The Health of Aging Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Adults in California

Examines rates of diabetes, hypertension, poor mental health, physical disability, and fair or poor self-reported health status among homosexual adults ages 50 to 70 compared with their heterosexual peers. Recommends enhancing policies and practices

Influence of gender, sexual orientation, and need on treatment utilization for substance use and mental disorders: Findings from the California Quality of Life Survey

Abstract Background Prior research has shown a higher prevalence of substance use and mental disorders among sexual minorities, however, the influence of sexual orientation on treatment seeking has not been widely studied. We use a model of help-seeking for vulnerable populations to investigate factors related to treatment for alcohol or drug use disorders and mental health disorders, focusing on the contributions of gender, sexual orientation, and need. Methods Survey data were obtained from a population-based probability sample of California residents that oversampled for sexual minorities. Logistic regression was used to model the enabling, predisposing, and need-related factors associated with past-year mental health or substance abuse treatment utilization among adults aged 18–64 (N = 2,074). Results Compared with individuals without a diagnosed disorder, those with any disorder were more likely to receive treatment. After controlling for both presence of disorder and other factors, lesbians and bisexual women were most likely to receive treatment and heterosexual men were the least likely. Moreover, a considerable proportion of sexual orientation minorities without any diagnosable disorder, particularly lesbians and bisexual women, also reported receiving treatment. Conclusion The study highlights the need to better understand the factors beyond meeting diagnostic criteria that underlie treatment utilization among sexual minorities. Future research should also aim to ascertain the effects of treatment provided to sexual minorities with and without diagnosable disorders, including the possibility that the provision of such treatment may reduce the likelihood of their progression to greater severity of distress, disorders, or impairments in functioning.</p

Chronicity and Mental Health Service Utilization for Anxiety, Mood, and Substance Use Disorders among Black Men in the United States; Ethnicity and Nativity Differences.

This study investigated ethnic and nativity differences in the chronicity and treatment of psychiatric disorders of African American and Caribbean Black men in the U.S. Data were analyzed from the National Survey of American Life, a population-based study which included 1859 self-identified Black men (1222 African American, 176 Caribbean Black men born within the U.S., and 461 Caribbean Black men born outside the U.S.). Lifetime and twelve-month prevalence of DSM-IV mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders (including Bipolar I and Dysthmia), disorder chronicity, and rate of mental health services use among those meeting criteria for a lifetime psychiatric disorder were examined. Logistic regression models were employed to determine ethnic differences in chronicity, and treatment utilization for disorders. While rates of DSM-IV disorders were generally low in this community sample of Black men, their disorders were chronic and remained untreated. Caribbean Black men born in the U.S. had higher prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, and Alcohol Abuse Disorder compared with African American men. Foreign born Caribbean Black men experienced greater chronicity in Social Phobia and Generalized Anxiety Disorder compared to other Black Men. Utilization of mental health service was low for all groups of Black Men, but lowest for the foreign born Caribbean Black men. Results underscore the large unmet needs of both African American and Caribbean Black men in the United States. Results also highlight the role of ethnicity and nativity in mental disorder chronicity and mental health service utilization patterns of Black men

Degradation of contaminants of emerging concern by UV/H2O2 for water reuse: Kinetics, mechanisms, and cytotoxicity analysis.

