Orbiting clouds of material at the Keplerian co-rotation radius of rapidly rotating low mass WTTs in Upper Sco

Using K2 data, we have identified 23 very low mass members of the ρ Oph and Upper Scorpius star-forming region as having periodic photometric variability not easily explained by well-established physical mechanisms such as star spots, eclipsing binaries, or pulsation. All of these unusual stars are mid-to-late M dwarfs without evidence of active accretion, and with photometric periods generally <1 day. Often the unusual light curve signature takes the form of narrow flux dips; when we also have rotation periods from star spots, the two periods agree, suggesting that the flux dips are due to material orbiting the star at the Keplerian co-rotation radius. We sometimes see “state-changes” in the phased light curve morphologies where ∼25% of the waveform changes shape on timescales less than a day; often, the “state-change” takes place immediately after a strong flare. For the group of stars with these sudden light curve morphology shifts, we attribute their flux dips as most probably arising from eclipses of warm coronal gas clouds, analagous to the sling-shot prominences postulated to explain transient Hα absorption features in AB Doradus itself and other rapidly rotating late type stars. For another group of stars with somewhat longer periods, we find the short duration flux dips to be highly variable on both short and long timescales, with generally asymmetric flux dip profiles. We believe that these flux dips are due to particulate clouds possibly associated with a close-in planet or resulting from a recent collisional event.PostprintPeer reviewe

Sports Medicine for Emergency Medicine Physicians, Too Few to Maintain the Fellowship in Emergency Medicine

[West J Emerg Med. 2012;13(4):342–343.

Sports Medicine for Emergency Medicine Physicians, Too Few to Maintain the Fellowship in Emergency Medicine

[West J Emerg Med. 2012;13(4):342–343.

Sports Medicine for Emergency Medicine Physicians, Too Few to Maintain the Fellowship in Emergency Medicine

[West J Emerg Med. 2012;13(4):342–343.

EPs do not accept the strategy of lumbar puncture first in subarachnoid hemorrhage.

It has been proposed that the workup of suspected subarachnoid hemorrhage should begin with lumbar puncture (LP) rather than computed tomography (CT) scan. We investigated whether EPs would in fact advocate this strategy in an index hypothetical case and in variations of the index case. An eight-question survey was distributed to EM physicians attending national continuing medical education meetings. Questions included whether the responders would advocate LP first in the following scenarios: (1) the index case in which the patient\u27s symptoms had been present for more than 12 hours, other diagnoses were very unlikely, the patient was fully insured, and CT scan was available immediately; (2) a case in which the patient is not insured; (3) a case in which the respondent is the patient; and (4) a case in which there is a delay in obtaining a CT scan. Two hundred forty-one of 275 surveys were completed for a response rate of 88%. Given the index scenario, only 22.8% of the respondents would advise patients to have an LP first versus 17.9% if they themselves were the patient (P=.11). Compared with the index scenario, 34.0% of respondents would advise LP first if their patient did not have insurance (

Slack Intern Curriculum Supports Intern Preparedness and Bridges Curriculum Gaps due to COVID-19

Objectives: Assess the effectiveness of social media implementation of an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) milestone-based curriculum during the spring 2020 U.S. COVID-19 surge. The hypothesis is that pre-interns will report improvements in PP regarding multiple ACGME milestone topics.Background: Transitioning to residency involves translation of academic knowledge into clinical acumen, and is complicated by variable medical school experiences. The COVID-19 pandemic presented a new challenge by displacing students from clinical rotations. Virtual educational modalities such as the Slack Intern Curriculum (SIC) have increased newly-matched “pre-intern” perceived preparedness (PP) for residency in prior years, but the SIC had never been implemented or evaluated in a pandemic with disrupted medical education.Methods: The SIC was constructed using topics from 8 ACGME milestones in emergency medicine (EM), incorporated into 8 clinical scenarios. Residency recruitment occurred via national EM listservs; of 276 programs, 27 enrolled. Curricular implementation was on Slack workspaces. Cases included stimulus images and clinical questions. Ample discussion time, answers, and resources were provided. Trends in PP were calculated with descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.Results: Of 311 total pre-interns contacted, 289 (92.9%) completed a presurvey in April/May 2020, and 240 (77.2%) completed a post-survey in June/July 2020, for an 83.9% follow-through rate. Pre-interns reported statistically significant increases in PP both overall and regarding 14 of 21 milestones. See Table 1.Conclusion: Amidst the educational disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, pre-interns participating in the SIC reported statistically significant increases in PP. Limitations include absence of control or pre-pandemic data. Future directions include adapting the SIC to other specialties’ ACGME milestones for generalizability across all fields