Discovery of a White Dwarf Companion to HD 159062

We report on the discovery of a white dwarf companion to the nearby late G dwarf star, HD 159062. The companion is detected in 14 years of precise radial velocity (RV) data, and in high-resolution imaging observations. RVs of HD 159062 from 2003-2018 reveal an acceleration of $-13.3\pm0.12\ \rm{m s}^{-1}$, indicating that it hosts a companion with a long-period orbit. Subsequent imaging observations with the ShaneAO system on the Lick Observatory 3-meter Shane telescope, the PHARO AO system on the Palomar Observatory 5-meter telescope, and the NIRC2 AO system at the Keck II 10-meter telescope reveal a faint companion 2.7'' from the primary star. We performed relative photometry, finding $\Delta J = 10.09 \pm 0.38$ magnitudes, $\Delta K_{S} = 10.06 \pm 0.22$ magnitudes, and $\Delta L' = 9.67\pm0.08$ magnitudes for the companion from these observations. Analysis of the radial velocities, astrometry, and photometry reveals that the combined data set can only be reconciled for the scenario where HD 159062 B is a white dwarf. A full Bayesian analysis of the RV and imaging data to obtain the cooling age, mass, and orbital parameters of the white dwarf indicates that the companion is an old $M_{B} = 0.65^{+0.12}_{-0.04} M_{\odot}$ white dwarf with an orbital period of $P = 250^{+130}_{-76}$ years, and a cooling age of $\tau = 8.2^{+0.3}_{-0.5}$ Gyr.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure

UK physical activity guidelines: developing options for future communication and surveillance

This work was Commissioned by Department of Health and partner

Factors Associated With Receipt of Tobacco Treatment Integrated With Nurse Navigation in a Centralized Lung Cancer Screening Program at an Urban Academic Medical Center

PURPOSE: Optimal approaches for tobacco treatment counseling among individuals who currently smoke and are undergoing shared decision-making (SDM) and lung cancer screening (LCS) are unknown. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine the rate of reported interest in tobacco treatment counseling and pharmacotherapy among individuals who currently smoke and are receiving integrated nurse navigation for LCS and tobacco treatment in a centralized LCS Program. METHODS: We identified individuals undergoing SDM through our centralized LCS Program between March 2021 and March 2022. The LCS Program tobacco treatment protocol includes counseling both in-person and via telephone during SDM, LCS results review, and an optional 4-week follow-up. Sociodemographic and clinical data for currently smoking individuals participating in LCS were extracted from the LCS Registry. RESULTS: Among 1034 individuals undergoing LCS through the centralized program, 605 were currently smoking and comprised the study cohort. Nearly half (49.8%) reported interest in tobacco treatment counseling and pharmacotherapy and received a personalized treatment plan. On multivariate analysis, factors significantly associated with expressing interest in treatment included African-American/Black race, higher educational attainment, and returning visit type. Among the 301 individuals expressing interest in tobacco treatment, 35 (11.6%) had documentation of self-reported smoking cessation in the electronic health record. Successful smoking cessation for any length of time was significantly associated with receiving at least one longitudinal tobacco cessation counseling telephone call. CONCLUSIONS: In a centralized LCS Program offering tobacco treatment integrated with screening services, race, education, and visit type were significantly associated with expressing interest in tobacco treatment counseling and pharmacotherapy, while longitudinal tobacco counseling telephone calls were associated with smoking cessation. Randomized controlled trials are needed to test whether this integrated strategy leads to LCS- and tobacco-related outcomes

Discovery of a White Dwarf Companion to HD 159062

We report on the discovery of a white dwarf companion to the nearby late G dwarf star, HD 159062. The companion is detected in 14 years of precise radial velocity (RV) data, and in high-resolution imaging observations. RVs of HD 159062 from 2003 to 2018 reveal an acceleration of −13.3 ± 0.12 m s^(-1) yr^(-1), indicating that it hosts a companion with a long-period orbit. Subsequent imaging observations with the ShaneAO system on the Lick Observatory 3 m Shane telescope, the PHARO AO system on the Palomar Observatory 5 m telescope, and the NIRC2 AO system at the Keck II 10 m telescope reveal a faint companion 2.”7 from the primary star. We performed relative photometry, finding ΔJ = 10.09 ± 0.38 mag, ΔK_S = 10.06±0.22 mag, and ΔL′ = 9.67±0.08 mag for the companion from these observations. Analysis of the radial velocities, astrometry, and photometry reveals that the combined data set can only be reconciled for the scenario where HD 159062 B is a white dwarf. A full Bayesian analysis of the RV and imaging data to obtain the cooling age, mass, and orbital parameters of the white dwarf indicates that the companion is an old M_B = 0.65^(+0.12)_(−0.04) M_⊙ white dwarf with an orbital period of P = 250^(+130)_(−76) yr, and a cooling age of τ = 8.2^(+0.3)_(−0.5) Gyr

