2,785 research outputs found
Effective Improvement of Symptoms in Patients with Acute Migraine by GR43175 Administered in Dispersible Tablets
GR43175, a selective 5-HT1-like agonist, was administered as oral dispersible tablets in an open, uncontrolled dose-ranging study to assess its efficacy as an agent for acute migraine. Nine patients, all with well established attacks, were assessed for changes in severity of headache and associated symptoms over 2 h. Drug absorption was compared during and between attacks in five patients. Doses of 140 mg and 280 mg resulted in complete relief of all symptoms within 2 h. Treatment was well tolerated in all patients
An adaptive pseudo-spectral method for reaction diffusion problems
The spectral interpolation error was considered for both the Chebyshev pseudo-spectral and Galerkin approximations. A family of functionals I sub r (u), with the property that the maximum norm of the error is bounded by I sub r (u)/J sub r, where r is an integer and J is the degree of the polynomial approximation, was developed. These functionals are used in the adaptive procedure whereby the problem is dynamically transformed to minimize I sub r (u). The number of collocation points is then chosen to maintain a prescribed error bound. The method is illustrated by various examples from combustion problems in one and two dimensions
Episodic disk accretion in the halo of the 'old' Pre-Main Sequence cluster Eta Chamaeleontis
We present multi-epoch medium-resolution observations of two M4.5 candidate
members in the halo of the ~8 Myr Eta Chamaeleontis open cluster. Over six
months of observations both stars exhibited variations in their H-alpha line
profiles on timescales of days to months, with at least one episode of
substantial activity attributable to accretion from a circumstellar disk. We
derive an accretion rate ~10^-8.7 Msun/yr for this event, with a rate of
~10^-10.6 Msun/yr in quiescence. Episodic accretion like that observed here
means existing surveys of accreting Weak-lined T-Tauri Stars in young clusters
are likely incomplete and that gas dissipation timescales calculated from the
fraction of accreting objects are underestimates.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in MNRAS
Letter
Room temperature magneto-optic effect in silicon light-emitting diodes
In weakly spin-orbit coupled materials, the spin-selective nature of
recombination can give rise to large magnetic-field effects, for example on
electro-luminescence from molecular semiconductors. While silicon has weak
spin-orbit coupling, observing spin-dependent recombination through
magneto-electroluminescence is challenging due to the inefficiency of emission
due to silicon's indirect band-gap, and to the difficulty in separating
spin-dependent phenomena from classical magneto-resistance effects. Here we
overcome these challenges to measure magneto-electroluminescence in silicon
light-emitting diodes fabricated via gas immersion laser doping. These devices
allow us to achieve efficient emission while retaining a well-defined geometry
thus suppressing classical magnetoresistance effects to a few percent. We find
that electroluminescence can be enhanced by up to 300\% near room temperature
in a seven Tesla magnetic field showing that the control of the spin degree of
freedom can have a strong impact on the efficiency of silicon LEDs
Constraining the metallicities, ages, star formation histories, and ionizing continua of extragalactic massive star populations
We infer the properties of massive star populations using the far-ultraviolet
stellar continua of 61 star-forming galaxies: 42 at low-z observed with HST and
19 at z~2 from the Megasaura sample. We fit each stellar continuum with a
linear combination of up to 50 single age and single metallicity Starburst99
models. From these fits, we derive light-weighted ages and metallicities, which
agree with stellar wind and photospheric spectral features, and infer the
spectral shapes and strengths of the ionizing continua. Inferred light-weighted
stellar metallicities span 0.05-1.5 Z and are similar to the measured
nebular metallicities. We quantify the ionizing continua using the ratio of the
ionizing flux at 900\AA\ to the non-ionizing flux at 1500\AA\ and demonstrate
the evolution of this ratio with stellar age and metallicity using theoretical
single burst models. These single burst models only match the inferred ionizing
continua of half of the sample, while the other half are described by a mixture
of stellar ages. Mixed age populations produce stronger and harder ionizing
spectra than continuous star formation histories, but, contrary to previous
studies that assume constant star formation, have similar stellar and nebular
metallicities. Stellar population age and metallicity affect the far-UV
continua in different and distinguishable ways; assuming a constant star
formation history diminishes the diagnostic power. Finally, we provide simple
prescriptions to determine the ionizing photon production efficiency
() from the stellar population properties. has a range
of log( Hz erg that depends on stellar age,
metallicity, star formation history, and contributions from binary star
evolution. These stellar population properties must be observationally
determined to determine the number of ionizing photons generated by massive
stars.Comment: 31 pages, 23 figures, resubmitted to ApJ after incorporating the
referee's comments. Comments encourage
