WASP-4 Is Accelerating toward the Earth

The orbital period of the hot Jupiter WASP-4b appears to be decreasing at a rate of −8.64 ± 1.26 ms yr⁻¹, based on transit-timing measurements spanning 12 yr. Proposed explanations for the period change include tidal orbital decay, apsidal precession, and acceleration of the system along the line of sight. To investigate further, we performed new radial-velocity measurements and speckle imaging of WASP-4. The radial-velocity data show that the system is accelerating toward the Sun at a rate of −0.0422 ± 0.0028 m s⁻¹ day⁻¹. The associated Doppler effect should cause the apparent period to shrink at a rate of −5.94 ± 0.39 ms yr⁻¹, comparable to the observed rate. Thus, the observed change in the transit period is mostly or entirely produced by the line-of-sight acceleration of the system. This acceleration is probably caused by a wide-orbiting companion of mass 10–300 M_(Jup) and orbital distance 10–100 au, based on the magnitude of the radial-velocity trend and the nondetection of any companion in the speckle images. We expect that the orbital periods of one out of three hot Jupiters will change at rates similar to WASP-4b, based on the hot-Jupiter companion statistics of Knutson et al. Continued radial-velocity monitoring of hot Jupiters is therefore essential to distinguish the effects of tidal orbital decay or apsidal precession from line-of-sight acceleration

Using NuRadioMC to study the performance of UHE radio neutrino detectors

NuRadioMC is an open-source, Python-based simulation and reconstruction framework for radio detectors of ultra-high energy neutrinos and cosmic rays. Its modular design makes NuRadioMC suitable for use with a range of past, current and future detectors. In addition, the recent deployment of a complete documentation as well as a pip release make NuRadioMC relatively easy to learn and use. Here, we outline the features currently available and under development in NuRadioMC, with a focus on its usage to simulate and study in-ice radio neutrino detectors

WASP-4b Arrived Early for the TESS Mission

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) recently observed 18 transits of the hot Jupiter WASP-4b. The sequence of transits occurred 81.6 $\pm$ 11.7 seconds earlier than had been predicted, based on data stretching back to 2007. This is unlikely to be the result of a clock error, because TESS observations of other hot Jupiters (WASP-6b, 18b, and 46b) are compatible with a constant period, ruling out an 81.6-second offset at the 6.4$\sigma$ level. The 1.3-day orbital period of WASP-4b appears to be decreasing at a rate of $\dot{P} = -12.6 \pm 1.2$ milliseconds per year. The apparent period change might be caused by tidal orbital decay or apsidal precession, although both interpretations have shortcomings. The gravitational influence of a third body is another possibility, though at present there is minimal evidence for such a body. Further observations are needed to confirm and understand the timing variation.Comment: AJ accepte

Advanced therapy for pulmonary arterial hypertension due to congenital heart disease: a clinical perspective in a new therapeutic era

Cardiolog

Zeniplatin in patients with advanced ovarian cancer, a phase II study with a third generation platinum complex

25 patients with residual or recurrent ovarian cancer were treated with the new platinum complex zeniplatin (CL 286,558) and 23 patients were evaluable for response. Responses were achieved in 4 patients, 1 complete and 3 partial remissions (16%). 7 patients had stable disease and 12 patients had tumour progression. At a median follow-up of 12 months, the median progression-free survival in responding patients was 11 months and overall survival 81%. The median overall survival of progressive patients amounted to 9 months, indicating the advanced stage of disease in most patients. Renal function was monitored by isotope clearance studies. There was no significant change in effective renal plasma flow (ERPF) or glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in 10 patients who completed six cycles of treatment. 1 patient with a marginal creatinine clearance at baseline suffered from sudden and severe renal failure during the first cycle. Zeniplatin may be active in relapsing, platinum-pretreated patients, and has no direct effects on renal function as measured by isotope clearance. Despite these findings, occasional nephrotoxicity may occur in patients with compromised kidney function, even with prophylactic hydration, and thus limit the application of this new analogue

Interstudy reproducibility of the second generation, Fourier domain optical coherence tomography in patients with coronary artery disease and comparison with intravascular ultrasound: a study applying automated contour detection

Recently, Fourier domain OCT (FD-OCT) has been introduced for clinical use. This approach allows in vivo, high resolution (15 micron) imaging with very fast data acquisition, however, it requires brief flushing of the lumen during imaging. The reproducibility of such fast data acquisition under intracoronary flush application is poorly understood. To assess the inter-study variability of FD-OCT and to compare lumen morphometry to the established invasive imaging method, IVUS. 18 consecutive patients with coronary artery disease scheduled for PCI were included. In each target vessel a FD-OCT pullback (MGH system, light source 1,310 nm, 105 fps, pullback speed 20 mm/s) was acquired during brief (3 s) injection of X-ray contrast (flow 3 ml/s) through the guiding catheter. A second pullback was repeated under the same conditions after re-introduction of the FD OCT catheter into the coronary artery. IVUS and OCT imaging was performed in random order. FD-OCT and IVUS pullback data were analyzed using a recently developed software employing semi automated lumen contour and stent strut detection algorithms. Corresponding ROI were matched based on anatomical landmarks such as side branches and/or stent edges. Inter-study variability is presented as the absolute difference between the two pullbacks. FD-OCT showed remarkably good reproducibility. Inter-study variability in native vessels (cohort A) was very low for mean and minimal luminal area (0.10 ± 0.38, 0.19 ± 0.57 mm[superscript 2], respectively). Likewise inter-study variability was very low in stented coronary segments (cohort B) for mean lumen, mean stent, minimal luminal and minimal stent area (0.06 ± 0.08, 0.07 ± 0.10, 0.04 ± 0.09, 0.04 ± 0.10 mm[superscript 2], respectively). Comparison to IVUS morphometry revealed no significant differences. The differences between both imaging methods, OCT and IVUS, were very low for mean lumen, mean stent, minimal luminal and minimal stent area (0.10 ± 0.45, 0.10 ± 0.36, 0.26 ± 0.54, 0.05 ± 0.47 mm[superscript 2], respectively). FD-OCT shows excellent reproducibility and very low inter-study variability in both, native and stented coronary segments. No significant differences in quantitative lumen morphometry were observed between FD-OCT and IVUS. Evaluating these results suggest that FD-OCT is a reliable imaging tool to apply in longitudinal coronary artery disease studie

Income distribution: Second thoughts

As a follow-up of his book on income distribution the author reformulates his version on the scarcity theory of income from productive contributions. The need to introduce into an earnings theory several job characteristics, non-cognitive as well as cognitive, and the corresponding personality traits is stressed, the latter subdivided into innate and learnable capabilities. The theory is presented in two alternative mathematical versions: one where job and person characteristics are continuous and one where they have discrete values and their frequencies assume continuous values. Although, mainly in the United States, numerous empirical inquiries have been made, job characteristics and the corresponding personal characteristics have not been included in sufficient number. I want to express my profound gratitude to Professor Robert H. Haveman, who not only published a deep-delving review article on my book Income Distribution: Analysis and Policies but also commented on an earlier text of the present article. I also owe a great debt to Professor Jan Pen who in a long series of discussions challenged a number of my concepts and figures. Finally I want to thank Dr. S. K. Kuipers for helpful comments on an earlier draft