Scaling K2. I. Revised Parameters for 222,088 K2 Stars and a K2 Planet Radius Valley at 1.9 R_⊕

Previous measurements of stellar properties for K2 stars in the Ecliptic Plane Input Catalog largely relied on photometry and proper motion measurements, with some added information from available spectra and parallaxes. Combining Gaia DR2 distances with spectroscopic measurements of effective temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities from the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) DR5, we computed updated stellar radii and masses for 26,838 K2 stars. For 195,250 targets without a LAMOST spectrum, we derived stellar parameters using random forest regression on photometric colors trained on the LAMOST sample. In total, we measured spectral types, effective temperatures, surface gravities, metallicities, radii, and masses for 222,088 A, F, G, K, and M-type K2 stars. With these new stellar radii, we performed a simple reanalysis of 299 confirmed and 517 candidate K2 planet radii from Campaigns 1–13, elucidating a distinct planet radius valley around 1.9 R_⊕, a feature thus far only conclusively identified with Kepler planets, and tentatively identified with K2 planets. These updated stellar parameters are a crucial step in the process toward computing K2 planet occurrence rates

Best Outcomes for Indian Children

The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families and the Midwest Child Welfare Implementation Center are collaborating with Wisconsin\u27s tribes and county child welfare agencies to improve outcomes for Indian children by systemically implementing the Wisconsin Indian Child Welfare Act (WICWA).This groundbreaking coUaboration wiU increase practitioners\u27 understanding ofthe requirements of WICWA and the need for those requirements, enhance communication and coordination between all stakeholders responsible for the welfare of Indian children in Wisconsin; it is designed to effect the systemic integration of the philosophical underpinnings of WICWA. In December 2009, Governor James Doyle signed the Wisconsin Indian Child Welfare Act, signaling the end ofa historic collaborative effort to enact the law and marking the beginning ofa new initiative to effectively implement it. Like the work that led to enactment ofthe statute, the work required to effectuate it requires the involvement of stakeholders with very diverse views and interests. However, this group has a common goal to which aU members are committed: to achieve better outcomes for Indian children in Wisconsin. The Midwest Child Welfare Implementation Center, a member of the Training and Technical Assistance network ofthe Children\u27s Bureau, is privileged to assist the 11 tribes, the state of Wisconsin, and its project partners in a four-year implementation project toward the achievement ofthat goal. This article describes the early years ofthat journey and the plan for its current segment, which is in progress

Multi-patch methods in general relativistic astrophysics - I. Hydrodynamical flows on fixed backgrounds

Many systems of interest in general relativistic astrophysics, including neutron stars, accreting compact objects in X-ray binaries and active galactic nuclei, core collapse, and collapsars, are assumed to be approximately spherically symmetric or axisymmetric. In Newtonian or fixed-background relativistic approximations it is common practice to use spherical polar coordinates for computational grids; however, these coordinates have singularities and are difficult to use in fully relativistic models. We present, in this series of papers, a numerical technique which is able to use effectively spherical grids by employing multiple patches. We provide detailed instructions on how to implement such a scheme, and present a number of code tests for the fixed background case, including an accretion torus around a black hole.Comment: 26 pages, 20 figures. A high-resolution version is available at http://www.cct.lsu.edu/~bzink/papers/multipatch_1.pd

Entecavir versus lamivudine for patients with HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B

BACKGROUND: Entecavir is a potent and selective antiviral agent that has demonstrated efficacy in phase 2 studies in patients with hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative chronic hepatitis B. METHODS: In this phase 3, double-blind trial, we randomly assigned 648 patients with HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B who had not previously been treated with a nucleoside analogue to receive 0.5 mg of entecavir or 100 mg of lamivudine once daily for a minimum of 52 weeks. The primary efficacy end point was histologic improvement (a decrease by at least two points in the Knodell necroinflammatory score, without worsening of fibrosis). RESULTS: Histologic improvement after 48 weeks of treatment occurred in 208 of 296 patients in the entecavir group who had adequate baseline liver-biopsy specimens that could be evaluated (70 percent), as compared with 174 of 287 such patients in the lamivudine group (61 percent, P=0.01). More patients in the entecavir group than in the lamivudine group had undetectable serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA levels according to a polymerase-chain- reaction assay (90 percent vs. 72 percent, P<0.001) and normalization of alanine aminotransferase levels (78 percent vs. 71 percent, P = 0.045). The mean reduction in serum HBV DNA levels from baseline to week 48 was greater with entecavir than with lamivudine (5.0 vs. 4.5 log [on a base-10 scale] copies per milliliter, P<0.001). There was no evidence of resistance to entecavir. Safety and adverse-event profiles were similar in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B who had not previously been treated with a nucleoside analogue, the rates of histologic improvement, virologic response, and normalization of alanine aminotransferase levels were significantly higher at 48 weeks with entecavir than with lamivudine. The safety profile of the two agents was similar, and there was no evidence of viral resistance to entecavir. Copyright © 2006 Massachusetts Medical Society.published_or_final_versio