HATS-8b: A Low-Density Transiting Super-Neptune
HATS-8b is a low density transiting super-Neptune discovered as part of the HATSouth project. The planet orbits its solar-like G-dwarf host (V = 14.03 ± 0.10, T_(eff) = 5679 ± 50 K) with a period of 3.5839 days. HATS-8b is the third lowest-mass transiting exoplanet to be discovered from a wide-field ground-based search, and with a mass of 0.138 ± 0.019 M_J it is approximately halfway between the masses of Neptune and Saturn. However, HATS-8b has a radius of 0.873_(-0.075)^(+0.123) R_J, resulting in a bulk density of just 0.259 ± 0.091 g cm^(-3). The metallicity of the host star is super-solar ([Fe/H] = 0.210 ± 0.080), providing evidence against the idea that low-density exoplanets form from metal-poor environments. The low density and large radius of HATS-8b results in an atmospheric scale height of almost 1000 km, and in addition to this there is an excellent reference star of nearly equal magnitude at just 19" separation in the sky. These factors make HATS-8b an exciting target for future atmospheric characterization studies, particularly for long-slit transmission spectroscopy
Phase light curves for extrasolar Jupiters and Saturns
We predict how a remote observer would see the brightness variations of giant
planets similar to Jupiter and Saturn as they orbit their central stars. We
model the geometry of Jupiter, Saturn and Saturn's rings for varying orbital
and viewing parameters. Scattering properties for the planets and rings at
wavelenghts 0.6-0.7 microns follow Pioneer and Voyager observations, namely,
planets are forward scattering and rings are backward scattering. Images of the
planet with or without rings are simulated and used to calculate the
disk-averaged luminosity varying along the orbit, that is, a light curve is
generated. We find that the different scattering properties of Jupiter and
Saturn (without rings) make a substantial difference in the shape of their
light curves. Saturn-size rings increase the apparent luminosity of the planet
by a factor of 2-3 for a wide range of geometries. Rings produce asymmetric
light curves that are distinct from the light curve of the planet without
rings. If radial velocity data are available for the planet, the effect of the
ring on the light curve can be distinguished from effects due to orbital
eccentricity. Non-ringed planets on eccentric orbits produce light curves with
maxima shifted relative to the position of the maximum planet's phase. Given
radial velocity data, the amount of the shift restricts the planet's unknown
orbital inclination and therefore its mass. Combination of radial velocity data
and a light curve for a non-ringed planet on an eccentric orbit can also be
used to constrain the surface scattering properties of the planet. To summarize
our results for the detectability of exoplanets in reflected light, we present
a chart of light curve amplitudes of non-ringed planets for different
eccentricities, inclinations, and the viewing azimuthal angles of the observer.Comment: 40 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Ap.
Accurately predicting the escape fraction of ionizing photons using restframe ultraviolet absorption lines
The fraction of ionizing photons that escape high-redshift galaxies
sensitively determines whether galaxies reionized the early universe. However,
this escape fraction cannot be measured from high-redshift galaxies because the
opacity of the intergalactic medium is large at high redshifts. Without methods
to indirectly measure the escape fraction of high-redshift galaxies, it is
unlikely that we will know what reionized the universe. Here, we analyze the
far-ultraviolet (UV) H I (Lyman series) and low-ionization metal absorption
lines of nine low-redshift, confirmed Lyman continuum emitting galaxies. We use
the H I covering fractions, column densities, and dust attenuations measured in
a companion paper to predict the escape fraction of ionizing photons. We find
good agreement between the predicted and observed Lyman continuum escape
fractions (within ) using both the H I and ISM absorption lines. The
ionizing photons escape through holes in the H I, but we show that dust
attenuation reduces the fraction of photons that escape galaxies. This means
that the average high-redshift galaxy likely emits more ionizing photons than
low-redshift galaxies. Two other indirect methods accurately predict the escape
fractions: the Ly escape fraction and the optical [O III]/[O II] flux
ratio. We use these indirect methods to predict the escape fraction of a sample
of 21 galaxies with rest-frame UV spectra but without Lyman continuum
observations. Many of these galaxies have low escape fractions (\%), but 11 have escape fractions \%. The methods presented here will
measure the escape fractions of high-redshift galaxies, enabling future
telescopes to determine whether star-forming galaxies reionized the early
universe.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 12 pages, 5 figure
Immunoprophylaxis against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) with palivizumab in children: a systematic review and economic evaluation
Objectives: To systematically review the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of palivizumab for the prevention of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in children and examine prognostic factors to determine whether subgroups can be identified with important differences in cost-effectiveness.
