Retrieval of the d/sdL7+T7.5p Binary SDSS J1416+1348AB

We present the distance-calibrated spectral energy distribution (SED) of the d/sdL7 SDSS J14162408+1348263A (J1416A) and an updated SED for SDSS J14162408+1348263B (J1416B). We also present the first retrieval analysis of J1416A using the Brewster retrieval code base and the second retrieval of J1416B. We find that the primary is best fit by a nongray cloud opacity with a power-law wavelength dependence but is indistinguishable between the type of cloud parameterization. J1416B is best fit by a cloud-free model, consistent with the results from Line et al. Most fundamental parameters derived via SEDs and retrievals are consistent within 1σ for both J1416A and J1416B. The exceptions include the radius of J1416A, where the retrieved radius is smaller than the evolutionary model-based radius from the SED for the deck cloud model, and the bolometric luminosity, which is consistent within 2.5σ for both cloud models. The pair\u27s metallicity and carbon-to-oxygen ratio point toward formation and evolution as a system. By comparing the retrieved alkali abundances while using two opacity models, we are able to evaluate how the opacities behave for the L and T dwarf. Lastly, we find that relatively small changes in composition can drive major observable differences for lower-temperature objects

First results from the Very Small Array -- I. Observational methods

The Very Small Array (VSA) is a synthesis telescope designed to image faint structures in the cosmic microwave background on degree and sub-degree angular scales. The VSA has key differences from other CMB interferometers with the result that different systematic errors are expected. We have tested the operation of the VSA with a variety of blank-field and calibrator observations and cross-checked its calibration scale against independent measurements. We find that systematic effects can be suppressed below the thermal noise level in long observations; the overall calibration accuracy of the flux density scale is 3.5 percent and is limited by the external absolute calibration scale.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures, MNRAS in press (Minor revisions

How do primary care doctors in England and Wales code and manage people with chronic kidney disease? Results from the National Chronic Kidney Disease Audit.

BACKGROUND: In the UK, primary care records are electronic and require doctors to ascribe disease codes to direct care plans and facilitate safe prescribing. We investigated factors associated with coding of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in patients with reduced kidney function and the impact this has on patient management. METHODS: We identified patients meeting biochemical criteria for CKD (two estimated glomerular filtration rates 90 days apart) from 1039 general practitioner (GP) practices in a UK audit. Clustered logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with coding for CKD and improvement in coding as a result of the audit process. We investigated the relationship between coding and five interventions recommended for CKD: achieving blood pressure targets, proteinuria testing, statin prescription and flu and pneumococcal vaccination. RESULTS: Of 256 000 patients with biochemical CKD, 30% did not have a GP CKD code. Males, older patients, those with more severe CKD, diabetes or hypertension or those prescribed statins were more likely to have a CKD code. Among those with continued biochemical CKD following audit, these same characteristics increased the odds of improved coding. Patients without any kidney diagnosis were less likely to receive optimal care than those coded for CKD [e.g. odds ratio for meeting blood pressure target 0.78 (95% confidence interval 0.76-0.79)]. CONCLUSION: Older age, male sex, diabetes and hypertension are associated with coding for those with biochemical CKD. CKD coding is associated with receiving key primary care interventions recommended for CKD. Increased efforts to incentivize CKD coding may improve outcomes for CKD patients

Accounting for overdispersion when determining primary care outliers for the identification of chronic kidney disease: learning from the National Chronic Kidney Disease Audit.

