A Spin-Orbit Alignment for the Hot Jupiter HATS-3b

We have measured the alignment between the orbit of HATS-3b (a recently discovered, slightly inflated Hot Jupiter) and the spin-axis of its host star. Data were obtained using the CYCLOPS2 optical-fiber bundle and its simultaneous calibration system feeding the UCLES spectrograph on the Anglo-Australian Telescope. The sky-projected spin-orbit angle of $\lambda = 3\pm25^{\circ}$ was determined from spectroscopic measurements of Rossiter-McLaughlin effect. This is the first exoplanet discovered through the HATSouth transit survey to have its spin-orbit angle measured. Our results indicate that the orbital plane of HATS-3b is consistent with being aligned to the spin axis of its host star. The low obliquity of the HATS-3 system, which has a relatively hot mid F-type host star, agrees with the general trend observed for Hot Jupiter host stars with effective temperatures $>6250$K to have randomly distributed spin-orbit angles.Comment: 13 pages. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

Aid and infrastructure financing: Emerging challenges with a focus on Africa

The central argument of this study is that given the magnitude of the investment in infrastructure that is required, especially in Africa, the role of foreign aid in the future should be distinctly different. While aid will be required to continue to fill the 'savings gap' in some small countries and land-locked countries, in most other countries aid can play a very different role in facilitating the creation of institutional mechanisms that help mobilize more funding from other sources. These include domestic revenues (which already fund a large proportion of infrastructure), investments by China and the other 'BRIC', sovereign wealth funds and infrastructure funds. There are already examples of aid playing such a leveraging role. What is needed is to take this to a new and higher level. The study provides an overview of evidence on infrastructure needs and also possible magnitudes of flows from different sources for investment in infrastructure

A Nearly Polar Orbit for the Extrasolar Hot Jupiter WASP-79b

We report the measurement of a spin-orbit misalignment for WASP-79b, a recently discovered, bloated transiting hot Jupiter from the WASP survey. Data were obtained using the CYCLOPS2 optical-fiber bundle and its simultaneous calibration system feeding the UCLES spectrograph on the Anglo-Australian Telescope. We have used the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect to determine the sky-projected spin-orbit angle to be lambda = -106+19-13 degrees. This result indicates a significant misalignment between the spin axis of the host star and the orbital plane of the planet -- the planet being in a nearly polar orbit. WASP-79 is consistent with other stars that have Teff > 6250K and host hot Jupiters in spin-orbit misalignment.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, in press ApJL (accepted 2 August 2013

A systematic review of therapeutic options for non-conductive olfactory dysfunction

Background: Olfactory dysfunction affects a significant proportion of the population but appears to be more common in the elderly population (>20% of adults over 60 years old). Unfortunately, many sufferers face an apparent lack of therapeutic options when consulting with medical professionals. Method: We searched various electronic medical databases for the treatment of non-conductive olfactory dysfunction. After careful review of the abstracts and the full articles, we included publications that fulfilled our inclusion criteria and analysed the results. Results: A total of 38 publications were included in our review including 6 randomised control trials, 14 cohort studies and 18 observational studies. Conclusion: Olfactory training appears to improve non-conductive olfactory dysfunction irrespective of the aetiology. Steroids appear to have some benefit, but this may be aetiology dependent and Vitamin A and sodium citrate have shown some promise. High quality randomised control trials are still required to determine their place in managing this patient population

Moxalactam Therapy for Obstetric and Gynecologic Infections

Moxalactam, a new cephalosporin antibiotic with a broad spectrum of activity, was evaluated for safety and therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of genital tract infections in women. Fifty-three patients with postpartum endometritis or acute or chronic pelvic inflammatory disease were treated with 2 g of moxalactam iv every 8 hr, usually for five days or longer. Appropriate cultures of peripheral blood, endometrium, cul-de-sac aspirates, urine, wound, and endocervix (only for Neisseria gonorrhoeae) were performed. Overall, 90.6% (48 of 53) of the patients were successfully treated with moxalactam - 86.2% (25 of 29) and 95.8% (23 of 24) of the patients with endometritis and pelvic inflammatory disease, respectively. Therapy failed in one of five bacteremic patients with endometritis. Of all the bacteria isolated from appropriate culture sites, 58% (224 of 383) were anaerobes, with anaerobic gram-negative rods - particularly Bacteroides bivius-and gram-positive cocci being predominant. Of 206 anaerobic strains tested with moxalactam by agar dilution techniques, 82% (169 of 206) were susceptible (minimal inhibitory concentration [MIC], ⩽8 μg/ml), 11.6% (24 of 206) were moderately susceptible (MIC, 16-32 μg/ml), and 6.3% (13 of 206) were resistant (MIC, ⩾64 μg/ml). Among the aerobic isolates, enterococci were uniformly resistant. Thus, moxalactam performed well as a single agent in this open clinical trail for women with infections of the genital trac

