Aims. The K2 mission has recently begun to discover new and diverse planetary systems. In December 2014, Campaign 1 data from the mission was released, providing high-precision photometry for ~22 000 ...objects over an 80-day timespan. We searched these data with the aim of detecting more important new objects. Methods. Our search through two separate pipelines led to the independent discovery of K2-19b and c, a two-planet system of Neptune-sized objects (4.2 and 7.2 R⊕), orbiting a K dwarf extremely close to the 3:2 mean motion resonance. The two planets each show transits, sometimes simultaneously owing to their proximity to resonance and the alignment of conjunctions. Results. We obtained further ground-based photometry of the larger planet with the NITES telescope, demonstrating the presence of large transit timing variations (TTVs), and used the observed TTVs to place mass constraints on the transiting objects under the hypothesis that the objects are near but not in resonance. We then statistically validated the planets through the PASTIS tool, independently of the TTV analysis.
Background Terbinafine nail solution (TNS) was developed for the treatment of onychomycosis.
Objective To assess the efficacy of TNS vs. vehicle and amorolfine 5% nail lacquer.
Methods Subjects ...with mild‐to‐moderate toe onychomycosis (25% to ≤75% nail‐involvement, matrix uninvolved) were randomized to receive either TNS or vehicle in two double‐blind studies, and to TNS or amorolfine in an active‐controlled, open‐label study. Primary endpoint was complete cure (no residual clinical involvement and negative mycology) at week 52. Secondary endpoints were mycological cure (negative mycology defined as negative KOH microscopy and negative culture) and clinical effectiveness (≤10% residual‐involvement and negative mycology) at week 52.
Results Complete cure was not different between TNS vs. vehicle and amorolfine. Mycological cure was higher with TNS vs. vehicle, as was clinical effectiveness with TNS vs. vehicle, and TNS and amorolfine were not different for secondary efficacy endpoints. Patients achieving mycological cure had a better clinical outcome, and efficacy was improved in subjects with milder disease. Post hoc analysis suggests that nail thickness is an important prognostic factor. Moreover, mycological cure may require 6 months of treatment regimen while complete cure and clinical effectiveness may be achievable only after 10 months. A simulation study suggests that longer treatment duration would have resulted in higher complete cure with TNS vs. vehicle. Study treatments were well‐tolerated.
Conclusion Primary efficacy objectives were not met in the studies reported herein. Possible reasons for failure to achieve significant outcomes include insufficient length of treatment; stringency of primary endpoint and severity of nail involvement of study population.
A key aim of ecology is to understand the drivers of ecological patterns, so that we can accurately predict the effects of global environmental change. However, in many cases, predictors are measured ...at a finer resolution than the ecological response. We therefore require data aggregation methods that avoid loss of information on fine‐grain heterogeneity.
We present a data aggregation method that, unlike current approaches, reduces the loss of information on fine‐grain spatial structure in environmental heterogeneity for use with coarse‐grain ecological datasets. Our method contains three steps: (a) define analysis scales (predictor grain, response grain, scale‐of‐effect); (b) use a moving window to calculate a measure of variability in environment (predictor grain) at the process‐relevant scale (scale‐of‐effect); and (c) aggregate the moving window calculations to the coarsest resolution (response grain). We show the theoretical basis for our method using simulated landscapes and the practical utility with a case study. Our method is available as the grainchanger r package.
The simulations show that information about spatial structure is captured that would have been lost using a direct aggregation approach, and that our method is particularly useful in landscapes with spatial autocorrelation in the environmental predictor variable (e.g. fragmented landscapes) and when the scale‐of‐effect is small relative to the response grain. We use our data aggregation method to find the appropriate scale‐of‐effect of land cover diversity on Eurasian jay Garrulus glandarius abundance in the UK. We then model the interactive effect of land cover heterogeneity and temperature on G. glandarius abundance. Our method enables us quantify this interaction despite the different scales at which these factors influence G. glandarius abundance.
Our data aggregation method allows us to integrate variables that act at varying scales into one model with limited loss of information, which has wide applicability for spatial analyses beyond the specific ecological context considered here. Key ecological applications include being able to estimate the interactive effect of drivers that vary at different scales (such as climate and land cover), and to systematically examine the scale dependence of the effects of environmental heterogeneity in combination with the effects of climate change on biodiversity.
Vertebrate pollinators are increasingly threatened worldwide, but little is known about the potential consequences of declining pollinator populations on plants and ecosystems. Here, we present the ...first global assessment of the importance of vertebrate pollinators in the reproductive success of selected flowering plants. Our meta-analysis of 126 experiments on animal-pollinated plants revealed that excluding vertebrate pollinators - but not insect pollinators - reduced fruit and/or seed production by 63% on average. We found bat-pollinated plants to be more dependent on their respective vertebrate pollinators than bird-pollinated plants (an average 83% reduction in fruit/seed production when bats were excluded, as compared to a 46% reduction when birds were excluded). Plant dependence on vertebrate pollinators for fruit/seed production was greater in the tropics than at higher latitudes. Given the potential for substantial negative impacts associated with the loss of vertebrate pollinators, there is a clear need for prompt, effective conservation action for threatened flower-visiting vertebrate species. Additional research on how such changes might affect wider ecosystems is also required.
