A new astrophysical solution to the Too Big To Fail problem - Insights from the MoRIA simulations

We test whether advanced galaxy models and analysis techniques of simulations can alleviate the Too Big To Fail problem (TBTF) for late-type galaxies, which states that isolated dwarf galaxy kinematics imply that dwarfs live in lower-mass halos than is expected in a {\Lambda}CDM universe. Furthermore, we want to explain this apparent tension between theory and observations. To do this, we use the MoRIA suite of dwarf galaxy simulations to investigate whether observational effects are involved in TBTF for late-type field dwarf galaxies. To this end, we create synthetic radio data cubes of the simulated MoRIA galaxies and analyse their HI kinematics as if they were real, observed galaxies. We find that for low-mass galaxies, the circular velocity profile inferred from the HI kinematics often underestimates the true circular velocity profile, as derived directly from the enclosed mass. Fitting the HI kinematics of MoRIA dwarfs with a theoretical halo profile results in a systematic underestimate of the mass of their host halos. We attribute this effect to the fact that the interstellar medium of a low-mass late-type dwarf is continuously stirred by supernova explosions into a vertically puffed-up, turbulent state to the extent that the rotation velocity of the gas is simply no longer a good tracer of the underlying gravitational force field. If this holds true for real dwarf galaxies as well, it implies that they inhabit more massive dark matter halos than would be inferred from their kinematics, solving TBTF for late-type field dwarf galaxies.Comment: 21 pages, 21 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A. Corrected certain values in Table

Structure–property relationships of ‘safe’ aromatic oil based passenger car tire tread rubber compounds

In this study, the effect of Treated Distillate Aromatic Extract (TDAE) was investigated in medium styrene/high vinyl solution styrene butadiene rubber (S-SBR) and high cis-polybutadiene rubber (BR). Three properties were evaluated: (i) molecular structure (polarity/aromaticity), (ii) molecular weight and (iii) chemical reactivity of the TDAE oil. The fore-mentioned properties of the oil allow the prediction of its behavior in a rubber compound. It was known from literature that the addition of oil causes a shift in the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the compound [2]. Therefore, the study was focused on the variation in the α-relaxation process or Tg of a rubber compound upon addition of TDAE. The conventional techniques for determination of Tg such as Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) as well as more sophisticated relaxation studies using Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy (BDS) were used to characterize the TDAE-extended S-SBR and BR compounds. Theoretical prediction of the Tg of TDAE-extended compounds was obtained based on the Fox equation for miscible mixtures. Ultimately, the theoretical predictions were correlated with experimental findings

Effect of Aromatic Oil on Phase Dynamics of S-SBR/BR Blends fro Passenger Car Tire Treads

Even though S-SBR/BR blends are commonly used for passenger car tire treads, little is known about the phase dynamics arising from the local morphological heterogeneities. The present study aims at developing the understanding of: (i) the influence of aromatic oil on the dynamics of the individual phases in S-SBR/BR (50/50) blend, and (ii) the partition of the aromatic oil in either phase.\ud S-SBR/BR (50/50) blends with varying concentrations of aromatic oil (0/10/20 phr) were studied. Conventional techniques for the determination of Tg (glass transition temperature or α-relaxation process), such as Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) were of limited use for fulfilling the goal of the present study. Therefore, Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy (BDS), a more sensitive technique to study the α-relaxation process was employed. It was possible to de-convolute the dielectric loss (ε") peak of the vulcanized blends into two super-positioned relaxation processes, α' and α (in increasing order of frequency), which were attributed to the S-SBR and BR phases, respectively. The distinct effective Tg’s (Tgeff) of the S-SBR and BR phases varied with the amount of aromatic oil added. Tgeff of the BR phase was close to the Tg of virgin BR, whereas Tgeff of the S-SBR phase was close to the blend average Tg. This is in accordance with the model for phase dynamics of miscible blends by Lodge and McLeish (2000). With this a deeper insight into the dynamic heterogeneity of traditional S-SBR/BR (50/50) blends is obtained

Sclerotinia rot of rapeseed mustard: A comprehensive review

Indian mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern & Coss.] is one of the major oilseed crops cultivated in India and around the world. It is extensively grown traditionally as a pure crop as well as intercrop (mixed crop) in marginal and sub-marginal soils in the eastern, northern and north western states of India. Cool and moist climate of winter months is the major factor for luxuriant growth and productivity of mustard in these states. Despite considerable increase in productivity and production, a wide gap exists between yield potential and yield realized at farmer’s field, which is largely due to biotic and abiotic stresses. The destructive diseases of rapeseed-mustard include those caused by fungi, bacteria, viruses and phytoplasma. Among them, Sclerotinia stem rot is the most serious fungal disease that causes maximum damage in Indian mustard. This paper reviews the research and development of Sclerotinia rot in rapeseed-mustard during the past years in relation to pathogen taxonomy, biology, epidemiology, disease cycle and management. The paper also attempts to present future outlook and strategy for Sclerotinia rot of rapeseed mustard research

Diet Self-efficacy and Physical Self-concept of College Students at Risk for Eating Disorders

