KELT-23Ab: A Hot Jupiter Transiting A Near-Solar Twin Close To The TESS And JWST Continuous Viewing Zones

We announce the discovery of KELT-23Ab, a hot Jupiter transiting the relatively bright (V = 10.3) star BD+66 911 (TYC 4187-996-1), and characterize the system using follow-up photometry and spectroscopy. A global fit to the system yields host-star properties of Teff = 5900 ± 49 K, M* = 0.945 ((+0.060)/(-0.054))M⊙, R* = 0.995 ± 0.015 R⊙, L* = 1.082 ((+0.051)/(-0.048)) L⊙, log g* = 4.418 ((+0.026)/(-0.025) (cgs), and [Fe/H] = -0.105 ± 0.077. KELT-23Ab is a hot Jupiter with a mass of Mp = 0.938 ((+0.045)/-0.042)) M3, radius of Rp = 1.322 ± 0.025 R3, and density of P = 0.054 ((+0.038)/(-0.035)) g cm−3. Intense insolation flux from the star has likely caused KELT-23Ab to become inflated. The time of inferior conjunction is T0 = 2458149.40766 ± 0.00091 BJDTDB and the orbital period is P = 2.255353 ((+0.000031)/(-0.000030)) days. There is strong evidence that KELT-23A is a member of a long-period binary star system with a less luminous companion, and due to tidal interactions, the planet is likely to spiral into its host within roughly a gigayear. This system has one of the highest positive ecliptic latitudes of all transiting planet hosts known to date, placing it near the Transiting Planet Survey Satellite and James Webb Space Telescope continuous viewing zones. Thus we expect it to be an excellent candidate for long-term monitoring and follow up with these facilities

Joint EPA/DOE demonstration program for total mercury continuous emissions monitors

Continuous emissions monitoring of mercury from hazardous waste thermal treatment processes is desired for verification of emission compliance, process control, and public safety perception. Continuous real-time monitoring of mercury would permit actual measurement of mercury emissions and permit measurement of real-time (actual) mercury emissions and allow accurate (realistic) human risk assessment from hazardous thermal treatment facility operation. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed regulations that require the use of total mercury continuous emissions monitors (CEMs) on incinerators, boilers, and industrial furnaces that burn hazardous waste. These proposed regulations also include draft performance specifications for mercury CEMs. This paper describes an ongoing joint EPA/DOE program to identify and demonstrate commercially available mercury CEMs that can meet the proposed EPA performance specification and includes initial instrument test results obtained. The complete demonstration consists of a six month performance test of several commercially available total mercury CEMs at a commercial cement kiln that co-fires hazardous waste. During the performance test, several indicators of CEM performance will be evaluated (as required in the proposed performance specification), including; zero and calibration drift, relative accuracy through comparison to EPA manual Reference Methods, calibration error through testing with calibration standards, and specific interference tests. The results of this extensive test program will be used to either confirm availability of mercury CEMs that meet the requirements in the proposed EPA performance specification, provide the necessary data for revision of the proposed mercury CEM performance specification, or reveal the need for further instrument development prior to deployment

Predictors and impact of thirty- day readmission on patient outcomes and health care costs after reduced- toxicity conditioning allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation

Thirty-day readmission (30-DR) has become an important quality-of-care measure. Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) presents a medical setting with higher readmission rates. We analyzed factors affecting 30-DR and its impact on patient outcomes and on health care costs in 91 patients who underwent reduced-toxicity conditioning (RTC) allo-HCT with fludarabine and busulfan. The patient cohort was divided into 2: the readmission group (R-gp) or the no-readmission group (NR-gp). Overall, 38% (n = 35) required readmission with a median time to readmission of 14 days. In multivariate analysis, only documented infection during the index admission predicted 30-DR, P =.01. With a median follow-up of 18 months (range, 1 to 69) for surviving patients, the 2-year overall survival was 49% and 58% in the R-gp and NR-gp respectively, P =.48. The 1-year nonrelapse mortality in R-gp and NR-gp was 18% and 13% respectively, P =.43. The median post-transplantation hospital charges in the R-gp and NR-gp were $85,115 (range,$32,015 to $242,519) and$45,083 (range, $10,715 to$485,456), P = .0002. In conclusion, only documented infections during the index hospitalization influenced 30-DR after RTC allo-HCT. Although 30-DR did not adversely affect mortality or survival, it was associated with significantly increased 100-day post-transplantation hospital charges, thus supporting its role as a quality-of-care measure in allo-HCT patient