Background: Early diagnosis of chronic kidney disease (CKD) facilitates best management in primary care. Testing coverage of those at risk and translation into subsequent diagnostic coding will impact on observed CKD prevalence. Using initial data from 915 general practitioner (GP) practices taking part in a UK national audit, we seek to apply appropriate methods to identify outlying practices in terms of CKD stages 3-5 prevalence and diagnostic coding. Methods: We estimate expected numbers of CKD stages 3-5 cases in each practice, adjusted for key practice characteristics, and further inflate the control limits to account for overdispersion related to unobserved factors (including unobserved risk factors for CKD, and between-practice differences in coding and testing). Results: GP practice prevalence of coded CKD stages 3-5 ranges from 0.04 to 7.8%. Practices differ considerably in coding of CKD in individuals where CKD is indicated following testing (ranging from 0 to 97% of those with and glomerular filtration rate  <60 mL/min/1.73 m 2 ). After adjusting for risk factors and overdispersion, the number of  'extreme' practices is reduced from 29 to 2.6% for the low-coded CKD prevalence outcome, from 21 to 1% for high-uncoded CKD stage and from 22 to 2.4% for low total (coded and uncoded) CKD prevalence. Thirty-one practices are identified as outliers for at least one of these outcomes. These can then be categorized into practices needing to address testing, coding or data storage/transfer issues. Conclusions: GP practice prevalence of coded CKD shows wide variation. Accounting for overdispersion is crucial in providing useful information about outlying practices for CKD prevalence

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Extragalactic Sources at 148 GHz in the 2008 Survey

We report on extragalactic sources detected in a 455 square-degree map of the southern sky made with data at a frequency of 148 GHz from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope 2008 observing season. We provide a catalog of 157 sources with flux densities spanning two orders of magnitude: from 15 to 1500 mJy. Comparison to other catalogs shows that 98% of the ACT detections correspond to sources detected at lower radio frequencies. Three of the sources appear to be associated with the brightest cluster galaxies of low redshift X-ray selected galaxy clusters. Estimates of the radio to mm-wave spectral indices and differential counts of the sources further bolster the hypothesis that they are nearly all radio sources, and that their emission is not dominated by re-emission from warm dust. In a bright (>50 mJy) 148 GHz-selected sample with complete cross-identifications from the Australia Telescope 20 GHz survey, we observe an average steepening of the spectra between 5, 20, and 148 GHz with median spectral indices of $\alpha_{\rm 5-20} = -0.07 \pm 0.06$, $\alpha_{\rm 20-148} = -0.39 \pm0.04$, and $\alpha_{\rm 5-148} = -0.20 \pm 0.03$. When the measured spectral indices are taken into account, the 148 GHz differential source counts are consistent with previous measurements at 30 GHz in the context of a source count model dominated by radio sources. Extrapolating with an appropriately rescaled model for the radio source counts, the Poisson contribution to the spatial power spectrum from synchrotron-dominated sources with flux density less than 20 mJy is C^{\rm Sync} = (2.8 \pm 0.3) \times 10^{-6} \micro\kelvin^2.Comment: Accepted to Ap

Observations of the lower atmosphere from the 2021 WiscoDISCO campaign

The mesoscale meteorology of lake breezes along Lake Michigan impacts local observations of high-ozone events. Previous manned aircraft and UAS observations have demonstrated non-uniform ozone concentrations within and above the marine layer over water and within shoreline environments. During the 2021 Wisconsin's Dynamic Influence of Shoreline Circulations on Ozone (WiscoDISCO-21) campaign, two UAS platforms, a fixed-wing (University of Colorado RAAVEN) and a multirotor (Purdue University DJI M210), were used simultaneously to capture lake breeze during forecasted high-ozone events at Chiwaukee Prairie State Natural Area in southeastern Wisconsin from 21&ndash;26&nbsp;May&nbsp;2021​​​​​​​. The RAAVEN platform (data DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5142491, de Boer et al., 2021) measured temperature, humidity, and 3-D winds during 2&thinsp;h flights following two separate flight patterns up to three times per day at altitudes reaching 500&thinsp;m above ground level (a.g.l.). The M210 platform (data DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5160346, Cleary et al., 2021a) measured vertical profiles of temperature, humidity, and ozone during 15&thinsp;min flights up to six times per day at altitudes reaching 120&thinsp;ma.g.l. near a Wisconsin DNR ground monitoring station (AIRS ID: 55-059-0019). This campaign was conducted in conjunction with the Enhanced Ozone Monitoring plan from the Wisconsin DNR that included Doppler lidar wind profiler observations at the site (data DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5213039, Cleary et al., 2021b). &nbsp;</p

Mouse models of Japanese encephalitis virus infection: A systematic review and meta-analysis using a meta-regression approach.

