We review the various techniques through which wind properties of massive stars – O stars, AB supergiants, Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs), Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars and cool supergiants – are derived. The wind momentum-luminosity relation (e.g. Kudritzki et al. 1999) provides a method of predicting mass-loss rates of O stars and blue supergiants which is superior to previous parameterizations. Assu...

Yellow band disease (YBD) has had severe impacts on major reef-building corals throughout the Caribbean. Recent data from Bonaire indicates that this disease remains in an epidemic phase showing similar trends compared to the late 1990s. Ten meter belt transects taken at varied depths of Montastraea spp. indicate high indices of yellow band lesions. At 5m depth, yellow band rings and lesions we...

We show that Earth mass planets orbiting stars in the Galactic disk and bulge can be detected by monitoring microlensed stars in the Galactic bulge. The star and its planet act as a binary lens which generates a lightcurve which can differ substantially from the lightcurve due only to the star itself. We show that the planetary signal remains detectable for planetary masses as small as an Earth...

Ni based magnetic shape memory alloys (MSMAs) have broad applications in actuators and MEMS devices. Two-stage stress induced martensitic phase transformation, a widely observed phenomenon in these alloys, is described conventionally as a fi rst stage L21 (austenite)-to-10M/14M (M: modulated martensite) transition, followed by a second stage 14M-to-L10 (tetragonal martensite) transformation at ...

We present results of combined N-body and three-dimensional reionization calculations to determine the relationship between reionization history and local environment in a volume 1 Gpc h−1 across and a resolution of about 1 Mpc. We resolve the formation of about 2× 106 halos of mass greater than ∼ 10M⊙ at z = 0, allowing us to determine the relationship between halo mass and reionization epoch ...

Using a reionization model simultaneously accounting for a number of experimental data sets, we investigate the nature and properties of reionization sources. Such model predicts that hydrogen reionization starts at z ≈ 15, is initially driven by metal-free (PopIII) stars, and is 90% complete by z ≈ 8. We find that a fraction fγ > 80% of the ionizing power at z ≥ 7 comes from haloes of mass M <...

We aimed to investigate whether the addition of whole-body vibration (WBV) resistance training (RT) will be more beneficial in improving lower limbs muscle strength, power and sprinting performance than RT alone young basketball players. recruited 30 players participate four weeks assessments. They were randomized into WBV group (VRTG, n=15) a conventional (RTG, n=15), performed 3 times per wee...

The chemical evolution of the Universe is governed by the chemical yields from stars, which in turn is determined primarily by the initial stellar mass. Even stars as low as 0.9M⊙ can, at low metallicity, contribute to the chemical evolution of elements. Stars less massive than about 10M⊙ experience recurrent mixing events that can significantly change the surface composition of the envelope, w...

Accreting intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) have been proposed as an explanation for ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs). Runaway core collapse inside a massive cluster is a possible mechanism for IMBH formation. But if so, why are ULXs only rarely found associated with a cluster? We use a simple analytical approximation to show that rapid core collapse can occur in two physical regimes. For...

Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images and spectra of the nucleated dwarf elliptical galaxy NGC 205 are combined with 3-integral axisymmetric dynamical models to constrain the massMBH of a putative nuclear black hole. This is only the second attempt, after M33, to use resolved stellar kinematics to search for a nuclear black hole with mass below 10 solar masses. We are unable to identify a best-fi...