44 research outputs found
Does implementation matter if comprehension is lacking? A qualitative investigation into perceptions of advance care planning in people with cancer
Purpose: While advance care planning holds promise, uptake is variable and it is unclear how well people engage with or comprehend advance care planning. The objective of this study was to explore how people with cancer comprehended Advance Care Plans and examine how accurately advance care planning documentation represented patient wishes.
Methods: This study used a qualitative descriptive design. Data collection comprised interviews and an examination of participants’ existing advance care planning documentation. Participants included those who had any diagnosis of cancer with an advance care plan recorded: Refusal of Treatment Certificate; Statement of Choices; and/or Enduring Power of Attorney (Medical Treatment) at one cancer treatment centre.
Results: Fourteen participants were involved in the study. Twelve participants were female (86%). The mean age was 77 (range: 61-91) and participants had completed their advance care planning documentation between 8 and 72 weeks prior to the interview (mean 33 weeks). Three themes were evident from the data: Incomplete advance care planning understanding and confidence; Limited congruence for attitude and documentation; Advance care planning can enable peace of mind. Complete advance care planning understanding was unusual; most participants demonstrated partial comprehension of their own advance care plan, and some indicated very limited understanding. Participants’ attitudes and their written document congruence was limited, but advance care planning was seen as helpful.
Conclusions: This study highlighted advance care planning was not a completely accurate representation of patient wishes. There is opportunity to improve how patients comprehend their own advance care planning documentation
KELT-3b: A Hot Jupiter Transiting a V=9.8 Late-F Star
We report the discovery of KELT-3b, a moderately inflated transiting hot
Jupiter with a mass of 1.477 (-0.067, +0.066) M_J, and radius of 1.345 +/-
0.072 R_J, with an orbital period of 2.7033904 +/- 0.000010 days. The host
star, KELT-3, is a V=9.8 late F star with M_* = 1.278 (-0.061, +0.063) M_sun,
R_* = 1.472 (-0.067, +0.065) R_sun, T_eff = 6306 (-49, +50) K, log(g) = 4.209
(-0.031, +0.033), and [Fe/H] = 0.044 (-0.082, +0.080), and has a likely proper
motion companion. KELT-3b is the third transiting exoplanet discovered by the
KELT survey, and is orbiting one of the 20 brightest known transiting planet
host stars, making it a promising candidate for detailed characterization
studies. Although we infer that KELT-3 is significantly evolved, a preliminary
analysis of the stellar and orbital evolution of the system suggests that the
planet has likely always received a level of incident flux above the
empirically-identified threshold for radius inflation suggested by Demory &
Seager (2011).Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, accepted to Ap
KELT-6b: A P~7.9 d Hot Saturn Transiting a Metal-Poor Star with a Long-Period Companion
We report the discovery of KELT-6b, a mildly-inflated Saturn-mass planet
transiting a metal-poor host. The initial transit signal was identified in
KELT-North survey data, and the planetary nature of the occulter was
established using a combination of follow-up photometry, high-resolution
imaging, high-resolution spectroscopy, and precise radial velocity
measurements. The fiducial model from a global analysis including constraints
from isochrones indicates that the V=10.38 host star (BD+31 2447) is a mildly
evolved, late-F star with T_eff=6102 \pm 43 K, log(g_*)=4.07_{-0.07}^{+0.04}
and [Fe/H]=-0.28 \pm 0.04, with an inferred mass M_*=1.09 \pm 0.04 M_sun and
radius R_star=1.58_{-0.09}^{+0.16} R_sun. The planetary companion has mass
M_P=0.43 \pm 0.05 M_J, radius R_P=1.19_{-0.08}^{+0.13} R_J, surface gravity
log(g_P)=2.86_{-0.08}^{+0.06}, and density rho_P=0.31_{-0.08}^{+0.07}
g~cm^{-3}. The planet is on an orbit with semimajor axis a=0.079 \pm 0.001 AU
and eccentricity e=0.22_{-0.10}^{+0.12}, which is roughly consistent with
circular, and has ephemeris of T_c(BJD_TDB)=2456347.79679 \pm 0.00036 and
P=7.845631 \pm 0.000046 d. Equally plausible fits that employ empirical
constraints on the host star parameters rather than isochrones yield a larger
planet mass and radius by ~4-7%. KELT-6b has surface gravity and incident flux
similar to HD209458b, but orbits a host that is more metal poor than HD209458
by ~0.3 dex. Thus, the KELT-6 system offers an opportunity to perform a
comparative measurement of two similar planets in similar environments around
stars of very different metallicities. The precise radial velocity data also
reveal an acceleration indicative of a longer-period third body in the system,
although the companion is not detected in Keck adaptive optics images.Comment: Published in AJ, 17 pages, 15 figures, 6 table
Multi-Messenger Astronomy with Extremely Large Telescopes
The field of time-domain astrophysics has entered the era of Multi-messenger
Astronomy (MMA). One key science goal for the next decade (and beyond) will be
to characterize gravitational wave (GW) and neutrino sources using the next
