We present a measurement of the angular bispectrum of the millimeter-wave sky in observing bands centered at roughly 95, 150, and 220 GHz, on angular scales of 1' ≲ θ ≲ 10' (multipole number 1000 ≲ l ...≲ 10,000). At these frequencies and angular scales, the main contributions to the bispectrum are expected to be the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect and emission from extragalactic sources, predominantly dusty, star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) and active galactic nuclei. We measure the bispectrum in 800 deg{sup 2} of three-band South Pole Telescope data, and we use a multi-frequency fitting procedure to separate the bispectrum of the tSZ effect from the extragalactic source contribution. We simultaneously detect the bispectrum of the tSZ effect at >10σ, the unclustered component of the extragalactic source bispectrum at >5σ in each frequency band, and the bispectrum due to the clustering of DSFGs—i.e., the clustered cosmic infrared background (CIB) bispectrum—at >5σ. This is the first reported detection of the clustered CIB bispectrum. We use the measured tSZ bispectrum amplitude, compared to model predictions, to constrain the normalization of the matter power spectrum to be σ{sub 8} = 0.787 ± 0.031 and to predict the amplitude of the tSZ power spectrum at l = 3000. This prediction improves our ability to separate the thermal and kinematic contributions to the total SZ power spectrum. The addition of bispectrum data improves our constraint on the tSZ power spectrum amplitude by a factor of two compared to power spectrum measurements alone and demonstrates a preference for a nonzero kinematic SZ (kSZ) power spectrum, with a derived constraint on the kSZ amplitude at l = 3000 of A {sub kSZ} = 2.9 ± 1.6 μK{sup 2}, or A {sub kSZ} = 2.6 ± 1.8 μK{sup 2} if the default A {sub kSZ} > 0 prior is removed.
Background
The direct effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic on patients with intestinal failure (IF) has not been described.
Methods
We conducted a nationwide study of UK IF ...centers to evaluate the infection rates, presentations, and outcomes in patients with types 2 and 3 IF.
Results
A total of 45 patients with IF contracted COVID‐19 between March and August 2020; this included 26 of 2191 (1.2%) home parenteral nutrition (HPN)–dependent adults and 19 of 298 (6.4%) adults hospitalized with type 2 IF. The proportion of patients receiving nursing care for HPN administration was higher in those with community‐acquired COVID‐19 (66.7%) than the proportion in the entire HPN cohort (26.1%; P < .01). Two HPN‐dependent and 1 hospitalized patient with type 2 IF died as a direct consequence of the virus (6.7% of 45 patients with types 2 or 3 infected).
Conclusion
This is the first study to describe the outcomes of COVID‐19 in a large cohort of patients requiring long‐term PN. Methods to reduce hospital and community nosocomial spread would likely be beneficial.
Recent genome sequencing papers have given genome sizes of 180 Mb for Drosophila melanogaster Iso‐1 and 125 Mb for Arabidopsis thaliana Columbia. The former agrees with early cytochemical estimates, ...but numerous cytometric estimates of around 170 Mb imply that a genome size of 125 Mb for arabidopsis is an underestimate. In this study, nuclei of species pairs were compared directly using flow cytometry. Co‐run Columbia and Iso‐1 female gave a 2C peak for arabidopsis only approx. 15 % below that for drosophila, and 16C endopolyploid Columbia nuclei had approx. 15 % more DNA than 2C chicken nuclei (with >2280 Mb). Caenorhabditis elegans Bristol N2 (genome size approx. 100 Mb) co‐run with Columbia or Iso‐1 gave a 2C peak for drosophila approx. 75 % above that for 2C C. elegans, and a 2C peak for arabidopsis approx. 57 % above that for C. elegans. This confirms that 1C in drosophila is approx. 175 Mb and, combined with other evidence, leads us to conclude that the genome size of arabidopsis is not approx. 125 Mb, but probably approx. 157 Mb. It is likely that the discrepancy represents extra repeated sequences in unsequenced gaps in heterochromatic regions. Complete sequencing of the arabidopsis genome until no gaps remain at telomeres, nucleolar organizing regions or centromeres is still needed to provide the first precise angiosperm C‐value as a benchmark calibration standard for plant genomes, and to ensure that no genes have been missed in arabidopsis, especially in centromeric regions, which are clearly larger than once imagined.
Observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background rely on cryogenic instrumentation with cold detectors, readout, and optics providing the low noise performance and instrumental stability required to ...make more sensitive measurements. It is therefore critical to optimize all aspects of the cryogenic design to achieve the necessary performance, with low temperature components and acceptable system cooling requirements. In particular, we will focus on our use of thermal filters and cold optics, which reduce the thermal load passed along to the cryogenic stages. To test their performance, we have made a series of in situ measurements while integrating the third receiver for the BICEP Array telescope. In addition to characterizing the behavior of this receiver, these measurements continue to refine the models that are being used to inform design choices being made for future instruments.
Constraining the Galactic foregrounds with multi-frequency Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) observations is an essential step towards ultimately reaching the sensitivity to measure primordial ...gravitational waves (PGWs), the sign of inflation after the Big-Bang that would be imprinted on the CMB. The BICEP Array telescope is a set of multi-frequency cameras designed to constrain the energy scale of inflation through CMB B-mode searches while also controlling the polarized galactic foregrounds. The lowest frequency BICEP Array receiver (BA1) has been observing from the South Pole since 2020 and provides 30 GHz and 40 GHz data to characterize the Galactic synchrotron in our CMB maps. In this paper, we present the design of the BA1 detectors and the full optical characterization of the camera including the on-sky performance at the South Pole. The paper also introduces the design challenges during the first observing season including the effect of out-of-band photons on detectors performance. It also describes the tests done to diagnose that effect and the new upgrade to minimize these photons, as well as installing more dichroic detectors during the 2022 deployment season to improve the BA1 sensitivity. We finally report background noise measurements of the detectors with the goal of having photon noise dominated detectors in both optical channels. BA1 achieves an improvement in mapping speed compared to the previous deployment season.
Saharan trade has been much debated in modern times, but the main focus of interest remains the medieval and early modern periods, for which more abundant written sources survive. The pre-Islamic ...origins of Trans-Saharan trade have been hotly contested over the years, mainly due to a lack of evidence. Many of the key commodities of trade are largely invisible archaeologically, being either of high value like gold and ivory, or organic like slaves and textiles or consumable commodities like salt. However, new research on the Libyan people known as the Garamantes and on their trading partners in the Sudan and Mediterranean Africa requires us to revise our views substantially. In this volume experts re-assess the evidence for a range of goods, including beads, textiles, metalwork and glass, and use it to paint a much more dynamic picture, demonstrating that the pre-Islamic Sahara was a more connected region than previously thought.
In a disaster, social service workers are often survivors themselves. This study examines whether somatic intervention using a brief (one to two session) stabilization model now called the Trauma ...Resiliency Model™ (TRM), which uses the skills of Somatic Experiencing® (SE), can reduce the postdisaster symptoms of social service workers involved in postdisaster service delivery. The study was implemented with a nonrandom sample of 142 social service workers who were survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, two to three months after the disasters. Ninety-one participants received SE/TRM and were compared with a matched comparison group of 51 participants through the use of propensity score matching. All participants first received group psychoeducation. Results support the benefits of the brief intervention inspired by SE. The treatment group showed statistically significant gains in resiliency indicators and decreases in posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. Although psychological symptoms increased in both groups at the three to four month follow-up, the treatment group's psychological symptoms were statistically lower than those of the comparison group.
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