WFMOS - Sounding the Dark Cosmos

Vast sound waves traveling through the relativistic plasma during the first million years of the universe imprint a preferred scale in the density of matter. We now have the ability to detect this characteristic fingerprint in the clustering of galaxies at various redshifts and use it to measure the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe. The Wide-Field Multi-Object Spectrograph (WFMOS) would use this test to shed significant light on the true nature of dark energy, the mysterious source of this cosmic acceleration. WFMOS would also revolutionise studies of the kinematics of the Milky Way and provide deep insights into the clustering of galaxies at redshifts up to z~4. In this article we discuss the recent progress in large galaxy redshift surveys and detail how WFMOS will help unravel the mystery of dark energy.Comment: 6 pages, pure pdf. An introduction to WFMOS and Baryon Acoustic Oscillations for a general audienc

Editorial: Design and Implementation of Rehabilitation Interventions for People With Complex Psychosis

Introduction Between one fifth and one quarter of people who become unwell with a psychotic disorder will develop particularly complex problems (1). These include severe, treatment-resistant symptoms and cognitive impairments that affect motivation, organizational, and social skills. Co-existing mental, neurodevelopmental, and physical health conditions can often complicate recovery further, and up to three quarters have been found to be vulnerable to self-neglect and/or exploitation by others (2). Despite their high levels of need, this group has been missing from recent mental health policy internationally, resulting in inadequate treatment and, worryingly, increasing levels of institutionalization (3). The publication in 2020 of the first National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Guideline on the mental health rehabilitation of adults with complex psychosis (4) is therefore a very welcome and important milestone, but there is an ongoing, urgent need for research to identify effective interventions for this group. In this Research Topic we aimed to collate relevant work that can help to address this evidence gap

Maximizing survey volume for large-area multi-epoch surveys with Voronoi tessellation

The survey volume of a proper motion-limited sample is typically much smaller than a magnitude-limited sample. This is because of the noisy astrometric measurements from detectors that are not dedicated for astrometric missions. In order to apply an empirical completeness correction, existing works limit the survey depth to the shallower parts of the sky that hamper the maximum potential of a survey. The number of epoch of measurement is a discrete quantity that cannot be interpolated across the projected plane of observation, so that the survey properties change in discrete steps across the sky. This work proposes a method to dissect the survey into small parts with Voronoi tessellation using candidate objects as generating points such that each part defines a ‘mini-survey’ that has its own properties. Coupling with a maximum volume density estimator, the new method is demonstrated to be unbiased and recovered ∼20 per cent more objects than the existing method in a mock catalogue of a white dwarf-only solar neighbourhood with Pan–STARRS 1-like characteristics. Towards the end of this work, we demonstrate one way to increase the tessellation resolution with artificial generating points, which would be useful for analysis of rare objects with small number counts

Life in 90 words: opportunities for person-centred care amidst COVID-19

Objective: Coronavirus disease 2019 and the consequent public health and social distancing measures significantly impacted on service continuity for mental health patients. This article reports on contingency planning initiative in the Australian public sector. Methods: Ninety-word care synopses were developed for each patient. These formed the basis for guided conversations between case managers and consultant psychiatrists to ensure safe service provision and retain a person-centred focus amidst the threat of major staffing shortfalls. Results: This process identified vulnerable patient groups with specific communication needs and those most at risk through service contraction. The challenges and opportunities for promoting safety and self-management through proactive telehealth came up repeatedly. The guided conversations also raised awareness of the shared experience between patients and professionals of coronavirus disease 2019. Conclusion: There is a parallel pandemic of anxiety which creates a unique opportunity to connect at a human level

Immunomodulatory drugs in sepsis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

