A Concept for an STJ-based Spectrograph

We describe a multi-order spectrograph concept suitable for 8m-class telescopes, using the intrinsic spectral resolution of Superconducting Tunneling Junction detectors to sort the spectral orders. The spectrograph works at low orders, 1-5 or 1-6, and provides spectral coverage with a resolving power of R~8000 from the atmospheric cutoff at 320 nm to the long wavelength end of the infrared H or K band at 1800 nm or 2400 nm. We calculate that the spectrograph would provide substantial throughput and wavelength coverage, together with high time resolution and sufficient dynamic range. The concept uses currently available technology, or technologies with short development horizons, restricting the spatial sampling to two linear arrays; however an upgrade path to provide more spatial sampling is identified. All of the other challenging aspects of the concept - the cryogenics, thermal baffling and magnetic field biasing - are identified as being feasible.Comment: Accepted in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 12 pages with 10 figure

Narrowband imaging of Escaping Lyman-Continuum Emission in the SSA22 Field

We present the results of an ultradeep, narrowband imaging survey for Lyman-continuum (LyC) emission at z~3 in the SSA22a field. We employ a custom narrowband filter centered at 3640A (NB3640), which probes the LyC region for galaxies at z>3.06. We also analyze new and archival NB4980 imaging tuned to the wavelength of the Lya emission line at z=3.09, and archival broadband B, V, and R images of the non-ionizing UV continuum. Our NB3640 images contain 26 z>3.06 Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) as well as a set of 130 Lya emitters (LAEs), identified by their excess NB4980 flux relative to the BV continuum. Six LBGs and 28 LAEs are detected in the NB3640 image. LBGs appear to span a range of NB3640-R colors, while LAEs appear bimodal in their NB3640-R properties. We estimate average UV to LyC flux density ratios, corrected for foreground contamination and intergalactic medium absorption, finding ^{LBG} = 11.3^{+10.3}_{-5.4}, which implies a LBG LyC escape fraction f_{esc}^{LyC} ~ 0.1, and ^{LAE} = 2.2^{+0.9}_{-0.6}. The strikingly blue LAE flux density ratios defy interpretation in terms of standard stellar population models. Assuming ^{LBG} applies down to L=0.1L*, we estimate a galaxy contribution to the intergalactic hydrogen ionization rate that is consistent with independent estimates based on the Lya forest opacity at z~3. If we assume that ^{LAE} holds at the faintest luminosities, the galaxy contribution significantly exceeds that inferred from the Lya forest. Further follow-up study of these faint LAEs is crucial, given the potentially important contribution similar objects make to the process of reionization. (Abridged)Comment: 30 pages, 15 figures; Accepted for publication by Ap

LSST Science Book, Version 2.0

A survey that can cover the sky in optical bands over wide fields to faint magnitudes with a fast cadence will enable many of the exciting science opportunities of the next decade. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will have an effective aperture of 6.7 meters and an imaging camera with field of view of 9.6 deg^2, and will be devoted to a ten-year imaging survey over 20,000 deg^2 south of +15 deg. Each pointing will be imaged 2000 times with fifteen second exposures in six broad bands from 0.35 to 1.1 microns, to a total point-source depth of r~27.5. The LSST Science Book describes the basic parameters of the LSST hardware, software, and observing plans. The book discusses educational and outreach opportunities, then goes on to describe a broad range of science that LSST will revolutionize: mapping the inner and outer Solar System, stellar populations in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, the structure of the Milky Way disk and halo and other objects in the Local Volume, transient and variable objects both at low and high redshift, and the properties of normal and active galaxies at low and high redshift. It then turns to far-field cosmological topics, exploring properties of supernovae to z~1, strong and weak lensing, the large-scale distribution of galaxies and baryon oscillations, and how these different probes may be combined to constrain cosmological models and the physics of dark energy.Comment: 596 pages. Also available at full resolution at http://www.lsst.org/lsst/sciboo

