2,158 research outputs found
An Empirically Derived Three-Dimensional Laplace Resonance in the Gliese 876 Planetary System
We report constraints on the three-dimensional orbital architecture for all
four planets known to orbit the nearby M dwarf Gliese 876 based solely on
Doppler measurements and demanding long-term orbital stability. Our dataset
incorporates publicly available radial velocities taken with the ELODIE and
CORALIE spectrographs, HARPS, and Keck HIRES as well as previously unpublished
HIRES velocities. We first quantitatively assess the validity of the planets
thought to orbit GJ 876 by computing the Bayes factors for a variety of
different coplanar models using an importance sampling algorithm. We find that
a four-planet model is preferred over a three-planet model. Next, we apply a
Newtonian MCMC algorithm to perform a Bayesian analysis of the planet masses
and orbits using an n-body model in three-dimensional space. Based on the
radial velocities alone, we find that a 99% credible interval provides upper
limits on the mutual inclinations for the three resonant planets
( for the "c" and "b" pair and for
the "b" and "e" pair). Subsequent dynamical integrations of our posterior
sample find that the GJ 876 planets must be roughly coplanar
( and ), suggesting the amount of
planet-planet scattering in the system has been low. We investigate the
distribution of the respective resonant arguments of each planet pair and find
that at least one argument for each planet pair and the Laplace argument
librate. The libration amplitudes in our three-dimensional orbital model
supports the idea of the outer-three planets having undergone significant past
disk migration.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures, 8 tables. Accepted to MNRAS. Posterior samples
available at https://github.com/benelson/GJ87
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Holmes Tremor due to Artery of Percheron Infarct: Clinical Case and Treatment Using Deep Brain Stimulation of the Vim and ZI Targets
Background: Holmes tremor (HT) arises from disruption of the cerebellothalamocortical pathways. A lesion can interrupt the projection at any point, resulting in this tremor. We describe a case of HT due to the rare artery of Percheron infarct and its successful treatment using deep brain stimulation.
Case report: A 62-year-old woman with a right medial cerebral peduncle and bilateral thalamic stroke developed HT. Ventral intermediate nucleus (Vim) zona incerta (ZI) deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery was performed, with improvement in her tremor.
Discussion: Our case supports the theory that the more caudal ZI target in combination with Vim is beneficial in treating poorly DBS-responsive tremors such as HT
Risk Perceptions of Acquiring Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Among College Students
The rapidly increasing number of Type II diabetes mellitus cases among adolescents highlights the need to understand the risk perceptions of adolescents towards this disease. Our study addresses this need by examining students’ risk perceptions of acquiring Type II diabetes mellitus. Upon unpacking the conceptualization of students’ risk perceptions and reviewing the relevant literature, we develop and test empirically a comprehensive model incorporating personal, public, and environmental risk factors influencing students’ risk perceptions of acquiring Type II diabetes mellitus. Our findings support the significant impact of these factors
Flexor Carpi Radialis Brevis: A Case Report
The flexor carpi radialis brevis is a rare anomalous muscle, with incidence ranging from 1.6-7.5%. While this anatomical variation is typically benign, it is of clinical importance as it can contribute to neurovascular and musculoskeletal dysfunction. Surgeons should be made aware of this variation during distal radius volar plating procedures and carpal tunnel releases. The flexor carpi radialis brevis muscle may also cause confusion when interpreting imaging results. We report here a rare case of bilateral flexor carpi radialis brevis muscles that travel through the carpal tunnel found during cadaveric dissection in a graduate course for physical therapy students. To our knowledge, this is the second published example of a flexor carpi radialis brevis muscle traveling through the carpal tunnel
Improved Photometric Redshifts with Surface Luminosity Priors
We apply Bayesian statistics with prior probabilities of galaxy surface
luminosity (SL) to improve photometric redshifts. We apply the method to a
sample of 1266 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts in the GOODS North and
South fields at 0.1 < z < 2.0. We start with spectrophotometric redshifts
(SPZs) based on Probing Evolution and Reionization Spectroscopically grism
spectra, which cover a wavelength range of 6000-9000A, combined with
(U)BViz(JHK) broadband photometry in the GOODS fields. The accuracy of SPZ
redshifts is estimated to be \sigma (\Delta(z))=0.035 with an systematic offset
of -0.026, where \Delta(z)=\Delta z / (1+z), for galaxies in redshift range of
0.5 < z < 1.25. The addition of the SL prior probability helps break the
degeneracy of SPZ redshifts between low redshift 4000 A break galaxies and
high-redshift Lyman break galaxies which are mostly catastrophic outliers. For
the 1138 galaxies at z < 1.6, the fraction of galaxies with redshift deviation
\Delta (z) > 0.2 is reduced from 15.0% to 10.4%, while the rms scatter of the
fractional redshift error does not change much.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, published in A
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The electronic self report assessment and intervention for cancer: promoting patient verbal reporting of symptom and quality of life issues in a randomized controlled trial
