973 research outputs found
Kepler Observations of Very Low-Mass Stars
Observations of very low-mass stars with Kepler represent an excellent
opportunity to search for planetary transits and to characterize optical
photometric variability at the cool end of the stellar mass distribution. In
this paper, we present low-resolution red optical spectra that allow us to
identify 18 very low-mass stars that have Kepler light curves available in the
public archive. Spectral types of these targets are found to lie in the range
dM4.5--dM8.5, implying spectrophotometric distances from 17 pc to 80 pc. Limits
to the presence of transiting planets are placed from modelling of the Kepler
light curves. We find that the size of the planets detectable by Kepler around
these small stars typically lie in the range 1 to 5 Earth radii within the
habitable regions (P10 days). We identify one candidate transit with a
period of 1.26 days that resembles the signal produced by a planet slightly
smaller than the Moon. However, our pixel by pixel analysis of the Kepler data
shows that the signal most likely arises from a background contaminating
eclipsing binary. For 11 of these objects reliable photometric periods shorter
than 7 days are derived, and are interpreted as rotational modulation of
magnetic cool spots. For 3 objects we find possible photometric periods longer
than 50 days that require confirmation. H emission measurements and
flare rates are used as a proxies for chromospheric activity and transversal
velocities are used as an indicator of dynamical ages. These data allow us to
discuss the relationship between magnetic activity and detectability of
planetary transits around very low-mass stars. We show that Super-Earth planets
with sizes around 2 Earth radii are detectable with Kepler around about two
thirds of the stars in our sample, independently from their level of
chromospheric activity.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic
Differences between pharmacistsâ perception of counseling and practice in the era of prescription drug misuse
Objective: This study was conducted to assess pharmacists\u27 practices when counseling patients on their prescription medications, and their preferences for training.
Methods: Five focus group discussions of community pharmacists (n=45, with seven to eleven participants in each group) were conducted in a major metropolitan city in the southern United States. Participants were recruited via email using a list of community pharmacists provided by the Texas State Board of Pharmacy. All focus group discussions were structured using a moderator guide consisting of both discrete and open-ended questions. Qualitative analysis software was used to analyze the data with a thematic analysis approach.
Results: The participants in this study had a high self-efficacy regarding their ability to counsel on both new and opioid prescriptions. Many pharmacists experienced the same barriers to counseling and agreed on the components of counseling. However, the themes that emerged showed that the participants exhibited only a partial understanding of the components of counseling. The themes that emerged in the thematic analysis were perceived confidence and discordant counseling practices, inadequate infrastructure, lack of comprehensive counseling, inconsistent use of the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP), and pharmacists\u27 desired training/assistance.
Conclusions: Community pharmacists are in a unique position to help combat the opioid crisis; however, there has been very little research on the pharmacist-patient interaction in this context. With policy changes, such as the PDMP mandate, going into effect across the country, it is important to capitalize on the potential community pharmacists have in ameliorating the opioid crisis in the United States
Production of pseudoscalar Higgs-bosons in collisions
We investigate the production of a pseudoscalar Higgs-boson using the
reaction at an collider with center of
mass energy of 500 GeV. Supersymmetric contributions are included and provide a
substantial enhancement to the cross section for most values of the symmetry
breaking parameters. We find that, despite the penalty incurred in converting
one of the beams into a source of backscattered photons, the
process is a promising channel for the detection of the .Comment: 9 pages RevTex + 2 Postscript figures tar.gzip.uuencode
Prospects for Supersymmetry at LEP2
Working within the framework of the minimal supergravity model with gauge
coupling unification and radiative electroweak symmetry breaking (SUGRA), we
map out regions of parameter space explorable by experiments at LEP2, for
center of mass energy options of , and 205 GeV. We
compute signals from all accessible SUSY pair production
processes using the ISAJET simulation program, and devise cuts that enhance the
signal relative to Standard Model backgrounds, and which also serve to
differentiate various supersymmetric processes from one another. We delineate
regions of SUGRA parameter space where production of neutralino pairs, chargino
pairs, slepton pairs and the production of the light Higgs scalar of SUSY is
detectable above Standard Model backgrounds and distinguishable from other SUSY
processes. In addition, we find small regions of SUGRA parameter space where
\te\te, \tz_2\tz_2 and \tnu_L\tnu_L production yields spectacular events
with up to four isolated leptons. The combined regions of parameter space
explorable by LEP2 are compared with the reach of Tevatron Main Injector era
experiments. Finally, we comment on how the reach via the neutralino pair
channel is altered when the radiative electroweak symmetry breaking constraint
is relaxed.Comment: 22 page REVTEX file + 9 uuencoded figures; a uuencoded PS file with
PS figures is available via anonymous ftp at
ftp://hep.fsu.edu/preprints/baer/FSUHEP950501.u
A systematic mapping review of links between handling wild meat and zoonotic diseases