Determinants of infant growth in Eastern Uganda: a community-based cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Child under-nutrition is a leading factor underlying child mortality and morbidity in Sub-Saharan Africa. Several studies from Uganda have reported impaired growth, but there have been few if any community-based infant anthropometric studies from Eastern Uganda. The aim of this study was to describe current infant growth patterns using WHO Child Growth Standards and to determine the extent to which these patterns are associated with infant feeding practices, equity dimensions, morbidity and use of primary health care for the infants.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional survey of infant feeding practices, socio-economic characteristics and anthropometric measurements was conducted in Mbale District, Eastern Uganda in 2003; 723 mother-infant (0–11 months) pairs were analysed. Infant anthropometric status was assessed using z-scores for weight-for-length (WLZ), length-for-age (LAZ) and weight-for-age (WAZ). Dependent dichotomous variables were constructed using WLZ < -2 (wasting) and LAZ < -2 (stunting) as cut-off values. A conceptual hierarchical framework was used as the basis for controlling for the explanatory factors in multivariate analysis. Household wealth was assessed using principal components analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The prevalences of wasting and stunting were 4.2% and 16.7%, respectively. Diarrhoea during the previous 14 days was associated with wasting in the crude analysis, but no factors were significantly associated with wasting in the adjusted analysis. The adjusted analysis for stunting showed associations with age and gender. Stunting was more prevalent among boys than girls, 58.7% versus 41.3%. Having brothers and/or sisters was a protective factor against stunting (OR 0.4, 95% CI 0.2–0.8), but replacement or mixed feeding was not (OR 2.7, 95% CI 1.0–7.1). Lowest household wealth was the most prominent factor associated with stunting with a more than three-fold increase in odds ratio (OR 3.5, 95% CI 1.6–7.8). This pattern was also seen when the mean LAZ was investigated across household wealth categories: the adjusted mean difference between the top and the bottom wealth categories was 0.58 z-scores, p < 0.001. Those who had received pre-lacteal feeds had lower adjusted mean WLZ than those who had not: difference 0.20 z-scores, p = 0.023.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Sub-optimal infant feeding practices after birth, poor household wealth, age, gender and family size were associated with growth among Ugandan infants.</p

International Society of Human and Animal Mycology (ISHAM)-ITS reference DNA barcoding database - the quality controlled standard tool for routine identification of human and animal pathogenic fungi

Human and animal fungal pathogens are a growing threat worldwide leading to emerging infections and creating new risks for established ones. There is a growing need for a rapid and accurate identification of pathogens to enable early diagnosis and targeted antifungal therapy. Morphological and biochemical identification methods are time-consuming and require trained experts. Alternatively, molecular methods, such as DNA barcoding, a powerful and easy tool for rapid monophasic identification, offer a practical approach for species identification and less demanding in terms of taxonomical expertise. However, its wide-spread use is still limited by a lack of quality-controlled reference databases and the evolving recognition and definition of new fungal species/complexes. An international consortium of medical mycology laboratories was formed aiming to establish a quality controlled ITS database under the umbrella of the ISHAM working group on "DNA barcoding of human and animal pathogenic fungi." A new database, containing 2800 ITS sequences representing 421 fungal species, providing the medical community with a freely accessible tool at http://www.isham.org and http://its.mycologylab.org/ to rapidly and reliably identify most agents of mycoses, was established. The generated sequences included in the new database were used to evaluate the variation and overall utility of the ITS region for the identification of pathogenic fungi at intra-and interspecies level. The average intraspecies variation ranged from 0 to 2.25%. This highlighted selected pathogenic fungal species, such as the dermatophytes and emerging yeast, for which additional molecular methods/genetic markers are required for their reliable identification from clinical and veterinary specimens.This study was supported by an National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NH&MRC) grant [#APP1031952] to W Meyer, S Chen, V Robert, and D Ellis; CNPq [350338/2000-0] and FAPERJ [E-26/103.157/2011] grants to RM Zancope-Oliveira; CNPq [308011/2010-4] and FAPESP [2007/08575-1] Fundacao de Amparo Pesquisa do Estado de So Paulo (FAPESP) grants to AL Colombo; PEst-OE/BIA/UI4050/2014 from Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) to C Pais; the Belgian Science Policy Office (Belspo) to BCCM/IHEM; the MEXBOL program of CONACyT-Mexico, [ref. number: 1228961 to ML Taylor and [122481] to C Toriello; the Institut Pasteur and Institut de Veil le Sanitaire to F Dromer and D Garcia-Hermoso; and the grants from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq) and the Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Goias (FAPEG) to CM de Almeida Soares and JA Parente Rocha. I Arthur would like to thank G Cherian, A Higgins and the staff of the Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Path West, QEII Medial Centre. Dromer would like to thank for the technical help of the sequencing facility and specifically that of I, Diancourt, A-S Delannoy-Vieillard, J-M Thiberge (Genotyping of Pathogens and Public Health, Institut Pasteur). RM Zancope-Oliveira would like to thank the Genomic/DNA Sequencing Platform at Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz-PDTIS/FIOCRUZ [RPT01A], Brazil for the sequencing. B Robbertse and CL Schoch acknowledge support from the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, National Library of Medicine. T Sorrell's work is funded by the NH&MRC of Australia; she is a Sydney Medical School Foundation Fellow.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

