Flint’s Children: Narratives on Hope

Hope plays an important role in resiliency, well-being, and buffering against adversity. To explore children’s experiences with hope while developing in low-income communities, we conducted interviews with twenty-one children residing in Flint, Michigan, ages 9-12 years. Research questions focused on the specific hopes children have, the importance they ascribe to different hopes, and their experiences of feeling hopeful or less hopeful about desired outcomes. Children expressed interrelated hopes across multiple social-ecological domains, including hopes for themselves, hopes for their interpersonal relationships, and hopes for the community. Children placed particular importance on their hopes of helping others, which included providing for their families and aiding others in the community. Children, however, expressed uncertainty regarding their hopes related to career aspirations, academic achievement, financial stability, and obtaining basic needs. Our findings expand upon what is known about children’s internal dialogues with feeling hopeful or less hopeful about desired outcomes in low-income communities. These findings can enhance community and school-based programming so they further align with the specific hopes that children have, and attune to areas in which children in impoverished communities are most in need of hope-engendering strategies

Experience with an ultrasound donation program in a low-income country

Increasing radiology capacity in low-income countries (LIC) can improve clinicians’ access to diagnostic imaging tools and improve patient care. Ultrasound (US) is important in LIC due to its lower cost compared to that of CT or MRI scans and its excellent diagnostic ability. The relative portability of the equipment makes it ideal for donation by charitable organizations. We describe our experience as a radiology-capacity-focused charity working with the Haitian healthcare system and propose strategies to increase ultrasound capacity in other poor countries

Invasive Haemophilus influenzae Disease in Adults ≥65 Years, United States, 2011.

BackgroundSince the introduction of the Haemophilus influenzae serotype b vaccine, H influenzae epidemiology has shifted. In the United States, the largest burden of disease is now in adults aged ≥65 years. However, few data exist on risk factors for disease severity and outcome in this age group.MethodsA retrospective case-series review of invasive H influenzae infections in patients aged ≥65 years was conducted for hospitalized cases reported to Active Bacterial Core surveillance in 2011.ResultsThere were 299 hospitalized cases included in the analysis. The majority of cases were caused by nontypeable H influenzae, and the overall case fatality ratio (CFR) was 19.5%. Three or more underlying conditions were present in 63% of cases; 94% of cases had at least 1. Patients with chronic heart conditions (congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, and/or atrial fibrillation) (odds ratio [OR], 3.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.65-6.46), patients from private residences (OR, 8.75; 95% CI, 2.13-35.95), and patients who were not resuscitate status (OR, 2.72; 95% CI, 1.31-5.66) were more likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Intensive care unit admission (OR, 3.75; 95% CI, 1.71-8.22) and do not resuscitate status (OR, 12.94; 95% CI, 4.84-34.55) were significantly associated with death.ConclusionsWithin this age group, burden of disease and CFR both increased significantly as age increased. Using ICU admission as a proxy for disease severity, our findings suggest several conditions increased risk of disease severity and patients with severe disease were more likely to die. Further research is needed to determine the most effective approach to prevent H influenzae disease and mortality in older adults

Penicillin Use in Meningococcal Disease Management: Active Bacterial Core Surveillance Sites, 2009.

In 2009, in the Active Bacterial Core surveillance sites, penicillin was not commonly used to treat meningococcal disease. This is likely because of inconsistent availability of antimicrobial susceptibility testing and ease of use of third-generation cephalosporins. Consideration of current practices may inform future meningococcal disease management guidelines

Radio Jet Feedback and Star Formation in Heavily Obscured Quasars at Redshifts ~0.3-3, I: ALMA Observations

We present ALMA 870 micron (345 GHz) data for 49 high redshift (0.47<z<2.85), luminous (11.7 < log L(bol) (Lsun) < 14.2) radio-powerful AGN, obtained to constrain cool dust emission from starbursts concurrent with highly obscured radiative-mode black hole (BH) accretion in massive galaxies which possess a small radio jet. The sample was selected from WISE with extremely steep (red) mid-infrared (MIR) colors and with compact radio emission from NVSS/FIRST. Twenty-six sources are detected at 870 microns, and we find that the sample has large mid- to far-infrared luminosity ratios consistent with a dominant and highly obscured quasar. The rest-frame 3 GHz radio powers are 24.7 < log P3.0 GHz (W/Hz) < 27.3, and all sources are radio-intermediate or radio-loud. BH mass estimates are 7.7 < log M(BH) (Msun) < 10.2. The rest frame 1-5 um SEDs are very similar to the "Hot DOGs" (Hot Dust Obscured Galaxies), and steeper (redder) than almost any other known extragalactic sources. ISM masses estimated for the ALMA detected sources are 9.9 < log M(ISM) (Msun) < 11.75 assuming a dust temperature of 30K. The cool dust emission is consistent with star formation rates (SFRs) reaching several thousand Msun/yr, depending on the assumed dust temperature, however we cannot rule out the alternative that the AGN powers all the emission in some cases. Our best constrained source has radiative transfer solutions with ~ equal contributions from an obscured AGN and a young (10-15 Myr) compact starburst.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figures. To appear in Astrophysical Journal. Update on Sept 14 to correct the ALMA proposal id. to ADS/JAO.ALMA#2011.0.00397.S and to add a missing acknowledgemen