\ua9 2024 The Authors. Anaesthesia published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association of Anaesthetists. Dysregulation of the host immune response has a central role in the pathophysiology of sepsis. There has been much interest in immunomodulatory drugs as potential therapeutic adjuncts in sepsis. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials evaluating the safety and clinical effectiveness of immunomodulatory drugs as adjuncts to standard care in the treatment of adults with sepsis. Our primary outcomes were serious adverse events and all-cause mortality. Fifty-six unique, eligible randomised controlled trials were identified, assessing a range of interventions including cytokine inhibitors; anti-inflammatories; immune cell stimulators; platelet pathway inhibitors; and complement inhibitors. At 1-month follow-up, the use of cytokine inhibitors was associated with a decreased risk of serious adverse events, based on 11 studies involving 7138 patients (RR (95%CI) 0.95 (0.90–1.00), I2 = 0%). The only immunomodulatory drugs associated with an increased risk of serious adverse events were toll-like receptor 4 antagonists (RR (95%CI) 1.18 (1.04–1.34), I2 = 0% (two trials, 567 patients)). Based on 18 randomised controlled trials, involving 11,075 patients, cytokine inhibitors reduced 1-month mortality (RR (95%CI) 0.88 (0.78–0.98), I2 = 57%). Mortality reduction was also shown in the subgroup of 13 randomised controlled trials that evaluated anti-tumour necrosis factor α interventions (RR (95%CI) 0.93 (0.87–0.99), I2 = 0%). Anti-inflammatory drugs had the largest apparent effect on mortality at 2 months at any dose (two trials, 228 patients, RR (95%CI) 0.64 (0.51–0.80), I2 = 0%) and at 3 months at any dose (three trials involving 277 patients, RR (95%CI) 0.67 (0.55–0.81), I2 = 0%). These data indicate that, except for toll-like receptor 4 antagonists, there is no evidence of safety concerns for the use of immunomodulatory drugs in sepsis, and they may show some short-term mortality benefit for selected drugs

The Detonation Mechanism of the Pulsationally-Assisted Gravitationally-Confined Detonation Model of Type Ia Supernovae

We describe the detonation mechanism comprising the "Pulsationally Assisted" Gravitationally Confined Detonation (GCD) model of Type Ia supernovae SNe Ia. This model is analogous to the previous GCD model reported in Jordan et al.(2008); however, the chosen initial conditions produce a substantively different detonation mechanism, resulting from a larger energy release during the deflagration phase. The resulting final kinetic energy and nickel-56 yields conform better to observational values than is the case for the "classical" GCD models. In the present class of models, the ignition of a deflagration phase leads to a rising, burning plume of ash. The ash breaks out of the surface of the white dwarf, flows laterally around the star, and converges on the collision region at the antipodal point from where it broke out. The amount of energy released during the deflagration phase is enough to cause the star to rapidly expand, so that when the ash reaches the antipodal point, the surface density is too low to initiate a detonation. Instead, as the ash flows into the collision region (while mixing with surface fuel), the star reaches its maximally expanded state and then contracts. The stellar contraction acts to increase the density of the star, including the density in the collision region. This both raises the temperature and density of the fuel-ash mixture in the collision region and ultimately leads to thermodynamic conditions that are necessary for the Zel'dovich gradient mechanism to produce a detonation. We demonstrate feasibility of this scenario with three 3-dimensional (3D), full star simulations of this model using the FLASH code. We characterized the simulations by the energy released during the deflagration phase, which ranged from 38% to 78% of the white dwarf's binding energy. We show that the necessary conditions for detonation are achieved in all three of the models.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures; Ap

Constraining Scale-Dependent Non-Gaussianity with Future Large-Scale Structure and the CMB

We forecast combined future constraints from the cosmic microwave background and large-scale structure on the models of primordial non-Gaussianity. We study the generalized local model of non-Gaussianity, where the parameter f_NL is promoted to a function of scale, and present the principal component analysis applicable to an arbitrary form of f_NL(k). We emphasize the complementarity between the CMB and LSS by using Planck, DES and BigBOSS surveys as examples, forecast constraints on the power-law f_NL(k) model, and introduce the figure of merit for measurements of scale-dependent non-Gaussianity.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables; v2: references update