BackgroundJapanese encephalitis (JE) virus (JEV) remains a leading cause of neurological infection across Asia. The high lethality of disease and absence of effective therapies mean that standardised animal models will be crucial in developing therapeutics. However, published mouse models are heterogeneous. We performed a systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of published JEV mouse experiments to investigate the variation in model parameters, assess homogeneity and test the relationship of key variables against mortality.Methodology/ principal findingsA PubMed search was performed up to August 2020. 1991 publications were identified, of which 127 met inclusion criteria, with data for 5026 individual mice across 487 experimental groups. Quality assessment was performed using a modified CAMARADES criteria and demonstrated incomplete reporting with a median quality score of 10/17. The pooled estimate of mortality in mice after JEV challenge was 64.7% (95% confidence interval 60.9 to 68.3) with substantial heterogeneity between experimental groups (I^2 70.1%, df 486). Using meta-regression to identify key moderators, a refined dataset was used to model outcome dependent on five variables: mouse age, mouse strain, virus strain, virus dose (in log10PFU) and route of inoculation. The final model reduced the heterogeneity substantially (I^2 38.9, df 265), explaining 54% of the variability.Conclusion/ significanceThis is the first systematic review of mouse models of JEV infection. Better adherence to CAMARADES guidelines may reduce bias and variability of reporting. In particular, sample size calculations were notably absent. We report that mouse age, mouse strain, virus strain, virus dose and route of inoculation account for much, though not all, of the variation in mortality. This dataset is available for researchers to access and use as a guideline for JEV mouse experiments

Association between practice coding of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in primary care and subsequent hospitalisations and death: a cohort analysis using national audit data.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between practice percentage coding of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in primary care with risk of subsequent hospitalisations and death. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study using linked electronic healthcare records. SETTING: 637 general practitioner (GP) practices in England. PARTICIPANTS: 167 208 patients with CKD stages 3-5 identified by 2 measures of estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min/1.73 m2, separated by at least 90 days, excluding those with coded initiation of renal replacement therapy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Hospitalisations with cardiovascular (CV) events, heart failure (HF), acute kidney injury (AKI) and all-cause mortality RESULTS: Participants were followed for (median) 3.8 years for hospital outcomes and 4.3 years for deaths. Rates of hospitalisations with CV events and HF were lower in practices with higher percentage CKD coding. Trends of a small reduction in AKI but no substantial change in rate of deaths were also observed as CKD coding increased. Compared with patients in the median performing practice (74% coded), patients in practices coding 55% of CKD cases had a higher rate of CV hospitalisations (HR 1.061 (95% CI 1.015 to 1.109)) and HF hospitalisations (HR 1.097 (95% CI 1.013 to 1.187)) and patients in practices coding 88% of CKD cases had a reduced rate of CV hospitalisations (HR 0.957 (95% CI 0.920 to 0.996)) and HF hospitalisations (HR 0.918 (95% CI 0.855 to 0.985)). We estimate that 9.0% of CV hospitalisations and 16.0% of HF hospitalisations could be prevented by improving practice CKD coding from 55% to 88%. Prescription of antihypertensives was the most dominant predictor of a reduction in hospitalisation rates for patients with CKD, followed by albuminuria testing and use of statins. CONCLUSIONS: Higher levels of CKD coding by GP practices were associated with lower rates of CV and HF events, which may be driven by increased use of antihypertensives and regular albuminuria testing, although residual confounding cannot be ruled out

First results from the Very Small Array -- III. The CMB power spectrum

We present the power spectrum of the fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background detected by the Very Small Array (VSA) in its first season of observations in its compact configuration. We find clear detections of first and second acoustic peaks at l~200 and l~550, plus detection of power on scales up to l=800. The VSA power spectrum is in very good agreement with the results of the Boomerang, Dasi and Maxima telescopes despite the differing potential systematic errors.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure, MNRAS in press. (Minor revisions - accepted 17 December 2002