High-resolution VLA Imaging of Obscured Quasars : Young Radio Jets Caught in a Dense ISM

© 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd. This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The definitive publisher authenticated version is available online at https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab9011.We present new subarcsecond-resolution Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) imaging at 10 GHz of 155 ultraluminous (L bol ∼ 1011.7-1014.2 L o˙) and heavily obscured quasars with redshifts z ∼ 0.4-3. The sample was selected to have extremely red mid-infrared-optical color ratios based on data from the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) along with a detection of bright, unresolved radio emission from the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) or Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty cm Survey. Our high-resolution VLA observations have revealed that the majority of the sources in our sample (93 out of 155) are compact on angular scales <0.″2 (≤1.7 kpc at z ∼ 2). The radio luminosities, linear extents, and lobe pressures of our sources are similar to young radio active galactic nuclei (e.g., gigahertz-peaked spectrum [GPS] and compact steep-spectrum [CSS] sources), but their space density is considerably lower. Application of a simple adiabatic lobe expansion model suggests relatively young dynamical ages (∼104-7 yr), relatively high ambient ISM densities (∼1-104 cm-3), and modest lobe expansion speeds (∼30-10,000 km s-1). Thus, we find our sources to be consistent with a population of newly triggered, young jets caught in a unique evolutionary stage in which they still reside within the dense gas reservoirs of their hosts. Based on their radio luminosity function and dynamical ages, we estimate that only ∼20% of classical large-scale FR I/II radio galaxies could have evolved directly from these objects. We speculate that the WISE-NVSS sources might first become GPS or CSS sources, of which some might ultimately evolve into larger radio galaxies.Peer reviewe

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE): Mission Description and Initial On-orbit Performance

The all sky surveys done by the Palomar Observatory Schmidt, the European Southern Observatory Schmidt, and the United Kingdom Schmidt, the InfraRed Astronomical Satellite and the 2 Micron All Sky Survey have proven to be extremely useful tools for astronomy with value that lasts for decades. The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer is mapping the whole sky following its launch on 14 December 2009. WISE began surveying the sky on 14 Jan 2010 and completed its first full coverage of the sky on July 17. The survey will continue to cover the sky a second time until the cryogen is exhausted (anticipated in November 2010). WISE is achieving 5 sigma point source sensitivities better than 0.08, 0.11, 1 and 6 mJy in unconfused regions on the ecliptic in bands centered at wavelengths of 3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22 microns. Sensitivity improves toward the ecliptic poles due to denser coverage and lower zodiacal background. The angular resolution is 6.1, 6.4, 6.5 and 12.0 arc-seconds at 3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22 microns, and the astrometric precision for high SNR sources is better than 0.15 arc-seconds.Comment: 22 pages with 19 included figures. Updated to better match the accepted version in the A

The Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE): Mission Description and Initial On-Orbit Performance

The all sky surveys done by the Palomar Observatory Schmidt, the European Southern Observatory Schmidt, and the United Kingdom Schmidt, the InfraRed Astronomical Satellite and the 2 Micron All Sky Survey have proven to be extremely useful tools for astronomy with value that lasts for decades. The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer is mapping the whole sky following its launch on 14 December 2009. WISE began surveying the sky on 14 Jan 2010 and completed its first full coverage of the sky on July 17. The survey will continue to cover the sky a second time until the cryogen is exhausted (anticipated in November 2010). WISE is achieving 5 sigma point source sensitivities better than 0.08, 0.11, 1 and 6 mJy in unconfused regions on the ecliptic in bands centered at wavelengths of 3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22 micrometers. Sensitivity improves toward the ecliptic poles due to denser coverage and lower zodiacal background. The angular resolution is 6.1", 6.4", 6.5" and 12.0" at 3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22 micrometers, and the astrometric precision for high SNR sources is better than 0.15"