Advanced oxidation using UV and hydrogen peroxide (UV/H2O2) has been widely applied to degrade contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in wastewater for water reuse. This study investigated the degradation kinetics of mixed CECs by UV/H2O2 under variable H2O2 doses, including bisphenol A, estrone, diclofenac, ibuprofen, and triclosan. Reverse osmosis (RO) treated water samples from Orange County Water District's Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS) potable reuse project were collected on different dates and utilized as reaction matrices with spiked additions of chemicals (CECs and H2O2) to assess the application of UV/H2O2. Possible degradation pathways of selected CECs were proposed based on high resolution mass spectrometry identification of transformation products (TPs). Toxicity assessments included cytotoxicity, aryl hydrocarbon receptor-binding activity, and estrogen receptor-binding activity, in order to evaluate potential environmental impacts resulting from CEC degradation by UV/H2O2. Cytotoxicity and estrogenic activity were significantly reduced during the degradation of mixed CECs in Milli-Q water by UV/H2O2 with high UV fluence (3200 mJ cm-2). However, in GWRS RO-treated water samples collected in April 2017, the cytotoxicity and estrogen activity of spiked CEC-mixture after UV/H2O2 treatment were not significantly eliminated; this might be due to the high concentration of target CEC and their TPs, which was possibly affected by the varied quality of the secondary treatment influent at this facility such as sewer-shed and wastewater discharges. This study aimed to provide insight on the impacts of post-UV/H2O2 CECs and TPs on human and ecological health at cellular level

Transit Timing Observations from Kepler: VII. Confirmation of 27 planets in 13 multiplanet systems via Transit Timing Variations and orbital stability

We confirm 27 planets in 13 planetary systems by showing the existence of statistically significant anti-correlated transit timing variations (TTVs), which demonstrates that the planet candidates are in the same system, and long-term dynamical stability, which places limits on the masses of the candidates---showing that they are planetary. %This overall method of planet confirmation was first applied to \kepler systems 23 through 32. All of these newly confirmed planetary systems have orbital periods that place them near first-order mean motion resonances (MMRs), including 6 systems near the 2:1 MMR, 5 near 3:2, and one each near 4:3, 5:4, and 6:5. In addition, several unconfirmed planet candidates exist in some systems (that cannot be confirmed with this method at this time). A few of these candidates would also be near first order MMRs with either the confirmed planets or with other candidates. One system of particular interest, Kepler-56 (KOI-1241), is a pair of planets orbiting a 12th magnitude, giant star with radius over three times that of the Sun and effective temperature of 4900 K---among the largest stars known to host a transiting exoplanetary system.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures, 5 tables. Submitted to MNRA

Planetary Candidates Observed by Kepler. VIII. A Fully Automated Catalog with Measured Completeness and Reliability Based on Data Release 25

We present the Kepler Object of Interest (KOI) catalog of transiting exoplanets based on searching 4 yr of Kepler time series photometry (Data Release 25, Q1–Q17). The catalog contains 8054 KOIs, of which 4034 are planet candidates with periods between 0.25 and 632 days. Of these candidates, 219 are new, including two in multiplanet systems (KOI-82.06 and KOI-2926.05) and 10 high-reliability, terrestrial-size, habitable zone candidates. This catalog was created using a tool called the Robovetter, which automatically vets the DR25 threshold crossing events (TCEs). The Robovetter also vetted simulated data sets and measured how well it was able to separate TCEs caused by noise from those caused by low signal-to-noise transits. We discuss the Robovetter and the metrics it uses to sort TCEs. For orbital periods less than 100 days the Robovetter completeness (the fraction of simulated transits that are determined to be planet candidates) across all observed stars is greater than 85%. For the same period range, the catalog reliability (the fraction of candidates that are not due to instrumental or stellar noise) is greater than 98%. However, for low signal-to-noise candidates between 200 and 500 days around FGK-dwarf stars, the Robovetter is 76.7% complete and the catalog is 50.5% reliable. The KOI catalog, the transit fits, and all of the simulated data used to characterize this catalog are available at the NASA Exoplanet Archive

Planetary Candidates Observed by Kepler IV: Planet Sample From Q1-Q8 (22 Months)