Risk Prediction Scores for Postoperative Mortality After Esophagectomy: Validation of Different Models

Background: Different prediction models for operative mortality after esophagectomy have been developed. The aim of this study is to independently validate prediction models from Philadelphia, Rotterdam, Munich, and the ASA. Methods: The scores were validated using logistic regression models in two cohorts of patients undergoing esophagectomy for cancer from Switzerland (n = 170) and Australia (n = 176). Results: All scores except ASA were significantly higher in the Australian cohort. There was no significant difference in 30-day mortality or in-hospital death between groups. The Philadelphia and Rotterdam scores had a significant predictive value for 30-day mortality (p = 0.001) and in-hospital death (p = 0.003) in the pooled cohort, but only the Philadelphia score had a significant prediction value for 30-day mortality in both cohorts. Neither score showed any predictive value for in-hospital death in Australians but were highly significant in the Swiss cohort. ASA showed only a significant predictive value for 30-day mortality in the Swiss. For in-hospital death, ASA was a significant predictor in the pooled and Swiss cohorts. The Munich score did not have any significant predictive value whatsoever. Conclusion: None of the scores can be applied generally. A better overall predictive score or specific prediction scores for each country should be develope

HATS-3b: An inflated hot Jupiter transiting an F-type star

We report the discovery by the HATSouth survey of HATS-3b, a transiting extrasolar planet orbiting a V=12.4 F-dwarf star. HATS-3b has a period of P = 3.5479d, mass of Mp = 1.07MJ, and radius of Rp = 1.38RJ. Given the radius of the planet, the brightness of the host star, and the stellar rotational velocity (vsini = 9.0km/s), this system will make an interesting target for future observations to measure the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect and determine its spin-orbit alignment. We detail the low/medium-resolution reconnaissance spectroscopy that we are now using to deal with large numbers of transiting planet candidates produced by the HATSouth survey. We show that this important step in discovering planets produces logg and Teff parameters at a precision suitable for efficient candidate vetting, as well as efficiently identifying stellar mass eclipsing binaries with radial velocity semi-amplitudes as low as 1 km/s.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, submitted to A

HATS-13b and HATS-14b: two transiting hot Jupiters from the HATSouth survey

We report the discovery of HATS-13b and HATS-14b, two hot-Jupiter transiting planets discovered by the HATSouth survey. The host stars are quite similar to each other (HATS-13: V = 13.9 mag, M* = 0.96 Msun, R* = 0.89 Rsun, Teff = 5500 K, [Fe/H] = 0.05; HATS-14: V = 13.8 mag, M* = 0.97 Msun, R* = 0.93 Rsun, Teff = 5350 K, [Fe/H] = 0.33) and both the planets orbit around them with a period of roughly 3 days and a separation of roughly 0.04 au. However, even though they are irradiated in a similar way, the physical characteristics of the two planets are very different. HATS-13b, with a mass of Mp = 0.543 MJ and a radius of Rp = 1.212 RJ, appears as an inflated planet, while HATS-14b, having a mass of Mp = 1.071 MJ and a radius of Rp = 1.039 RJ, is only slightly larger in radius than Jupiter.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, Submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysics. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1503.0006

The Band Excitation Method in Scanning Probe Microscopy for Rapid Mapping of Energy Dissipation on the Nanoscale

Mapping energy transformation pathways and dissipation on the nanoscale and understanding the role of local structure on dissipative behavior is a challenge for imaging in areas ranging from electronics and information technologies to efficient energy production. Here we develop a novel Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) technique in which the cantilever is excited and the response is recorded over a band of frequencies simultaneously rather than at a single frequency as in conventional SPMs. This band excitation (BE) SPM allows very rapid acquisition of the full frequency response at each point (i.e. transfer function) in an image and in particular enables the direct measurement of energy dissipation through the determination of the Q-factor of the cantilever-sample system. The BE method is demonstrated for force-distance and voltage spectroscopies and for magnetic dissipation imaging with sensitivity close to the thermomechanical limit. The applicability of BE for various SPMs is analyzed, and the method is expected to be universally applicable to all ambient and liquid SPMs.Comment: 32 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Nanotechnolog