Background: The electronic self report assessment - cancer (ESRA-C), has been shown to reduce symptom distress during cancer therapy The purpose of this analysis was to evaluate aspects of how the ESRA-C intervention may have resulted in lower symptom distress (SD). Methods: Patients at two cancer centers were randomized to ESRA-C assessment only (control) or the Web-based ESRA-C intervention delivered to patients’ homes or to a tablet in clinic. The intervention allowed patients to self-monitor symptom and quality of life (SxQOL) between visits, receive self-care education and coaching to report SxQOL to clinicians. Summaries of assessments were delivered to clinicians in both groups. Audio-recordings of clinic visits made 6 weeks after treatment initiation were coded for discussions of 26 SxQOL issues, focusing on patients’/caregivers’ coached verbal reports of SxQOL severity, pattern, alleviating/aggravating factors and requests for help. Among issues identified as problematic, two measures were defined for each patient: the percent SxQOL reported that included a coached statement, and an index of verbalized coached statements per SxQOL. The Wilcoxon rank test was used to compare measures between groups. Clinician responses to problematic SxQOL were compared. A mediation analysis was conducted, exploring the effect of verbal reports on SD outcomes. Results: 517 (256 intervention) clinic visits were audio-recorded. General discussion of problematic SxQOL was similar in both groups. Control group patients reported a median 75% of problematic SxQOL using any specific coached statement compared to a median 85% in the intervention group (p = .0009). The median report index of coached statements was 0.25 for the control group and 0.31 for the intervention group (p = 0.008). Fatigue, pain and physical function issues were reported significantly more often in the intervention group (all p < .05). Clinicians' verbalized responses did not differ between groups. Patients' verbal reports did not mediate final SD outcomes (p = .41). Conclusions: Adding electronically-delivered, self-care instructions and communication coaching to ESRA-C promoted specific patient descriptions of problematic SxQOL issues compared with ESRA-C assessment alone. However, clinician verbal responses were no different and subsequent symptom distress group differences were not mediated by the patients' reports. Trial registration NCT00852852; 26 Feb 200
Functional Interrogation of Adult Hypothalamic Neurogenesis with Focal Radiological Inhibition
The functional characterization of adult-born neurons remains a significant challenge. Approaches to inhibit adult neurogenesis via invasive viral delivery or transgenic animals have potential confounds that make interpretation of results from these studies difficult. New radiological tools are emerging, however, that allow one to noninvasively investigate the function of select groups of adult-born neurons through accurate and precise anatomical targeting in small animals. Focal ionizing radiation inhibits the birth and differentiation of new neurons, and allows targeting of specific neural progenitor regions. In order to illuminate the potential functional role that adult hypothalamic neurogenesis plays in the regulation of physiological processes, we developed a noninvasive focal irradiation technique to selectively inhibit the birth of adult-born neurons in the hypothalamic median eminence. We describe a method for Computer tomography-guided focal irradiation (CFIR) delivery to enable precise and accurate anatomical targeting in small animals. CFIR uses three-dimensional volumetric image guidance for localization and targeting of the radiation dose, minimizes radiation exposure to nontargeted brain regions, and allows for conformal dose distribution with sharp beam boundaries. This protocol allows one to ask questions regarding the function of adult-born neurons, but also opens areas to questions in areas of radiobiology, tumor biology, and immunology. These radiological tools will facilitate the translation of discoveries at the bench to the bedside
Probing potassium in the atmosphere of HD 80606b with tunable filter transit spectrophotometry from the Gran Telescopio Canarias
We report observations of HD 80606 using the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio Canarias
(GTC) and the OSIRIS tunable filter imager. We acquired very-high-precision,
narrow-band photometry in four bandpasses around the K I absorption feature
during the January 2010 transit of HD 80606b and during out-of-transit
observations conducted in January and April of 2010. We obtained differential
photometric precisions of \sim 2.08e-4 for the in-transit flux ratio measured
at 769.91-nm, which probes the K I line core. We find no significant difference
in the in-transit flux ratio between observations at 768.76 and 769.91 nm. Yet,
we find a difference of \sim 8.09 \pm 2.88e-4 between these observations and
observations at a longer wavelength that probes the K I wing (777.36 nm). While
the presence of red noise in the transit data has a non-negligible effect on
the uncertainties in the flux ratio, the 777.36-769.91 nm colour during transit
shows no effects from red noise and also indicates a significant colour change,
with a mean value of \sim 8.99\pm0.62e-4. This large change in the colour is
equivalent to a \sim 4.2% change in the apparent planetary radius with
wavelength, which is much larger than the atmospheric scale height. This
implies the observations probed the atmosphere at very low pressures as well as
a dramatic change in the pressure at which the slant optical depth reaches
unity between \sim770 and 777 nm. We hypothesize that the excess absorption may
be due to K I in a high-speed wind being driven from the exoplanet's exosphere.
We discuss the viability of this and alternative interpretations, including
stellar limb darkening, starspots, and effects from Earth's atmosphere. We
strongly encourage follow-up observations of HD 80606b to confirm the signal
measured here. Finally, we discuss the future prospects for exoplanet
characterization using tunable filter spectrophotometry.Comment: Accepted to MNRAS; revised version includes some major updates; now
21 pages, with 14 figures and 9 table
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