We provide updates to the Kepler planet candidate sample based upon nearly two years of high-precision photometry (i.e., Q1-Q8). From an initial list of nearly 13,400 Threshold Crossing Events (TCEs), 480 new host stars are identified from their flux time series as consistent with hosting transiting planets. Potential transit signals are subjected to further analysis using the pixel-level data, which allows background eclipsing binaries to be identified through small image position shifts during transit. We also re-evaluate Kepler Objects of Interest (KOI) 1-1609, which were identified early in the mission, using substantially more data to test for background false positives and to find additional multiple systems. Combining the new and previous KOI samples, we provide updated parameters for 2,738 Kepler planet candidates distributed across 2,017 host stars. From the combined Kepler planet candidates, 472 are new from the Q1-Q8 data examined in this study. The new Kepler planet candidates represent ~40% of the sample with Rp~1 Rearth and represent ~40% of the low equilibrium temperature (Teq<300 K) sample. We review the known biases in the current sample of Kepler planet candidates relevant to evaluating planet population statistics with the current Kepler planet candidate sample.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, Accepted ApJ Supplemen

The professional knowledge that counts in Australian contemporary early childhood teacher education

Australia is typical of many western countries where the provision of quality early childhood services has become a government priority. The government initiatives in Australia include repeated demands for 'well-qualified' early childhood educators. As a result of these demands the preservice preparation of early childhood educators is under intense scrutiny. This scrutiny raises many questions regarding the knowledge base considered to be essential for early childhood educators and leads to further questions about who has the authority to produce this knowledge. This article explores these questions by firstly examining some of the ways Australian early childhood teacher education is situated within the current knowledge environment. This is followed by a discussion regarding the debates about what early childhood educators 'need to know'. The third section of the article traces some of the historical features of Australian early childhood teacher education, for the author argues that contemporary questions about 'which' knowledge is to be included in early childhood teacher education are best understood alongside their historical precedents. The article concludes by considering the implications of the debates for contemporary early childhood teacher education and suggests that a way forward involves reconsidering the traditional binary between theory and practical knowledge

Planetary Candidates Observed by Kepler V: Planet Sample from Q1-Q12 (36 Months)

The Kepler mission discovered 2842 exoplanet candidates with 2 years of data. We provide updates to the Kepler planet candidate sample based upon 3 years (Q1-Q12) of data. Through a series of tests to exclude false-positives, primarily caused by eclipsing binary stars and instrumental systematics, 855 additional planetary candidates have been discovered, bringing the total number known to 3697. We provide revised transit parameters and accompanying posterior distributions based on a Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm for the cumulative catalogue of Kepler Objects of Interest. There are now 130 candidates in the cumulative catalogue that receive less than twice the flux the Earth receives and more than 1100 have a radius less than 1.5 Rearth. There are now a dozen candidates meeting both criteria, roughly doubling the number of candidate Earth analogs. A majority of planetary candidates have a high probability of being bonafide planets, however, there are populations of likely false-positives. We discuss and suggest additional cuts that can be easily applied to the catalogue to produce a set of planetary candidates with good fidelity. The full catalogue is publicly available at the NASA Exoplanet Archive.Comment: Accepted for publication, ApJ

Two Earth-sized planets orbiting Kepler-20

Since the discovery of the first extrasolar giant planets around Sun-like stars, evolving observational capabilities have brought us closer to the detection of true Earth analogues. The size of an exoplanet can be determined when it periodically passes in front of (transits) its parent star, causing a decrease in starlight proportional to its radius. The smallest exoplanet hitherto discovered has a radius 1.42 times that of the Earth's radius (R Earth), and hence has 2.9 times its volume. Here we report the discovery of two planets, one Earth-sized (1.03R Earth) and the other smaller than the Earth (0.87R Earth), orbiting the star Kepler-20, which is already known to host three other, larger, transiting planets. The gravitational pull of the new planets on the parent star is too small to measure with current instrumentation. We apply a statistical method to show that the likelihood of the planetary interpretation of the transit signals is more than three orders of magnitude larger than that of the alternative hypothesis that the signals result from an eclipsing binary star. Theoretical considerations imply that these planets are rocky, with a composition of iron and silicate. The outer planet could have developed a thick water vapour atmosphere.Comment: Letter to Nature; Received 8 November; accepted 13 December 2011; Published online 20 December 201