Abstract
Success in marriage markets has lasting impacts on women's wellbeing. By arranging marriages, parents exert financial and social powers to influence spouse characteristics and ensure optimal ...marriages. While arranging marriages is a major focus of parental investment, marriage decisions are also a source of conflict between parents and daughters in which parents often have more power. The process of market integration may alter parental investment strategies, however, increasing children's bargaining power and reducing parents’ influence over children's marriage decisions. We use data from a market integrating region of Bangladesh to (a) describe temporal changes in marriage types, (b) identify which women enter arranged marriages and (c) determine how market integration affects patterns of arranged marriage. Most women's marriages were arranged, with love marriages more recent. We found few predictors of who entered arranged vs. love marriages, and family-level market integration did not predict marriage type at the individual level. However, based on descriptive findings, and findings relating women's and fathers’ education to groom characteristics, we argue that at the society-level market integration has opened a novel path in which daughters use their own status, gained via parental investments, to facilitate good marriages under conditions of reduced parental assistance or control.
Aims. We present the discovery and characterisation of the exoplanets WASP-113b and WASP-114b by the WASP surveys, SOPHIE and CORALIE. Methods. The planetary nature of the systems was established by ...performing follow-up photometric and spectroscopic observations. The follow-up data were combined with the WASP-photometry and analysed with an MCMC code to obtain system parameters. Results. The host stars WASP-113 and WASP-114 are very similar. They are both early G-type stars with an effective temperature of ~5900 K, Fe/H ~ 0.12, and log g~ 4.1 dex. However, WASP-113 is older than WASP-114. Although the planetary companions have similar radii, WASP-114b is almost four times heavier than WASP-113b. WASP-113b has a mass of 0.48 MJup and an orbital period of ~4.5 days; WASP-114b has a mass of 1.77 MJup and an orbital period of ~1.5 days. Both planets have inflated radii, in particular WASP-113 with a radius anomaly of ℜ = 0.35. The high scale height of WASP-113b (~950 km) makes it a good target for follow-up atmospheric observations.
Abstract
Early in their lives, planets endure extreme amounts of ionizing radiation from their host stars. For planets with primordial hydrogen and helium-rich envelopes, this can lead to substantial ...mass loss. Direct observations of atmospheric escape in young planetary systems can help elucidate this critical stage of planetary evolution. In this work, we search for metastable helium absorption—a tracer of tenuous gas in escaping atmospheres—during transits of three planets orbiting the young solar analog V1298 Tau. We characterize the stellar helium line using HET/HPF, and find that it evolves substantially on timescales of days to months. The line is stable on hour-long timescales except for one set of spectra taken during the decay phase of a stellar flare, where absoprtion increased with time. Utilizing a beam-shaping diffuser and a narrowband filter centered on the helium feature, we observe four transits with Palomar/WIRC: two partial transits of planet d (
P
= 12.4 days), one partial transit of planet b (
P
= 24.1 days), and one full transit of planet c (
P
= 8.2 days). We do not detect the transit of planet c, and we find no evidence of excess absorption for planet b, with Δ
R
b
/
R
⋆
< 0.019 in our bandpass. We find a tentative absorption signal for planet d with Δ
R
d
/
R
⋆
= 0.0205 ± 0.054, but the best-fit model requires a substantial (−100 ± 14 minutes) transit-timing offset on a two-month timescale. Nevertheless, our data suggest that V1298 Tau d may have a high present-day mass-loss rate, making it a priority target for follow-up observations.
Objectives
Evaluation of a computerised electrocardiogram algorithm compared to the interpretation of a team of board‐certified veterinary cardiologists.
Materials and Methods
This was a ...cross‐sectional retrospective cohort study. A total of 399 electronic canine electrocardiogram recordings screened from 1391 electrocardiograms were enrolled in the study. A panel of seven cardiologists, masked to patient information, evaluated electrocardiograms for the following: P‐wave amplitude and duration; PR‐interval; R‐wave amplitude; QRS duration; heart rate; mean electrical axis; and final overall diagnosis for the detection of arrhythmia and any abnormal electrocardiogram anomaly.
Results
The sensitivity of the electrocardiogram algorithm for detecting arrhythmias was 99.7% (95% confidence intervals, CI: 98.5 to 99.9) and the specificity was 99.5% (95% CI: 98.0 to 99.9) compared to the consensus result created by panel of cardiologists. The sensitivity of the algorithm for the detection of any electrocardiogram anomaly, including abnormal measurements, was 71.3% (95% CI: 65.5 to 76.7) and the specificity was 35.1% (95% CI: 27.0 to 43.8) compared to the panel of cardiologists.
Clinical Significance
The electrocardiogram algorithm was shown to have high sensitivity for the detection of arrhythmias, but not all electrocardiogram anomalies. The results support the use of this algorithm as a tool to aid in the triage of the electrocardiogram workflow.
Existing child stature estimation methods have a number of disadvantages. This paper addresses some of these limitations by developing regression-based stature estimation formulae that are more ...generic and inclusive. A sample of 142 individuals under 12 years of age from the Hamann—Todd Human Osteological Collection and the New Mexico Decedent Images Database were used to generate five least squares linear regression formulae to estimate stature from the diaphyseal length of long bones. All models showed excellent fits to the data (R2 close to or at 0.98), and internal validation confirmed the stability and accuracy of model parameters. External validation was performed using a sample of 14 individuals from the Lisbon Collection and the Victoria Institute of Forensic Medicine. Overall, the humerus provides the most accurate estimate of stature, but the femur and tibia showed the greatest coverage. These formulae can be used in a variety of contexts and are not dependent on group affiliation, including sex.
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