1. Hunting, trade, and consumption of wildlife present a serious threat to global public health as it places humans in close contact with zoonotic pathogens. 2. We systematically mapped the literature on wild meat handling and zoonotic disease transmission (1996â2022) using the online database Web of Science and Google search engine and identified 6229 articles out of which 253 were finally selected for use in our mapping review; 51 of these provided specific information regarding transmission risks. 3. The reviewed studies reported 43 zoonotic pathogens (17 bacteria, 15 viruses, and 11 parasites) that could pose a potential risk to human health. 4. Sixteen hygienic and sanitary behaviours were described in the reviewed studies. Disease surveillance was the most frequent. Most of the surveillance studies were carried out in Europe and were less common in the tropics. 5. To inform policy and practical actions effectively, it is imperative to broaden our understanding of how various mitigation behaviours can be employed to minimize the risk of transmission
Assessment of discharge treatment prescribed to women admitted to hospital for hyperemesis gravidarum
Aims: Prescribing drug treatment for the management of hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), the most severe form of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, remains controversial. Since most manufacturers do not recommend prescribing antiemetics during pregnancy, little is known regarding which treatments are most prevalent among pregnant patients. Here we report for the first time, evidence of actual treatments prescribed in English hospitals.Methods: A retrospective pregnancy cohort was constructed using anonymised electronic records in the Nottingham University Hospitals Trust system for all women who delivered between January 2010 and February 2015. For women admitted to hospital for HG, medications prescribed on discharge were described and variation by maternal characteristics was assessed. Compliance with local and national HG treatment guidelines was evaluated.Results: Of 33,567 pregnancies (among 30,439 women), the prevalence of HG was 1.7%. Among 530 HG admissions with records of discharge drugs, Cyclizine was the most frequently prescribed (almost 73% of admissions). Prochlorperazine and metoclopramide were prescribed mainly in combination with other drugs, however, ondansetron was more common than metoclopramide at discharge from first and subsequent admissions. Steroids were only prescribed following readmissions. Thiamine was most frequently prescribed following readmission while high dose of folic acid was prescribed equally after first or subsequent admissions. Prescribing showed little variation by maternal age, ethnicity, weight, socioeconomic deprivation, or comorbidities.Conclusion: Evidence that management of HG in terms of discharge medications mainly followed local and national recommendations provides reassurance within the health professional community. Wider documentation of drugs prescribed to women with HG is required to enable full assessment of whether optimal drug management is being achieved
LOW ENERGY SUPERSYMMETRY PHENOMENOLOGY
We summarize the current status and future prospects for low energy (weak
scale) supersymmetry. In particular, we evaluate the capabilities of various
, and colliders to discover evidence for supersymmetric
particles. Furthermore, assuming supersymmetry is discovered, we discuss
capabilities of future facilities to dis-entangle the anticipated spectrum of
super-particles, and, via precision measurements, to test mass and coupling
parameters for comparison with various theoretical expectations. We comment
upon the complementarity of proposed hadron and machines for a
comprehensive study of low energy supersymmetry.Comment: 74 page (Latex) file; a PS or uuencoded manuscript with embedded
figures is available via anonymous ftp at
ftp://hep.fsu.edu/preprints/baer/FSUHEP950401.ps or .uu . Contributed chapter
to DPF study group on Electroweak Symmetry Breaking and Beyond the Standard
Model
Report of the Supersymmetry Theory Working Group
We provide a mini-guide to some of the possible manifestations of weak scale
supersymmetry. For each of six scenarios we provide a brief description of the
theoretical underpinnings, the adjustable parameters, a qualitative description
of the associated phenomenology at future colliders, comments on how to
simulate each scenario with existing event generators.Comment: Report of Snowmass Supersymmetry Theory Working Group; 14 pages plus
3 figures using latex2e and snow2e.cls; this version has corrected a number
of typos from the first versio
Moabi (Baillonella toxisperma Pierre): Arbre Ă usage multiple de forĂȘt dense humide du Cameroun
Le Moabi est un grand arbre de la forêt dense humide du Cameroun. Cet arbre à usages multiples, est recherché par l’industrie forestière pour la qualité de son bois et par les populations rurales pour ses produits autres que le bois tels l’écorce et les racines pour leurs importances médicinales, les fruits pour la fabrication d’huile. Ces formes d’exploitations concurrentielles, très souvent sans soucis de durabilité ont considérablement réduit les populations d’arbres, avec pour conséquence la rareté des produits dérivés. Face à cette forte pression anthropique qui s’exerce sur le Moabi dans le sud Cameroun, il a paru nécessaire d’effectuer une étude socioéconomique et écologique dans les villages à fortes activités d’exploitation. En effet, la compréhension des atouts socioculturels et des divers liens et usages que les ruraux tissent autour de cet arbre, l’estimation des stocks disponibles dans les terroirs villageois est un préalable impératif à l’élaboration des règles de gestion durable. Les enquêtes auprès des utilisateurs et les inventaires forestiers ont été réalisés dans sept villages. La distribution de cette espèce est estimée à 0,8 arbre/ha pour les individus d’un diamètre à 1,3 m supérieur à 10 cm. Cet arbre revêt une importance socioculturelle et incarne des pouvoirs divins indéniables pour 65% des ruraux. Les femmes représentent 56,5% des exploitants des produits forestiers non ligneux issus de cet arbre. Elles sont plus que les hommes, tributaires de l’exploitation des fruits et des écorces du Moabi. De ce fait, elles sont les principales victimes des conflits d’intérêts. Les écorces et le latex sont utilisés en pharmacopée. La production d’huile à partir des fruits peut générer jusque 1 050 000 Fcfa de rentrées financières dans le village Melondo. L’importance de ce gain incite à promouvoir l’extraction d’huile de Moabi dans le cadre de la diversification des sources de revenus et de la lutte contre la pauvreté.Mots clés: Moabi, usages multiples, gestion soutenue, communauté rurale, Camerou
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