two galaxies. We rebin the data to the lower resolutions, typically found in other integral field spectroscopy surveys such as SAMI, MaNGA, and CALIFA. The results show that when rebinned from the native resolution of TYPHOON (< 200 pc/pixel) to 1 kpc/pixel, the effects include a roughly 3 kpc increase in the radius of measured AGN activity, and a factor of 2 to 7 increase in the detection of low surface brightness features such as shocks. All of this information is critical, because information on certain physical processes may be lost at varying resolutions. We make recommendations for analysing data at current IFU survey resolutions.Comment: 30 pages, 28 figures, accepted for publication by MNRA

HST/NICMOS Observations of Massive Stellar Clusters Near the Galactic Center

We report Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Near-infrared Camera and Multi-object Spectrometer (NICMOS) observations of the Arches and Quintuplet clusters, two extraordinary young clusters near the Galactic Center. For the first time, we have identified main sequence stars in the Galactic Center with initial masses well below 10 Msun. We present the first determination of the initial mass function (IMF) for any population in the Galactic Center, finding an IMF slope which is significantly more positive (Gamma approx -0.65) than the average for young clusters elsewhere in the Galaxy (Gamma approx -1.4). The apparent turnoffs in the color-magnitude diagrams suggest cluster ages which are consistent with the ages implied by the mixture of spectral types in the clusters; we find tau(age) approx 2+/-1 Myr for the Arches cluster, and tau(age) approx 4+/-1 Myr for the Quintuplet. We estimate total cluster masses by adding the masses of observed stars down to the 50% completeness limit, and then extrapolating down to a lower mass cutoff of 1 Msun. Using this method, we find > 10^4 Msun for the total mass of the Arches cluster. Such a determination for the Quintuplet cluster is complicated by the double-valued mass-magnitude relationship for clusters with ages > 3 Myr. We find a lower limit of 6300 Msun for the total cluster mass, and suggest a best estimate of twice this value which accounts for the outlying members of the cluster. Both clusters have masses which place them as the two most massive clusters in the Galaxy.Comment: accepted by ApJ higher resolution versions of figures 1 and 2 can be found at: ftp://quintup.astro.ucla.edu/nicmos1

Long-term safety and efficacy of trifarotene 50 μg/g cream, a first-in-class RAR-γ selective topical retinoid, in patients with moderate facial and truncal acne.

BackgroundTreatment for both facial and truncal acne has not sufficiently been studied.ObjectivesTo evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of trifarotene in both facial and truncal acne.MethodsIn a multicentre, open-label, 52-week study, patients with moderate facial and truncal acne received trifarotene 50 μg/g cream (trifarotene). Assessments included local tolerability, safety, investigator and physician's global assessments (IGA, PGA) and quality of life (QOL). A validated QOL questionnaire was completed by the patient at Baseline, Week 12, 26 and 52/ET.ResultsOf 453 patients enrolled, 342 (75.5%) completed the study. Trifarotene-related treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were reported in 12.6% of patients, and none was serious. Most related TEAEs were cutaneous and occurred during the first 3 months. Signs and symptoms of local tolerability were mostly mild or moderate and severe signs, and symptoms were reported for 2.2% to 7.1% of patients for the face and 2.5% to 5.4% for the trunk. Local irritation increased during the first week of treatment on the face and up to Weeks 2 to 4 on the trunk with both decreasing thereafter. At Week 12, IGA and PGA success rates were 26.6% and 38.6%, respectively. Success rates increased to 65.1% and 66.9%, respectively at Week 52. Overall success (both IGA and PGA success in the same patient) was 57.9% at Week 52. At Week 52 visit, 92/171 (53.8%) patients who had completed their assessments had scores from 0 to 1 (i.e. no effect of acne on their QOL) vs. 47/208 (22.6%) patients at Baseline visit.ConclusionIn this 52-week study, trifarotene was safe, well tolerated and effective in moderate facial and truncal acne

The First Empirical Mass Loss Law for Population II Giants

Using the Spitzer IRAC camera we have obtained mid-IR photometry of the red giant branch stars in the Galactic globular cluster 47 Tuc. About 100 stars show an excess of mid-infrared light above that expected from their photospheric emission. This is plausibly due to dust formation in mass flowing from these stars. This mass loss extends down to the level of the horizontal branch and increases with luminosity. The mass loss is episodic, occurring in only a fraction of stars at a given luminosity. Using a simple model and our observations we derive mass loss rates for these stars. Finally, we obtain the first empirical mass loss formula calibrated with observations of Population II stars. The dependence on luminosity of our mass loss rate is considerably shallower than the widely used Reimers Law. The results presented here are the first from our Spitzer survey of a carefully chosen sample of 17 Galactic Globular Clusters, spanning the entire metallicity range from about one hundredth up to almost solar