Citizen science and online data: Opportunities and challenges for snake ecology and action against snakebite

The secretive behavior and life history of snakes makes studying their biology, distribution, and the epidemiology of venomous snakebite challenging. One of the most useful, most versatile, and easiest to collect types of biological data are photographs, particularly those that are connected with geographic location and date-time metadata. Photos verify occurrence records, provide data on phenotypes and ecology, and are often used to illustrate new species descriptions, field guides and identification keys, as well as in training humans and computer vision algorithms to identify snakes. We scoured eleven online and two offline sources of snake photos in an attempt to collect as many photos of as many snake species as possible, and attempt to explain some of the inter-species variation in photograph quantity among global regions and taxonomic groups, and with regard to medical importance, human population density, and range size. We collected a total of 725,565 photos—between 1 and 48,696 photos of 3098 of the world's 3879 snake species (79.9%), leaving 781 “most wanted” species with no photos (20.1% of all currently-described species as of the December 2020 release of The Reptile Database). We provide a list of most wanted species sortable by family, continent, authority, and medical importance, and encourage snake photographers worldwide to submit photos and associated metadata, particularly of “missing” species, to the most permanent and useful online archives: The Reptile Database, iNaturalist, and HerpMapper.ISSN:2590-171

Agricultural Investments and Hunger in Africa Modelling Potential Contributions to SDG 2 - Zero Hunger

We use IFPRI’s IMPACT framework of linked biophysical and structural economic models to examine developments in global agricultural production systems, climate change, and food security. Building on related work on how increased investment in agricultural research, resource management, and infrastructure can address the challenges of meeting future food demand, we explore the costs and implications of these investments for reducing hunger in Africa by 2030. This analysis is coupled with a new investment estimation model, based on the perpetual inventory methodology (PIM), which allows for a better assessment of the costs of achieving projected agricultural improvements. We find that climate change will continue to slow projected reductions in hunger in the coming decades—increasing the number of people at risk of hunger in 2030 by 16 million in Africa compared to a scenario without climate change. Investments to increase agricultural productivity can offset the adverse impacts of climate change and help reduce the share of people at risk of hunger in 2030 to five percent or less in Northern, Western, and Southern Africa, but the share is projected to remain at ten percent or more in Eastern and Central Africa. Investments in Africa to achieve these results are estimated to cost about 15 billion USD per year between 2015 and 2030, as part of a larger package of investments costing around 52 billion USD in developing countries

Artificial Intelligence for Climate Change Mitigation Roadmap (Second Edition)

The first ICEF Artificial Intelligence for Climate Change Mitigation Roadmap was released in December 2023. Since that time, attention to artificial intelligence (AI) has continued to grow at a rapid pace. Tens of billions of dollars have poured into AI projects, policymakers around the world have considered new AI policies, and OpenAI reports that each month more than 200 million people now use ChatGPT. Signs of a changing climate continue to grow as well. Based on global average temperatures, July 22, 2024 was the warmest day ever recorded; 2023 was the warmest year ever recorded; and the 10 warmest years on record are the past 10 years. Yet global emissions of greenhouse gases continue to climb. Can AI help cut emissions of greenhouse gases? This Roadmap explores that question. In this second edition of the Artificial Intelligence for Climate Change Mitigation Roadmap, a team of 25 co-authors builds on last year’s roadmap—comprehensively updating all old chapters, adding six new chapters and offering 5–10 specific, actionable recommendations in each chapter. Our goal is to provide a useful resource for experts and non-experts alike. In Part I of this Roadmap, we provide brief introductions to both AI and climate change. In Part II, we explore eight sectors in which AI is helping respond to climate change and could do much more. In Part III, we explore cross-cutting issues. We close with findings and recommendations. This roadmap builds on the body of literature produced annually in connection with the ICEF conference

Understanding the experience of parents of pre-pubescent children with gender identity issues

Whilst in recent times there has been an increasing interest in the popular media in families with gender variant children, there is still a paucity of academic research into the experience of parenting a pre-pubescent child with gender identity issues. Gender dysphoria in young children engenders emotive reactions in adults meaning that social workers need to be aware of the various discourses surrounding gender identity in order to work sensitively with families affected. This research explores highly sensitive and intimate aspects of family life, requiring parents to talk and think about difficult issues and explores how it might feel for families to parent a child with gender identity issues. The psychosocial research method of Free Association Narrative Interviews was used in order to gather the data which was then coded and analysed drawing on a constructivist version of grounded theory. Five key themes relating to the process of mourning emerged from the data: loss, uncertainty, ambivalence, being unable to think and acceptance. Recommendations for both social work and clinical practice are also offere