Lens Model and Time Delay Predictions for the Sextuply Lensed Quasar SDSS J2222+2745

SDSS J2222+2745 is a galaxy cluster at z=0.49, strongly lensing a quasar at z=2.805 into six widely separated images. In recent HST imaging of the field, we identify additional multiply lensed galaxies, and confirm the sixth quasar image that was identified by Dahle et al. (2013). We used the Gemini North telescope to measure a spectroscopic redshift of z=4.56 of one of the secondary lensed galaxies. These data are used to refine the lens model of SDSS J2222+2745, compute the time delay and magnifications of the lensed quasar images, and reconstruct the source image of the quasar host and a second lensed galaxy at z=2.3. This second galaxy also appears in absorption in our Gemini spectra of the lensed quasar, at a projected distance of 34 kpc. Our model is in agreement with the recent time delay measurements of Dahle et al. (2015), who found tAB=47.7+/-6.0 days and tAC=-722+/-24 days. We use the observed time delays to further constrain the model, and find that the model-predicted time delays of the three faint images of the quasar are tAD=502+/-68 days, tAE=611+/-75 days, and tAF=415+/-72 days. We have initiated a follow-up campaign to measure these time delays with Gemini North. Finally, we present initial results from an X-ray monitoring program with Swift, indicating the presence of hard X-ray emission from the lensed quasar, as well as extended X-ray emission from the cluster itself, which is consistent with the lensing mass measurement and the cluster velocity dispersion.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures; submitted to Ap

Safety and efficacy of loteprednol etabonate ophthalmic ointment 0.5% for the treatment of inflammation and pain following cataract surgery

Timothy L Comstock1 Michael R Paterno1 Angele Singh1 Tara Erb1 Elizabeth Davis21Bausch and Lomb Inc., Rochester, NY, USA; 2Minnesota Eye Consultants, Bloomington, MN, USABackground: To compare the safety and efficacy of loteprednol etabonate ophthalmic ointment 0.5% (LE ointment), a new topical ointment formulation, with vehicle for the treatment of inflammation and pain following cataract surgery.Methods: Two randomized, multicenter, double-masked, parallel-group, vehicle-controlled studies were conducted. Patients aged ≥18 years with a combined postoperative anterior chamber cells and flare (ACI) ≥ Grade 3 following uncomplicated cataract surgery participated in seven study visits. Patients self-administered either topical LE ointment or vehicle four times daily for 14 days. Efficacy outcomes included the proportion of patients with complete resolution of ACI and the proportion of patients with no (Grade 0) pain at postoperative day 8. Safety outcomes included the incidence of adverse events, ocular symptoms, changes in intraocular pressure and visual acuity, and biomicroscopy and funduscopy findings.Results: Data from the two studies were combined. The integrated intent-to-treat population consisted of 805 patients (mean [standard deviation] age 69.0 [9.2] years; 58.0% female and 89.7% white). Significantly more LE ointment-treated patients than vehicle-treated patients had complete resolution of ACI (27.7% versus 12.5%) and no pain (75.5% versus 43.1%) at day 8 (P < 0.0001 for both). Fewer LE ointment-treated patients required rescue medication (27.7% versus 63.8%), and fewer had an ocular adverse event (47.2% versus 78.0%, P < 0.0001) while on study treatment. The most common ocular adverse events with LE ointment were anterior chamber inflammation, photophobia, corneal edema, conjunctival hyperemia, eye pain, and iritis. Mean intraocular pressure decreased in both treatment groups. Four patients had increased intraocular pressure ≥10 mmHg (three LE ointment and one vehicle) prior to rescue medication. Visual acuity and dilated funduscopy results were similar between the treatment groups, with the exception of visual acuity at visits 5 and 6, which favored LE ointment.Conclusion: LE ointment was efficacious and well tolerated in the treatment of ocular inflammation and pain following cataract surgery.Keywords: loteprednol etabonate, ophthalmic ointment, postoperative inflammation, postoperative pain, cataract surgery, intraocular pressur

Spatially Resolved Patchy Lyman-α\alpha Emission Within the Central Kiloparsec of a Strongly Lensed Quasar Host Galaxy at z = 2.8

We report the detection of extended Lyman-$\alpha$ emission from the host galaxy of SDSS~J2222+2745, a strongly lensed quasar at $z = 2.8$. Spectroscopic follow-up clearly reveals extended Lyman-$\alpha$ in emission between two images of the central active galactic nucleus (AGN). We reconstruct the lensed quasar host galaxy in the source plane by applying a strong lens model to HST imaging, and resolve spatial scales as small as $\sim$200 parsecs. In the source plane we recover the host galaxy morphology to within a few hundred parsecs of the central AGN, and map the extended Lyman-$\alpha$ emission to its physical origin on one side of the host galaxy at radii $\sim$0.5-2 kpc from the central AGN. There are clear morphological differences between the Lyman-$\alpha$ and rest-frame ultraviolet stellar continuum emission from the quasar host galaxy. Furthermore, the relative velocity profiles of quasar Lyman-$\alpha$, host galaxy Lyman-$\alpha$, and metal lines in outflowing gas reveal differences in the absorbing material affecting the AGN and host galaxy. These data indicate the presence of patchy local intervening gas in front of the central quasar and its host galaxy. This interpretation is consistent with the central luminous quasar being obscured across a substantial fraction of its surrounding solid angle, resulting in strong anisotropy in the exposure of the host galaxy to ionizing radiation from the AGN. This work demonstrates the power of strong lensing-assisted studies to probe spatial scales that are currently inaccessible by other means.Comment: Accepted to ApJ Letters; 7 pages, 5 figure

