Retired A Stars and Their Companions. III. Comparing the Mass-Period Distributions of Planets Around A-Type Stars and Sun-Like Stars

We present an analysis of ~5 years of Lick Observatory radial velocity measurements targeting a uniform sample of 31 intermediate-mass subgiants (1.5 < M*/Msun < 2.0) with the goal of measuring the occurrence rate of Jovian planets around (evolved) A-type stars and comparing the distributions of their orbital and physical characteristics to those of planets around Sun-like stars. We provide updated orbital solutions incorporating new radial velocity measurements for five known planet-hosting stars in our sample; uncertainties in the fitted parameters are assessed using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo method. The frequency of Jovian planets interior to 3 AU is 26 (+9,-8)%, which is significantly higher than the ~5-10% frequency observed around solar-mass stars. The median detection threshold for our sample includes minimum masses down to {0.2, 0.3, 0.5, 0.6, 1.3} MJup within {0.1, 0.3, 0.6, 1.0, 3.0} AU. To compare the properties of planets around intermediate-mass stars to those around solar-mass stars we synthesize a population of planets based on the parametric relationship dN ~ M^{alpha}P^{beta} dlnM dlnP, the observed planet frequency, and the detection limits we derived. We find that the values of alpha and beta for planets around solar-type stars from Cumming et al. fail to reproduce the observed properties of planets in our sample at the 4 sigma level, even when accounting for the different planet occurrence rates. Thus, the properties of planets around A stars are markedly different than those around Sun-like stars, suggesting that only a small (~ 50%) increase in stellar mass has a large influence on the formation and orbital evolution of planets.Comment: Accepted by the Astrophysical Journal; 15 pages, 15 figure

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

Learning from the past - setting out the future: developing learning disability nursing in the United Kingdom

Learning from the past - setting out the future: developing learning disability nursing in the United Kingdo

Learning from the past - setting out the future: developing learning disability nursing in the United Kingdom

Learning from the past - setting out the future: developing learning disability nursing in the United Kingdo

Agricultural Information Worldwide, vol. 1, no. 1, 2008

Agricultural Information Worldwide, Volume 1, Number 1, 2008In this issue: FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK (2). INTRODUCTORY ESSY: Emerging Issues, Priorities and Commitments in e-Agriculture / Anton Mangstl (5); Questions nouvelles, priorités et engagements dans le secteur de l’e-Agriculture (7); Aspectos Nuevos, Prioridades y Compromisos Necesarios en la Agricultura Transmitida por Medios Electrónicos (9). ARTICLES: Analysis of Global e-Agriculture Survey / Charlotte Masiello-Riome, Nathaniel Heller, Stephen Rudgard, and Roberto Schneider; L’étude mondiale sur la cyberagriculture Encuesta Global sobre la Agricultura Electrónica (11); Seeing the Wood for the e-Trees: Ensuring Comparability in Forest-related Data on the Web, Voir la forêt des arbres numériques et permettre la comparaison grâce aux données forestières sur le web, Viendo la Madera para los Árboles Electrónicos: Asegurar la Comparabilidad de Datos Forestales en la Web / Roger Mills (19). AgINFO DISPATCHES - Reports, News, and Updates from the Agricultural Information Community: Agricultural Information Management Standards Web Site: An Initiative to Facilitate Interoperability and Improve Coherence / Gauri Salokhe, Margherita Sini, Boris Lauser, Fynvola Le Hunte Ward, Johannes Keizer, and Stephen Katz (24); e-Agriculture and e-Government in Hungary: Electronic Claim Submission Service to Facilitate EU Farm Subsidy Payments / László G. Papócsi (27); AgEcon Search: Expanding the Distribution of Current Literature in One Subdiscipline of Agriculture / Louise Letnes and Julie Kelly (29); ICT Tools in Action / Ednah Karamagi (30); Focus on e-Agriculture: e-Agriculture Week and Beyond (31); Emerging Issues in e-Agriculture: Policy Brief (35). NEWS FROM IAALD: Japan World Congress Program Update; Highlights of the IAALD Executive Committee Meeting – Rome, Italy, September 27, 2007; Notice of General Membership Meeting (37); INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS (40

Validation of patient‐reported vaso‐occlusive crisis day as an endpoint in sickle cell disease studies

Individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD) experience vaso‐occlusive crises (VOC). Historically, VOC episodes have been assessed through medical utilization, thereby excluding events managed at home. In order to validate a daily patient‐reported outcome for patients with SCD to accurately report their VOC status and experience of a pain crisis, a SCD Diary was included in Evaluation of Longitudinal Pain Study in Sickle Cell Disease (ELIPSIS), a longitudinal, six‐month, non‐interventional study. The daily patient‐completed diary included a description of SCD pain crisis, followed by questions on: pain crisis in the past 24 h (VOC Day question; respective response yes or no), worst pain, tiredness, and functioning. Thirty‐five patients with SCD participated in ELIPSIS. Analyses were performed to validate the patient‐reported VOC Day. Mean symptoms and functioning scores on the first or last VOC Day of a VOC Event were compared using t‐tests with the mean of the three non‐VOC Days before and after the event. Mean severity of symptoms and functioning scores on all VOC Days compared to all non‐VOC Days were higher, with statistically significant mean differences between first/last VOC Days and respective three non‐VOC Days (p’s < .01). A subset of patients (n = 15) and caregivers (n = 9) were interviewed to evaluate their understanding of the SCD Diary questions. Nearly all confirmed that the pain crisis description accurately described the VOC experience, and participants expressed confidence differentiating SCD crisis pain from everyday pain. These results demonstrate patients can reliably report their experiences with VOC‐related pain crises using the SCD Diary.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/174827/1/ejh13790.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/174827/2/ejh13790_am.pd

Group A streptococci from a remote community have novel multilocus genotypes but share emm types and housekeeping alleles with isolates from worldwide sources

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