generation of Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs). These studies will have a
broad impact across astrophysics, informing our knowledge of the production and
enrichment history of the heaviest chemical elements, constrain the dense
matter equation of state, provide independent constraints on cosmology,
increase our understanding of particle acceleration in shocks and jets, and
study the lives of black holes in the universe. Future GW detectors will
greatly improve their sensitivity during the coming decade, as will
near-infrared telescopes capable of independently finding kilonovae from
neutron star mergers. However, the electromagnetic counterparts to
high-frequency (LIGO/Virgo band) GW sources will be distant and faint and thus
demand ELT capabilities for characterization. ELTs will be important and
necessary contributors to an advanced and complete multi-messenger network.Comment: White paper submitted to the Astro2020 Decadal Surve
KELT-6b: A P ~ 7.9 Day Hot Saturn Transiting a Metal-poor Star with a Long-period Companion
We report the discovery of KELT-6b, a mildly inflated Saturn-mass planet transiting a metal-poor host. The initial transit signal was identified in KELT-North survey data, and the planetary nature of the occulter was established using a combination of follow-up photometry, high-resolution imaging, high-resolution spectroscopy, and precise radial velocity measurements. The fiducial model from a global analysis including constraints from isochrones indicates that the V = 10.38 host star (BD+31 2447) is a mildly evolved, late-F star with T eff = 6102 ± 43 K, , and [Fe/H] = –0.28 ± 0.04, with an inferred mass M = 1.09 ± 0.04 M ☉ and radius . The planetary companion has mass MP = 0.43 ± 0.05 M Jup, radius , surface gravity , and density . The planet is on an orbit with semimajor axis a = 0.079 ± 0.001 AU and eccentricity , which is roughly consistent with circular, and has ephemeris of T c(BJDTDB) = 2456347.79679 ± 0.00036 and P = 7.845631 ± 0.000046 days. Equally plausible fits that employ empirical constraints on the host-star parameters rather than isochrones yield a larger planet mass and radius by ~4}-7}. KELT-6b has surface gravity and incident flux similar to HD 209458b, but orbits a host that is more metal poor than HD 209458 by ~0.3 dex. Thus, the KELT-6 system offers an opportunity to perform a comparative measurement of two similar planets in similar environments around stars of very different metallicities. The precise radial velocity data also reveal an acceleration indicative of a longer-period third body in the system, although the companion is not detected in Keck adaptive optics images
The First Post-Kepler Brightness Dips of KIC 8462852
We present a photometric detection of the first brightness dips of the unique variable star KIC 8462852 since the end of the Kepler space mission in 2013 May. Our regular photometric surveillance started in October 2015, and a sequence of dipping began in 2017 May continuing on through the end of 2017, when the star was no longer visible from Earth. We distinguish four main 1-2.5% dips, named "Elsie," "Celeste," "Skara Brae," and "Angkor", which persist on timescales from several days to weeks. Our main results so far are: (i) there are no apparent changes of the stellar spectrum or polarization during the dips; (ii) the multiband photometry of the dips shows differential reddening favoring non-grey extinction. Therefore, our data are inconsistent with dip models that invoke optically thick material, but rather they are in-line with predictions for an occulter consisting primarily of ordinary dust, where much of the material must be optically thin with a size scale <<1um, and may also be consistent with models invoking variations intrinsic to the stellar photosphere. Notably, our data do not place constraints on the color of the longer-term "secular" dimming, which may be caused by independent processes, or probe different regimes of a single process
Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density
Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data
Multi-Messenger Astronomy with Extremely Large Telescopes
The field of time-domain astrophysics has entered the era of Multi-messenger Astronomy (MMA). One key science goal for the next decade (and beyond) will be to characterize gravitational wave (GW) and neutrino sources using the next generation of Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs). These studies will have a broad impact across astrophysics, informing our knowledge of the production and enrichment history of the heaviest chemical elements, constrain the dense matter equation of state, provide independent constraints on cosmology, increase our understanding of particle acceleration in shocks and jets, and study the lives of black holes in the universe. Future GW detectors will greatly improve their sensitivity during the coming decade, as will near-infrared telescopes capable of independently finding kilonovae from neutron star mergers. However, the electromagnetic counterparts to high-frequency (LIGO/Virgo band) GW sources will be distant and faint and thus demand ELT capabilities for characterization. ELTs will be important and necessary contributors to an advanced and complete multi-messenger network