Background: Both eating disorders and body image dissatisfaction affect a high proportion of college students. Self-esteem and self-efficacy may be protective factors for eating disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate diet self-efficacy, the confidence to maintain or lose weight, and its association with physical selfconcept using data from an online survey of health literacy, body image, and eating disorders. Study Population and Methods: This cross-sectional study collected online survey data from college students within the United States. The inclusion criteria allowed for 1612 college students, ages 17-35 years (597 males, 1015 females) belonging to the following racial/ethnic categories: Black (187); White, non-Hispanic (244), Hispanic (1035), and other (146). Specifically, the study aimed to examine (a) whether and to what degree diet self-efficacy and physical self-concept were associated with risk of eating disorders; (b) the interaction of gender by ethnicity on diet self-efficacy, physical self-concept and risk of eating disorders; and, (c) the relationship of diet self-efficacy with physical self-description and body mass index (BMI) in college students. Results:Low diet self-efficacy was associated with a lower score on physical self-concept (B = −0.52 [−0.90, −0.15], P = 0.007). Males had a higher physical self-concept as compared to females (B = 14.0 [8.2, 19.8], P Conclusion: College students in this study who had a poor body image were less confident with diet control. Poorer body image and low diet selfefficacy were associated with higher BMI. These findings suggest lifestyle management interventions may be of value to improve physical self-concept and lower risk of eating disorders for college students

Metastasis-inducing proteins are widely expressed in human brain metastases and associated with intracranial progression and radiation response

Background:Understanding the factors that drive recurrence and radiosensitivity in brain metastases would improve prediction of outcomes, treatment planning and development of therapeutics. We investigated the expression of known metastasis-inducing proteins in human brain metastases.Methods:Immunohistochemistry on metastases removed at neurosurgery from 138 patients to determine the degree and pattern of expression of the proteins S100A4, S100P, AGR2, osteopontin (OPN) and the DNA repair marker FANCD2. Validation of significant findings in a separate prospective series with the investigation of intra-tumoral heterogeneity using image-guided sampling. Assessment of S100A4 expression in brain metastatic and non-metastatic primary breast carcinomas.Results:There was widespread staining for OPN, S100A4, S100P and AGR2 in human brain metastases. Positive staining for S100A4 was independently associated with a shorter time to intracranial progression after resection in multivariate analysis (hazard ratio for negative over positive staining=0.17, 95% CI: 0.04-0.74, P=0.018). S100A4 was expressed at the leading edge of brain metastases in image guided sampling and overexpressed in brain metastatic vs non-brain metastatic primary breast carcinomas. Staining for OPN was associated with a significant increase in survival time after post-operative whole-brain radiotherapy in retrospective (OPN negative 3.43 months, 95% CI: 1.36-5.51 vs OPN positive, 11.20 months 95% CI: 7.68-14.72, Log rank test, P<0.001) and validation populations.Conclusions:Proteins known to be involved in cellular adhesion and migration in vitro, and metastasis in vivo are significantly expressed in human brain metastases and may be useful biomarkers of intracranial progression and radiosensitivity

Parenting style, resilience, and mental health of community-dwelling elderly adults in China

BACKGROUND: Given the increasing elderly population worldwide, the identification of potential determinants of successful ageing is important. Many studies have shown that parenting style and mental resilience may influence mental health; however, little is known about the psychological mechanisms that underpin this relationship. The current study sought to explore the relationships among mental resilience, perceptions of parents’ parenting style, and depression and anxiety among community-dwelling elderly adults in China. METHODS: In total, 439 community-dwelling elderly Chinese adults aged 60–91 years completed the Personal and Parents’ Parenting Style Scale, Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale, Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, and Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale. RESULTS: Elderly adults whose parents preferred positive and authoritative parenting styles had higher levels of mental resilience and lower levels of depression and anxiety. Elderly adults parented in the authoritarian style were found to have higher levels of depression and anxiety, with lower mental resilience. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study provide evidence related to successful ageing and coping with life pressures, and highlight the important effects of parenting on mental health. The results suggest that examination of the proximal determinants of successful ageing is not sufficient—distal factors may also contribute to the ‘success’ of ageing by modifying key psychological dispositions that promote adaptation to adversity. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12877-016-0308-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Modeling and Simulation of Multi-Lane Traffic Flow

A most important aspect in the field of traffic modeling is the simulation of bottleneck situations. For their realistic description a macroscopic multi-lane model for uni-directional freeways including acceleration, deceleration, velocity fluctuations, overtaking and lane-changing maneuvers is systematically deduced from a gas-kinetic (Boltzmann-like) approach. The resulting equations contain corrections with respect to previous models. For efficient computer simulations, a reduced model delineating the coarse-grained temporal behavior is derived and applied to bottleneck situations.Comment: For related work see http://www.theo2.physik.uni-stuttgart.de/helbing.htm

Do the Environmental Approval Conditions Enable the Best Practice EIA Follow-up and Hence Strengthen the EIA System? An Indian Case Study Analysis

The environmental approval for a project is generally granted with a set of terms and conditions to the project proponent. The environmental clearance (EC) letters for 33 infrastructure projects were examined for the relevance, adequacy, and enforceability of the EC conditions. Using the basic tenets of the EIA process, it is found that the long list of irrelevant, inadequate, and unenforceable conditions is greenwash and unsuited for best practice EIA follow-up, hence meeting the EIA objectives. The conditions should be directed at measuring the environmental performance of the project to catalyze achieving sustainability targets. The conditions for stringent supervision and frequent inspection of the site activities in the construction phase could help ensure the implementation of the proposed mitigation measures for infrastructure projects. A comprehensive environmental impact assessment framework may use the principles of the ABC analysis to prioritize the properly specified EC conditions, resource allocation, and stakeholder engagement for the best practice EIA follow-up and hence strengthen the EIA system