The 2013 Pennington Biomedical Research Center's Scientific Symposium focused on the treatment and management of pediatric obesity and was designed to (i) review recent scientific advances in the ...prevention, clinical treatment and management of pediatric obesity, (ii) integrate the latest published and unpublished findings and (iii) explore how these advances can be integrated into clinical and public health approaches. The symposium provided an overview of important new advances in the field, which led to several recommendations for incorporating the scientific evidence into practice. The science presented covered a range of topics related to pediatric obesity, including the role of genetic differences, epigenetic events influenced by in utero development, pre-pregnancy maternal obesity status, maternal nutrition and maternal weight gain on developmental programming of adiposity in offspring. Finally, the relative merits of a range of various behavioral approaches targeted at pediatric obesity were covered, together with the specific roles of pharmacotherapy and bariatric surgery in pediatric populations. In summary, pediatric obesity is a very challenging problem that is unprecedented in evolutionary terms; one which has the capacity to negate many of the health benefits that have contributed to the increased longevity observed in the developed world.
Molecules with hyperfine splitting of their rotational line spectra are useful probes of optical depth, via the relative line strengths of their hyperfine components. The hyperfine splitting is ...particularly advantageous in interpreting the physical conditions of the emitting gas because with a second rotational transition, both gas density and temperature can be derived. For HCN however, the relative strengths of the hyperfine lines are anomalous. They appear in ratios which can vary significantly from source to source, and are inconsistent with local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE). This is the HCN hyperfine anomaly, and it prevents the use of simple LTE models of HCN emission to derive reliable optical depths. In this paper, we demonstrate how to model HCN hyperfine line emission, and derive accurate line ratios, spectral line shapes and optical depths. We show that by carrying out radiative transfer calculations over each hyperfine level individually, as opposed to summing them over each rotational level, the anomalous hyperfine emission emerges naturally. To do this requires not only accurate radiative rates between hyperfine states, but also accurate collisional rates. We investigate the effects of different sets of hyperfine collisional rates, derived via the proportional method and through direct recoupling calculations. Through an extensive parameter sweep over typical low-mass star-forming conditions, we show the HCN line ratios to be highly variable to optical depth. We also reproduce an observed effect whereby the red-blue asymmetry of the hyperfine lines (an infall signature) switches sense within a single rotational transition.
Context. Classical novae are eruptions on the surface of a white dwarf in a binary system. The material ejected from the white dwarf surface generally forms an axisymmetric shell of gas and dust ...around the system. The three-dimensional structure of these shells is difficult to untangle when viewed on the plane of the sky. In this work a geometrical model is developed to explain new observations of the 2015 nova V5668 Sagittarii. Aim. We aim to better understand the early evolution of classical nova shells in the context of the relationship between polarisation, photometry, and spectroscopy in the optical regime. To understand the ionisation structure in terms of the nova shell morphology and estimate the emission distribution directly following the light curve’s dust-dip. Methods. High-cadence optical polarimetry and spectroscopy observations of a nova are presented. The ejecta is modelled in terms of morpho-kinematics and photoionisation structure. Results. Initially observational results are presented, including broadband polarimetry and spectroscopy of V5668 Sgr nova during eruption. Variability over these observations provides clues towards the evolving structure of the nova shell. The position angle of the shell is derived from polarimetry, which is attributed to scattering from small dust grains. Shocks in the nova outflow are suggested in the photometry and the effect of these on the nova shell are illustrated with various physical diagnostics. Changes in density and temperature as the super soft source phase of the nova began are discussed. Gas densities are found to be of the order of 109 cm−3 for the nova in its auroral phase. The blackbody temperature of the central stellar system is estimated to be around 2.2 × 105 K at times coincident with the super soft source turn-on. It was found that the blend around 4640 Å commonly called “nitrogen flaring” is more naturally explained as flaring of the O II multiplet (V1) from 4638–4696 Å, i.e. “oxygen flaring”. Conclusions. V5668 Sgr (2015) was a remarkable nova of the DQ Her class. Changes in absolute polarimetric and spectroscopic multi-epoch observations lead to interpretations of physical characteristics of the nova’s evolving outflow. The high densities that were found early-on combined with knowledge of the system’s behaviour at other wavelengths and polarimetric measurements strongly suggest that the visual “cusps” are due to radiative shocks between fast and slow ejecta that destroy and create dust seed nuclei cyclically.
