On-The-Fly Observing System of the Nobeyama 45-m and ASTE 10-m Telescopes

We have developed spectral line On-The-Fly (OTF) observing mode for the Nobeyama Radio Observatory 45-m and the Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment 10-m telescopes. Sets of digital autocorrelation spectrometers are available for OTF with heterodyne receivers mounted on the telescopes, including the focal-plane 5 x 5 array receiver, BEARS, on the 45-m. During OTF observations, the antenna is continuously driven to cover the mapped region rapidly, resulting in high observing efficiency and accuracy. Pointing of the antenna and readouts from the spectrometer are recorded as fast as 0.1 second. In this paper we report improvements made on software and instruments, requirements and optimization of observing parameters, data reduction process, and verification of the system. It is confirmed that, using optimal parameters, the OTF is about twice as efficient as conventional position-switch observing method.Comment: 11 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in PAS

Etiology and Factors Contributing to Mortality in Healthcare-associated Pneumonia: A Single-center Study

Factors contributing to mortality in healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP) have not been investigated fully. We reviewed the etiology and identified prognostic factors of HCAP in hospitalized patients. We conducted a retrospective study of 500 Japanese patients with HCAP to assess these factors, with special emphasis on microbial etiology. Patients with HCAP were older (73.4±11.4 years), more predominantly male (74.4%), and had more smoking history and comorbidity than did community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) patients. Microbes were identified in 52.8% of HCAP patients. The most frequent causative microbial agents were Streptococcus pneumoniae (n = 108, 21.6%), influenza virus (n = 47, 9.4%), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n = 40, 8.0%). Multiple drug-resistant (MDR) pathogens were more frequent in HCAP patients (9.8%) than CAP patients. Overall, 47 HCAP patients (9.4%) died, with mortality being higher in HCAP than CAP patients. The three leading causes of non-survival from HCAP were S. pneumoniae, influenza virus, and P. aeruginosa. MDR pathogens accounted for 21.3% of non-survivors. Multivariate analysis revealed disease severity on admission and treatment failure of initial antibiotics as independent factors for 30-day mortality. Among patients with treatment failure of initial antibiotics, 29.9% had received appropriate antibiotics. The most frequent pathogens in HCAP were S. pneumoniae, influenza virus, and P. aeruginosa, in both survivors and non-survivors. Disease severity on admission and treatment failure of initial antibiotics were independent factors for mortality. MDR pathogens are important therapeutic targets to mitigate negative results, and treatment strategies other than antibiotic selection are also required

Survey of Period Variations of Superhumps in SU UMa-Type Dwarf Novae. II: The Second Year (2009-2010)

As an extension of the project in Kato et al. (2009, arXiv:0905.1757), we collected times of superhump maxima for 61 SU UMa-type dwarf novae mainly observed during the 2009-2010 season. The newly obtained data confirmed the basic findings reported in Kato et al. (2009): the presence of stages A-C, as well as the predominance of positive period derivatives during stage B in systems with superhump periods shorter than 0.07 d. There was a systematic difference in period derivatives for systems with superhump periods longer than 0.075 d between this study and Kato et al. (2009). We suggest that this difference is possibly caused by the relative lack of frequently outbursting SU UMa-type dwarf novae in this period regime in the present study. We recorded a strong beat phenomenon during the 2009 superoutburst of IY UMa. The close correlation between the beat period and superhump period suggests that the changing angular velocity of the apsidal motion of the elliptical disk is responsible for the variation of superhump periods. We also described three new WZ Sge-type objects with established early superhumps and one with likely early superhumps. We also suggest that two systems, VX For and EL UMa, are WZ Sge-type dwarf novae with multiple rebrightenings. The O-C variation in OT J213806.6+261957 suggests that the frequent absence of rebrightenings in very short-Porb objects can be a result of sustained superoutburst plateau at the epoch when usual SU UMa-type dwarf novae return to quiescence preceding a rebrightening. We also present a formulation for a variety of Bayesian extension to traditional period analyses.Comment: 63 pages, 77 figures, 1 appendix, Accepted for publication in PASJ, data correctio

Solar System Exploration Sciences by EQUULEUS on SLS EM-1 and Science Instruments Development Status

EQUULEUS is a spacecraft to explore the cislunar region including the Earth-Moon Lagrange point L2 (EML2) and will be launched by NASA’s SLS EM-1 rocket. Although the size of EQUULEUS is only 6U, the spacecraft carries three different science instruments. By using these instruments, the spacecraft will demonstrate three missions for solar system exploration science during and after the flight to EML2; imaging of the plasmasphere around the earth, observation of space dust flux in the cislunar region, and observation of lunar impact flashes at the far side of the moon. The developments and verifications of the flight models of these science instruments were completed by the end of 2018, and we started flight model integration and testing. This paper introduces the details of the scientific objectives, design results and development statuses of the instruments. In addition, results of the integration and pre-flight tests are also described

Changes in airway diameter and mucus plugs in patients with asthma exacerbation.

BACKGROUND:Airway obstruction due to decreased airway diameter and increased incidence of mucus plugs has not been directly observed in asthma exacerbation. We studied the changes in the inner diameter of the airway (Din) and the frequency of mucus plugs by airway generation in patients with asthma exacerbation. We compared these patients to those in a stable phase using high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). METHODS AND FINDINGS:Thirteen patients with asthma were studied by HRCT during asthma exacerbation and in a stable period. The HRCT study was performed on patients who could safely hold their breath for a short while in a supine position 1 hour after initial treatment for asthma exacerbation. Using a curved multiplanar reconstruction (MPR) software, we reconstructed the longitudinal airway images and the images exactly perpendicular to the airway axis to measure the Din and mucus plugs from the second- (segmental) to sixth-generation bronchi in all segments of the lungs.The ratios of Din (exacerbation/stable) were 0.91(P = 0.016), 0.88 (P = 0.002), 0.83 (P = 0.001), 0.80 (P = 0.001), and 0.87 (NS) in the second-, third-, fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-generation bronchi, respectively. The percentages of airway obstruction due to mucus plugs were notably higher in the fourth- and fifth-generation bronchi (17.9%/18.1% in stable phase and 43.2%/45.9% in the exacerbation phase, respectively) than in the other generations of bronchi. CONCLUSIONS:Among the bronchi examined, the fourth- and fifth-generation bronchi were significantly obstructed during asthma exacerbation compared with the stable phase in terms of a decreased airway diameter and mucus plugs

On the Base Rock of Tokyo : V. Observations of Seismic Waves Generated from the 7th, 8th and 9th Yumenoshima Explosions

Seismic waves from the large explosions which were set off at Yumenoshima were observed at 34 temporary stations along a spread around 70 km in length, extending NNE from the shot points, connecting Tsukuba Seismological Observatory of Earthquake Research Institute and Yumenoshima. Observations were also carried out at 10 fixed stations, 5 to the north and 5 to the west of Yumenoshima to check the variation of P-wave velocity with respect to time

64. S Wave Velocities of Subsoil Layers in Tokyo 3

It has now become possible to calculate the vibration characteristics of ground at any site provided we know the subsoil structure and physical constants down to the basement thereunder