General anaesthetic and airway management practice for obstetric surgery in England: a prospective, multi-centre observational study

There are no current descriptions of general anaesthesia characteristics for obstetric surgery, despite recent changes to patient baseline characteristics and airway management guidelines. This analysis of data from the direct reporting of awareness in maternity patients' (DREAMY) study of accidental awareness during obstetric anaesthesia aimed to describe practice for obstetric general anaesthesia in England and compare with earlier surveys and best-practice recommendations. Consenting patients who received general anaesthesia for obstetric surgery in 72 hospitals from May 2017 to August 2018 were included. Baseline characteristics, airway management, anaesthetic techniques and major complications were collected. Descriptive analysis, binary logistic regression modelling and comparisons with earlier data were conducted. Data were collected from 3117 procedures, including 2554 (81.9%) caesarean deliveries. Thiopental was the induction drug in 1649 (52.9%) patients, compared with propofol in 1419 (45.5%). Suxamethonium was the neuromuscular blocking drug for tracheal intubation in 2631 (86.1%), compared with rocuronium in 367 (11.8%). Difficult tracheal intubation was reported in 1 in 19 (95%CI 1 in 16-22) and failed intubation in 1 in 312 (95%CI 1 in 169-667). Obese patients were over-represented compared with national baselines and associated with difficult, but not failed intubation. There was more evidence of change in practice for induction drugs (increased use of propofol) than neuromuscular blocking drugs (suxamethonium remains the most popular). There was evidence of improvement in practice, with increased monitoring and reversal of neuromuscular blockade (although this remains suboptimal). Despite a high risk of difficult intubation in this population, videolaryngoscopy was rarely used (1.9%)

Convalescent plasma in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised controlled, open-label, platform trial

Background: Many patients with COVID-19 have been treated with plasma containing anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of convalescent plasma therapy in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Methods: This randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]) is assessing several possible treatments in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in the UK. The trial is underway at 177 NHS hospitals from across the UK. Eligible and consenting patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive either usual care alone (usual care group) or usual care plus high-titre convalescent plasma (convalescent plasma group). The primary outcome was 28-day mortality, analysed on an intention-to-treat basis. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 50189673, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04381936. Findings: Between May 28, 2020, and Jan 15, 2021, 11558 (71%) of 16287 patients enrolled in RECOVERY were eligible to receive convalescent plasma and were assigned to either the convalescent plasma group or the usual care group. There was no significant difference in 28-day mortality between the two groups: 1399 (24%) of 5795 patients in the convalescent plasma group and 1408 (24%) of 5763 patients in the usual care group died within 28 days (rate ratio 1·00, 95% CI 0·93–1·07; p=0·95). The 28-day mortality rate ratio was similar in all prespecified subgroups of patients, including in those patients without detectable SARS-CoV-2 antibodies at randomisation. Allocation to convalescent plasma had no significant effect on the proportion of patients discharged from hospital within 28 days (3832 [66%] patients in the convalescent plasma group vs 3822 [66%] patients in the usual care group; rate ratio 0·99, 95% CI 0·94–1·03; p=0·57). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at randomisation, there was no significant difference in the proportion of patients meeting the composite endpoint of progression to invasive mechanical ventilation or death (1568 [29%] of 5493 patients in the convalescent plasma group vs 1568 [29%] of 5448 patients in the usual care group; rate ratio 0·99, 95% CI 0·93–1·05; p=0·79). Interpretation: In patients hospitalised with COVID-19, high-titre convalescent plasma did not improve survival or other prespecified clinical outcomes. Funding: UK Research and Innovation (Medical Research Council) and National Institute of Health Research