A Phenomenon Resembling Early Superhumps in a New SU UMa-Type Dwarf Nova with a 2-Hour Orbital Period

We investigate K2BS5, an optical transient that we identified in Campaign 13 of the Kepler/K2 archives by the "K2 Background Survey", and classify it as a new SU UMa-type dwarf nova. Using the light curve generated from Kepler's long-cadence observation mode, we analyze the dwarf nova during quiescence and superoutburst. Following 20 days of quiescence at the start of the observation, the system entered a superoutburst lasting 12 days, after which it experienced at least one rebrightening. K2BS5 clearly meets the criteria for an SU UMa star, but at the peak of the superoutburst, it also shows double-wave oscillations consistent with the spectroscopic orbital period, a phenomenon that closely resembles early superhumps in WZ Sge stars. While we do not classify K2BS5 as a WZ Sge system, we discuss how this phenomenon could complicate efforts to use the suspected detection of early superhumps to distinguish SU UMa-type dwarf novae from the recently recognized class of long-orbital-period WZ Sge systems.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journa

Parnassus: Classical Journal (Volume 3, 2015)

Parnassus is an undergraduate journal published by the College of the Holy Cross in conjunction with the Classics Department. Parnassus\u27 mission is to share the passion of Holy Cross students for the ancient world. All pieces aim to be generally understandable, allowing the field to be more accessible to non-specialists in the community.https://crossworks.holycross.edu/parnassus/1002/thumbnail.jp

Lineage Abundance Estimation for SARS-CoV-2 in Wastewater Using Transcriptome Quantification Techniques

Effectively monitoring the spread of SARS-CoV-2 mutants is essential to efforts to counter the ongoing pandemic. Predicting lineage abundance from wastewater, however, is technically challenging. We show that by sequencing SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater and applying algorithms initially used for transcriptome quantification, we can estimate lineage abundance in wastewater samples. We find high variability in signal among individual samples, but the overall trends match those observed from sequencing clinical samples. Thus, while clinical sequencing remains a more sensitive technique for population surveillance, wastewater sequencing can be used to monitor trends in mutant prevalence in situations where clinical sequencing is unavailable

Characteristics of the Permanent Superhumps in V533 Herculis

We analyze two sectors of TESS photometry of the nova-like cataclysmic variable star V533 Her. We detect a periodicity consistent with the binary orbital period and estimate a revised value of 3.53709(2) hr. We also detect a strong signal near a period of 3.8 h that we associate with positive superhumps. The superhump frequency varies over the TESS observations with the fractional difference between the superhump and orbital periods, $\epsilon$, ranging between $0.055\le \epsilon \le 0.080$. The superhump amplitude is correlated with its frequency such that the amplitude increases as $\epsilon$ decreases. Positive superhumps result from an instability that generates an eccentric accretion disk and $\epsilon$ is a measure of the disk precession rate in the binary rest frame. The observed correlation implies that as the disk precession rate slows, the disk eccentricity increases.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in the RNAA

Impact of Australia's Better Outcomes in Mental Health Care program on psychologists

The aim of this paper was to consider the impact on psychologists of one component of the Australian Government's Better Outcomes in Mental Health Care (BOiMHC) program, namely the Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS) component. This supports psychologists and general practitioners (GPs) to work together to provide optimal mental health care, via 102 projects being conducted by Divisions of General Practice. The paper was informed by data from five sources: a project-based minimum dataset; local project evaluation reports; a forum; a survey of projects: and a survey of Australian Psychological Society (APS) members. Taken together, the data from these sources showed that a significant number of psychologists are providing services through the projects, and the majority are finding it a positive and professionally rewarding experience. There is considerable variability regarding models of retaining, locating and referring to psychologists, and there are pros and cons associated with each. The major problem identified by psychologists is the level of remuneration. BOiMHC is currently moving into a new phase of continuation and expansion, and consideration was given to whether the data point to any changes that could be made to the ATAPS projects during this period of transition. In the main, the data suggest that the status quo should be retained, but the issue of remuneration must be addressed

Additional file 1 of Lineage abundance estimation for SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater using transcriptome quantification techniques

Additional file 1. Includes all supplementary information, supplementary figures and supplementary tables