HCN is becoming a popular choice of molecule for studying star formation in both low- and high-mass regions and for other astrophysical sources from comets to high-redshift galaxies. However, a major ...and often overlooked difficulty with HCN is that it can exhibit dramatic non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) behaviour in its hyperfine line structure. Individual hyperfine lines can be strongly boosted or suppressed. In low-mass star-forming cloud observations, this could possibly lead to large errors in the calculation of opacity and excitation temperature, while in massive star-forming clouds, where the hyperfine lines are partially blended due to turbulent broadening, errors will arise in infall measurements that are based on the separation of the peaks in a self-absorbed profile. This is because the underlying line shape cannot be known for certain if hyperfine anomalies are present. We present a first observational investigation of these anomalies across a wide range of conditions and transitions by carrying out a survey of low-mass starless cores (in Taurus and Ophiuchus) and high-mass protostellar objects (in the G333 giant molecular cloud) using hydrogen cyanide (HCN)
and
emission lines. We quantify the degree of anomaly in these two rotational levels by considering ratios of individual hyperfine lines compared to LTE values. We find that all the cores observed demonstrate some degree of anomaly while many of the lines are severely anomalous. We conclude that HCN hyperfine anomalies are common in both lines in both low-mass and high-mass protostellar objects, and we discuss the differing hypotheses for the generation of the anomalies. In light of the results, we favour a line overlap effect for the origins of the anomalies. We discuss the implications for the use of HCN as a dynamical tracer and suggest in particular that the
hyperfine line should be avoided in quantitative calculations.
Three bright molecular line sources in G333 have recently been shown to exhibit signatures of infall. We describe a molecular line radiative transfer (RT) modelling process which is required to ...extract the infall signature from Mopra and Nanten2 data. The observed line profiles differ greatly between individual sources but are reproduced well by variations upon a common unified model where the outflow viewing angle is the most significant difference between the sources. The models and data together suggest that the observed properties of the high-mass star-forming regions such as infall, turbulence and mass are consistent with scaled-up versions of the low-mass case with turbulent velocities that are supersonic and an order of magnitude larger than those found in low-mass star-forming regions. Using detailed RT modelling, we show that the G333 cores are essentially undergoing a scaled-up version of low-mass star formation. This is an extension of earlier work in that the degree of infall and the chemical abundances are constrained by the RT modelling in a way that is not practical with a standard analysis of observational data. We also find high velocity infall and high infall mass rates, possibly suggesting accelerated collapse due to external pressure. Molecular depletion due to freeze-out on to dust grains in central regions of the cores is suggested by low molecular abundances of several species. Strong evidence for a local enhancement of 13C-bearing species towards the outflow cloud cores is discussed, consistent with the presence of shocks caused by the supersonic motions within them.
Guidelines are presented for the organisational and clinical peri-operative management of anaesthesia and surgery for patients who are obese, along with a summary of the problems that obesity may ...cause peri-operatively. The advice presented is based on previously published advice, clinical studies and expert opinion.
Many seabirds in the North Sea feed on lesser sandeelsAmmodytes marinusduring the breeding season. Unprecedented breeding failures were recorded at many seabird colonies on the east coast of Britain ...in 2004. We used demographic, dietary and behavioural data from a long-term study of a colony of common guillemotsUria aalge, the most abundant seabird species in the North Sea, to set the 2004 season in context. Birds at this colony showed greatly reduced breeding success and those chicks that did survive left the colony in very poor condition. The main prey item fed to chicks in 2004 was spratSprattus sprattusrather than sandeels, and parents increased the amount of time spent foraging, frequently leaving chicks unattended in order to maintain a normal feeding rate. The calculated daily food intake of chicks derived from these values did not differ markedly from previous years and therefore the magnitude of the impact on chick growth and breeding success appeared disproportionately large. However, nutrient analyses of fish collected from birds in 2004 revealed them to be of significantly lower energy value than expected. Poor food quality therefore appeared to be the proximate cause of seabird breeding failure in 2004 giving support to the ’junk-food’ hypothesis. Single-prey loaders such as guillemots will be particularly sensitive to reductions in the energy value of food items. The reasons for the poor fish condition in this part of the North Sea are currently unknown, but the results provide further evidence of major changes in the North Sea food web.
