Determination of freedom-from-rabies for small Indian mongoose populations in the United States Virgin Islands, 2019–2020

Mongooses, a nonnative species, are a known reservoir of rabies virus in the Caribbean region. A cross-sectional study of mongooses at 41 field sites on the US Virgin Islands of St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas captured 312 mongooses (32% capture rate). We determined the absence of rabies virus by antigen testing and rabies virus exposure by antibody testing in mongoose populations on all three islands. USVI is the first Caribbean state to determine freedom-from-rabies for its mongoose populations with a scientifically-led robust cross-sectional study. Ongoing surveillance activities will determine if other domestic and wildlife populations in USVI are rabies-free

Storytelling in den Vereinten Nationen: Mahbub ul Haq und menschliche Entwicklung

Ausgehend von der Beobachtung, dass Mitarbeiter der Vereinten Nationen eine wichtige Rolle in Prozessen des ideellen Wandels auf internationaler Ebene spielen können, beschäftigt sich dieser Beitrag mit einer bestimmten Form individuellem Einflusses – dem storytelling. Mein Verständnis von storytelling als Einflusstaktik kombiniert dabei kollektive Elemente der soziologischen Praxistheorie mit den reflexiven, akteursbezogenen Überlegungen von Michel de Certeau. Ich analysiere storytelling anhand von drei analytischen Elementen: einem (chronologischen) Plot, einer Reihe von Charakteren und einem interpretativen Thema – die jeweils ihre Wirkung im Zusammenspiel mit der Subjektivität ihres storytellers entfalten. Ich illustriere diese theoretischen Überlegungen mit dem Fall von Mahbub ul Haq, dem es als Sonderberater des United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-Administrators zu Beginn der 1990er Jahre gelungen ist, die Idee der menschlichen Entwicklung im System der Vereinten Nationen und der internationalen Entwicklungspolitik zu etablieren

Associations between non-discrimination and training policies and physicians’ attitudes and knowledge about sexual and gender minority patients: a comparison of physicians from two hospitals

Background: Some physicians lack knowledge and awareness about health issues specific to sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals. To help improve this, hospitals have implemented policies that mandate non-discrimination and training to promote sexual and gender minority health. There is limited evidence about how such policies relate to physicians’ knowledge, attitudes, and gender and sexual minority affirmative practices. Method: A random sample of 1000 physicians was recruited from a complete list of physicians affiliated with one of two university Hospitals located in Tennessee and 180 physicians completed the survey concerning attitudes and knowledge about SGM individuals. Physicians were affiliated with either Hospital A that had not implemented policies for non-discrimination and training, or Hospital B that did. Results: Physicians held different attitudes about SGM patients than non-patients. Physicians affiliated with Hospital A held more negative attitudes about SGM individuals who were non-patients than physicians affiliated with Hospital B. There were no differences between the two hospitals in physicians’ attitudes and knowledge about SGM patients. Conclusion: Policies that mandate non-discrimination and training as they currently exist may not improve physicians’ attitudes and knowledge about SGM individuals. Additional research is needed to understand how these policies and trainings relate to physicians’ SGM affirmative practices

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

TESS Discovery of an Ultra-short-period Planet around the Nearby M Dwarf LHS 3844

Data from the newly commissioned Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite has revealed a 'hot Earth' around LHS 3844, an M dwarf located 15 pc away. The planet has a radius of R ⊕ and orbits the star every 11 hr. Although the existence of an atmosphere around such a strongly irradiated planet is questionable, the star is bright enough (I = 11.9, K = 9.1) for this possibility to be investigated with transit and occultation spectroscopy. The star's brightness and the planet's short period will also facilitate the measurement of the planet's mass through Doppler spectroscopy

The TESS Objects of Interest Catalog from the TESS Prime Mission

We present 2241 exoplanet candidates identified with data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) during its 2 yr Prime Mission. We list these candidates in the TESS Objects of Interest (TOI) Catalog, which includes both new planet candidates found by TESS and previously known planets recovered by TESS observations. We describe the process used to identify TOIs, investigate the characteristics of the new planet candidates, and discuss some notable TESS planet discoveries. The TOI catalog includes an unprecedented number of small planet candidates around nearby bright stars, which are well suited for detailed follow-up observations. The TESS data products for the Prime Mission (sectors 1-26), including the TOI catalog, light curves, full-frame images, and target pixel files, are publicly available at the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes

Associations between non-discrimination and training policies and physicians’ attitudes and knowledge about sexual and gender minority patients: a comparison of physicians from two hospitals

Abstract Background Some physicians lack knowledge and awareness about health issues specific to sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals. To help improve this, hospitals have implemented policies that mandate non-discrimination and training to promote sexual and gender minority health. There is limited evidence about how such policies relate to physicians’ knowledge, attitudes, and gender and sexual minority affirmative practices. Method A random sample of 1000 physicians was recruited from a complete list of physicians affiliated with one of two university Hospitals located in Tennessee and 180 physicians completed the survey concerning attitudes and knowledge about SGM individuals. Physicians were affiliated with either Hospital A that had not implemented policies for non-discrimination and training, or Hospital B that did. Results Physicians held different attitudes about SGM patients than non-patients. Physicians affiliated with Hospital A held more negative attitudes about SGM individuals who were non-patients than physicians affiliated with Hospital B. There were no differences between the two hospitals in physicians’ attitudes and knowledge about SGM patients. Conclusion Policies that mandate non-discrimination and training as they currently exist may not improve physicians’ attitudes and knowledge about SGM individuals. Additional research is needed to understand how these policies and trainings relate to physicians’ SGM affirmative practices