Data sources: Bibliographic databases were searched from inception to March 2007 for literature on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of prophylaxis with palivizumab.
Review methods: The literature was systematically reviewed and current economic evaluations were analysed to identify which parameters were driving the different cost-effectiveness estimates. A probabilistic decision-analytical model was built to assess the cost-effectiveness of prophylaxis with palivizumab for children at risk of RSV infection and the parameters populated with the best estimates thought most applicable to the UK. We also constructed a new model, the Birmingham Economic Evaluation (BrumEE). Cost-effectiveness analyses were undertaken from both NHS and societal perspectives.
Results: Two randomised controlled trials (RCTs) were identified. Prophylaxis with palivizumab for preterm infants without chronic lung disease (CLD) or children with CLD resulted in a 55% reduction in RSV hospital admission: 4.8% (48/1002) in the palivizumab group and 10.6% (53/500) in the no prophylaxis group (p=0.0004). Prophylaxis with palivizumab was associated with a 45% reduction in hospitalisation rate RSV among children with coronary heart disease (CHD). Hospitalisation rates for RSV were 5.3% (34/639) in the palivizumab group and 9.7% (63/648) in the no prophylaxis group (p=0.003). Of existing economic evaluations, 3 systematic reviews and 18 primary studies were identified. All the systematic reviews concluded that the potential costs of palivizumab were far in excess of any potential savings achieved by decreasing hospital admission rates, and that the use of palivizumab was unlikely to be cost-effective in all children for whom it is recommended, but that its continued use for particularly high-risk children may be justified. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) of the primary studies varied 17-fold for life-years gained (LYG), from £25,800/ LYG to £404,900/LYG, and several hundred-fold for quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), from £3200/QALY to £1,489,700/QALY for preterm infants without CLD or children with CLD. For children with CHD, the ICER varied from £5300/LYG to £7900/LYG and from £7500/ QALY to £68,700/QALY. An analysis of what led to the discrepant ICERs showed that the assumed mortality rate for RSV infection was the most important driver. The results of the BrumEE confirm that palivizumab does not reach conventional levels of cost-effectiveness in any of the licensed indications if used for all eligible children.
Conclusions: Prophylaxis with palivizumab is clinically effective for the reducing the risk of serious lower respiratory tract infection caused by RSV infection and requiring hospitalisation in high-risk children, but if used unselectively in the licensed population, the ICER is double that considered to represent good value for money in the UK. The BrumEE shows that prophylaxis with palivizumab may be cost-effective (based on a threshold of £30,000/QALY) for children with CLD when the children have two or more additional risk factors. Future research should initially focus on reviewing systematically the major uncertainties for patient subgroups with CLD and CHD and then on primary research to address the important uncertainties that remain
Gaze cueing elicited by emotional faces is influenced by affective context
When we observe someone shift their gaze to a peripheral event or object, a corresponding shift in our own attention often follows. This social orienting response, joint attention, has been studied in the laboratory using the gaze cueing paradigm. Here, we investigate the combined influence of the emotional content displayed in two critical components of a joint attention episode: The facial expression of the cue face, and the affective nature of the to-be-localized target object. Hence, we presented participants with happy and disgusted faces as cueing stimuli, and neutral (Experiment 1), pleasant and unpleasant (Experiment 2) pictures as target stimuli. The findings demonstrate an effect of ‘emotional context’ confined to participants viewing pleasant pictures. Specifically, gaze cueing was boosted when the emotion of the gazing face (i.e., happy) matched that of the targets (pleasant). Demonstrating modulation by emotional context highlights the vital flexibility that a successful joint attention system requires in order to assist our navigation of the social world
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