Strong Lens Models for 37 Clusters of Galaxies from the SDSS Giant Arcs Survey

We present strong gravitational lensing models for 37 galaxy clusters from the SDSS Giant Arcs Survey. We combine data from multi-band Hubble Space Telescope WFC3imaging, with ground-based imaging and spectroscopy from Magellan, Gemini, APO, and MMT, in order to detect and spectroscopically confirm new multiply-lensed background sources behind the clusters. We report spectroscopic or photometric redshifts of sources in these fields, including cluster galaxies and background sources. Based on all available lensing evidence, we construct and present strong lensing mass models for these galaxy clusters.Comment: 53 pages; submitted to ApJ

Hydraena (s.str.) dinarica, new species (Coleoptera: Hydraenidae) along with further records of Hydraena spp. from Durmitor National Park, Montenegro and comments on the DNA barcoding problem with the genus

Background Long-palped Water Beetles were collected during a taxon expedition in Montenegro which involved citizen scientists, students and taxonomists. The material was collected from springs, brooks, fens and the Tara River, at altitudes between 600 m and 1450 m above sea level, using fine-meshed hand-nets and by manual checking of submerged substrates. The morphological species delimitation was supplemented and congruent with mtDNA sequences mainly obtained in the field using the newly-developed MinION-based ONTrack pipeline. New information The new species Hydraena dinarica Freitag & de Vries, sp. n. from Durmitor Mt. is described, illustrated and compared in detail to closely-related congeners of the H. saga d\u27Orchymont, 1930/H. emarginata Rey, 1885 species complex. Five additional species and female specimens of two unidentified morphospecies of the genus were also recorded in the vicinity of Durmitor National Park. New records and the first DNA barcodes for Hydraena biltoni Jäch & Díaz, 2012 (endemic to Montenegro) and H. morio Kiesenwetter, 1849 are provided. Further records of H. nigrita Germar, 1824, H. minutissima Stephens, 1829, H. subintegra Ganglbauer, 1901 and females of two unidentified morphospecies are commented upon. The resulting inter- and intraspecific genetic distances and some observations of low or zero sequence divergence between recently-diverged species of Hydraena Kugelann, 1794 are briefly discussed

A hazard analysis method for systematic identification of safety requirements for user interface software in medical devices

© Springer International Publishing AG (outside the US) 2017. Formal methods technologies have the potential to verify the usability and safety of user interface (UI) software design in medical devices, enabling significant reductions in use errors and consequential safety incidents with such devices. This however depends on comprehensive and verifiable safety requirements to leverage these techniques for detecting and preventing flaws in UI software that can induce use errors. This paper presents a hazard analysis method that extends Leveson’s System Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) with a comprehensive set of causal factor categories, so as to provide developers with clear guidelines for systematic identification of use-related hazards associated with medical devices, their causes embedded in UI software design, and safety requirements for mitigating such hazards. The method is evaluated with a case study on the Gantry-2 radiation therapy system, which demonstrates that (1) as compared to standard STPA, our method allowed us to identify more UI software design issues likely to cause use-related hazards; and (2) the identified UI software design issues facilitated the definition of precise, verifiable safety requirements for UI software, which could be readily formalized in verification tools such as Prototype Verification System (PVS).- U.S. Food and Drug Administration(NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000016)Sandy Weininger (FDA), Scott Thiel (Navigant Consulting, Inc.), Michelle Jump (Stryker), Stefania Gnesi (ISTI/CNR) and the CHI+MED team (www.chi-med.ac.uk) provided useful feedback and inputs. Paolo Masci’s work is supported by the North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020) under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, and by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) within Project “NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000016”.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Measurement of the mass difference m(D-s(+))-m(D+) at CDF II

We present a measurement of the mass difference m(D-s(+))-m(D+), where both the D-s(+) and D+ are reconstructed in the phipi(+) decay channel. This measurement uses 11.6 pb(-1) of data collected by CDF II using the new displaced-track trigger. The mass difference is found to be m(D-s(+))-m(D+)=99.41+/-0.38(stat)+/-0.21(syst) MeV/c(2)

The CMS Phase-1 pixel detector upgrade

The CMS detector at the CERN LHC features a silicon pixel detector as its innermost subdetector. The original CMS pixel detector has been replaced with an upgraded pixel system (CMS Phase-1 pixel detector) in the extended year-end technical stop of the LHC in 2016/2017. The upgraded CMS pixel detector is designed to cope with the higher instantaneous luminosities that have been achieved by the LHC after the upgrades to the accelerator during the first long shutdown in 2013–2014. Compared to the original pixel detector, the upgraded detector has a better tracking performance and lower mass with four barrel layers and three endcap disks on each side to provide hit coverage up to an absolute value of pseudorapidity of 2.5. This paper describes the design and construction of the CMS Phase-1 pixel detector as well as its performance from commissioning to early operation in collision data-taking.Peer reviewe