Abell 14 is a poorly studied object despite being considered a born-again planetary nebula. We performed a detailed study of its 3D morphology and ionization structure using the shape and mocassin ...codes. We found that Abell 14 is a highly evolved, bipolar nebula with a kinematical age of ∼19 400 yr for a distance of 4 kpc. The high He abundance, and N/O ratio indicate a progenitor of 5 M⊙ that has experienced the third dredge-up and hot bottom burning phases. The stellar parameters of the central source reveal a star at a highly evolved stage near to the white dwarf cooling track, being inconsistent with the born-again scenario. The nebula shows unexpectedly strong N i λ5200 and O i λ6300 emission lines indicating possible shock interactions. Abell 14 appears to be a member of a small group of highly evolved, extreme type-I planetary nebulae (PNe). The members of this group lie at the lower-left corner of the PNe regime on the N ii/Hα versus S ii/Hα diagnostic diagram, where shock-excited regions/objects are also placed. The low luminosity of their central stars, in conjunction with the large physical size of the nebulae, result in a very low photoionization rate, which can make any contribution of shock interaction easily perceptible, even for small velocities.
Aims. The shaping mechanisms of old nova remnants are probes for several important and unexplained processes, such as dust formation and the structure of evolved star nebulae. To gain a more complete ...understanding of the dynamics of the GK Per (1901) remnant, an examination of symmetry of the nova shell is explored, followed by a kinematical analysis of the previously detected jet-like feature in the context of the surrounding fossil planetary nebula. Methods. Faint-object high-resolution echelle spectroscopic observations and imaging were undertaken covering the knots which comprise the nova shell and the surrounding nebulosity. New imaging from the Aristarchos telescope in Greece and long-slit spectra from the Manchester Echelle Spectrometer instrument at the San Pedro Mártir observatory in Mexico were obtained, supplemented with archival observations from several other optical telescopes. Position-velocity arrays are produced of the shell, and also individual knots, and are then used for morpho-kinematic modelling with the shape code. The overall structure of the old knotty nova shell of GK Per and the planetary nebula in which it is embedded is then analysed. Results. Evidence is found for the interaction of knots with each other and with a wind component, most likely the periodic fast wind emanating from the central binary system. We find that a cylindrical shell with a lower velocity polar structure gives the best model fit to the spectroscopy and imaging. We show in this work that the previously seen jet-like feature is of low velocity. Conclusions. The individual knots have irregular tail shapes; we propose here that they emanate from episodic winds from ongoing dwarf nova outbursts by the central system. The nova shell is cylindrical, not spherical, and the symmetry axis relates to the inclination of the central binary system. Furthermore, the cylinder axis is aligned with the long axis of the bipolar planetary nebula in which it is embedded. Thus, the central binary system is responsible for the bipolarity of the planetary nebula and the cylindrical nova shell. The gradual planetary nebula ejecta versus sudden nova ejecta is the reason for the different degrees of bipolarity. We propose that the “jet” feature is an illuminated lobe of the fossil planetary nebula that surrounds the nova shell.
We present molecular line imaging observations of three massive molecular outflow sources, G333.6–0.2, G333.1–0.4, and G332.8–0.5, all of which also show evidence for infall, within the G333 giant ...molecular cloud (GMC). All three are within a beam size (36 arcsec) of IRAS sources, 1.2-mm dust clumps, various masing species, and radio continuum-detected H ii regions and hence are associated with high-mass star formation. We present the molecular line data and derive the physical properties of the outflows including the mass, kinematics, and energetics and discuss the inferred characteristics of their driving sources. Outflow masses are of 10–40 M⊙ in each lobe, with core masses of the order of 103 M⊙. Outflow size scales are a few tenth of a parsec, time-scales are of several ×104 years, mass-loss rates a few ×10−4 M⊙ yr−1. We also find the cores are turbulent and highly supersonic.
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