A Third Pandemic is on the Horizon

The emergence of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus and the resultant COVID-19 pandemic has brought the world to a standstill. In the United States, the morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19 infection has disproportionately impacted Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, highlighting an underlying “second pandemic” perpetuated by the deeply-rooted health care inequities and social determinants of health. In this manuscript, we warn about a “Third Pandemic” on the horizon which could be driven by federal policies that fail to ensure equitable access to COVID-specific therapeutics for BIPOC communities, and the potential inequitable implementation of such policies that could further perpetuate disparities in health outcomes

HIV policy: the path forward--a joint position paper of the HIV Medicine Association of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the American College of Physicians.

Executive Summary The American College of Physicians (ACP) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) have jointly published 3 policy statements on AIDS, the first in 1986 [1], the second in 1988 [2], and the third in 1994 [3]. In 2001, the IDSA created the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA), and this updated policy paper is a collaboration between the ACP and the HIVMA of the IDSA. Since the last statement, many new developments call for the need to reexamine and update our policies relating to HIV infection. First, there have been major advances in treatment for HIV infection that have transformed HIV/AIDS from a terminal illness to a chronic disease for many of those who have access to potent therapies and expert medical care [4]. Second, there has been a profound expansion and intensification of the global HIV pandemic, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, coupled with significant US leadership and resources aimed at providing prevention and care services to affected populations in developing countries. Third, the concerns that were prevalent in the mid-1990s regarding the possibility of HIV transmission in health care settings have ultimately proven to be unfounded as the result of the adoption of universal precautions in those settings. In this article, we emphasize the public health and clinical imperatives for earlier identification of persons with HIV infection; the urgent need to expand access to state-of-the-art HIV care and treatment for infected individuals; the need for access to comprehensive prevention and education for those living with and those at risk for HIV infection; and the need for stronger national leadership to respond to the HIV epidemic in the United States and in the developing world. In December 2008, the ACP and HIVMA released a guidance statement on screening for HIV infection in health care settings that recommended that clinicians adopt routine screening for HIV infection and encourage patients to be tested. Also included in the guidance statement is a recommendation that clinicians determine the need for additional screening on an individual basis

Magnetic fields in protoplanetary disks

Magnetic fields likely play a key role in the dynamics and evolution of protoplanetary discs. They have the potential to efficiently transport angular momentum by MHD turbulence or via the magnetocentrifugal acceleration of outflows from the disk surface, and magnetically-driven mixing has implications for disk chemistry and evolution of the grain population. However, the weak ionisation of protoplanetary discs means that magnetic fields may not be able to effectively couple to the matter. I present calculations of the ionisation equilibrium and magnetic diffusivity as a function of height from the disk midplane at radii of 1 and 5 AU. Dust grains tend to suppress magnetic coupling by soaking up electrons and ions from the gas phase and reducing the conductivity of the gas by many orders of magnitude. However, once grains have grown to a few microns in size their effect starts to wane and magnetic fields can begin to couple to the gas even at the disk midplane. Because ions are generally decoupled from the magnetic field by neutral collisions while electrons are not, the Hall effect tends to dominate the diffusion of the magnetic field when it is able to partially couple to the gas. For a standard population of 0.1 micron grains the active surface layers have a combined column of about 2 g/cm^2 at 1 AU; by the time grains have aggregated to 3 microns the active surface density is 80 g/cm^2. In the absence of grains, x-rays maintain magnetic coupling to 10% of the disk material at 1 AU (150 g/cm^2). At 5 AU the entire disk thickness becomes active once grains have aggregated to 1 micron in size.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figs, aastex.cls. Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Science. v3 corrects bibliograph

The Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) presents the first spectroscopic data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This ninth data release (DR9) of the SDSS project includes 535,995 new galaxy spectra (median z=0.52), 102,100 new quasar spectra (median z=2.32), and 90,897 new stellar spectra, along with the data presented in previous data releases. These spectra were obtained with the new BOSS spectrograph and were taken between 2009 December and 2011 July. In addition, the stellar parameters pipeline, which determines radial velocities, surface temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities of stars, has been updated and refined with improvements in temperature estimates for stars with T_eff<5000 K and in metallicity estimates for stars with [Fe/H]>-0.5. DR9 includes new stellar parameters for all stars presented in DR8, including stars from SDSS-I and II, as well as those observed as part of the SDSS-III Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration-2 (SEGUE-2). The astrometry error introduced in the DR8 imaging catalogs has been corrected in the DR9 data products. The next data release for SDSS-III will be in Summer 2013, which will present the first data from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) along with another year of data from BOSS, followed by the final SDSS-III data release in December 2014.Comment: 9 figures; 2 tables. Submitted to ApJS. DR9 is available at http://www.sdss3.org/dr

The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment: Exploring Fundamental Symmetries of the Universe

The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early Universe, the dynamics of the supernova bursts that produced the heavy elements necessary for life and whether protons eventually decay --- these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our Universe, its current state and its eventual fate. The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) represents an extensively developed plan for a world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions. LBNE is conceived around three central components: (1) a new, high-intensity neutrino source generated from a megawatt-class proton accelerator at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, (2) a near neutrino detector just downstream of the source, and (3) a massive liquid argon time-projection chamber deployed as a far detector deep underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. This facility, located at the site of the former Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, is approximately 1,300 km from the neutrino source at Fermilab -- a distance (baseline) that delivers optimal sensitivity to neutrino charge-parity symmetry violation and mass ordering effects. This ambitious yet cost-effective design incorporates scalability and flexibility and can accommodate a variety of upgrades and contributions. With its exceptional combination of experimental configuration, technical capabilities, and potential for transformative discoveries, LBNE promises to be a vital facility for the field of particle physics worldwide, providing physicists from around the globe with opportunities to collaborate in a twenty to thirty year program of exciting science. In this document we provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess.Comment: Major update of previous version. This is the reference document for LBNE science program and current status. Chapters 1, 3, and 9 provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess. 288 pages, 116 figure

Characterisation and Mechanical Testing of Hydrothermally Treated HA/ZrO2 Composites

Hydrothermal treatment is traditionally employed to improve the sinterability of powder compacts by reducing porosity and increasing apparent density. The effect of hydrothermal treatment on green powder compacts has been assessed in order to better understand how treatment may affect the sinter ability of the bodies. Laboratory synthesized nano sized hydroxyapatite (HA) and a commercial zirconia (ZrO2) powder have been ball milled together to create composite mixtures containing 0-5 wt% ZrO2 loadings. Disc shaped bodies have been formed using uniaxial and subsequent isostatic pressure. The resultant coherent samples were subjected to hydrothermal treatment at either 120 or 250°C for 10 h in order to assess the effect of this processing technique on the physical, mechanical and microstructural properties of the green composites. ZrO2 loadings up to 3 wt% increased apparent density from 90 to 92%, whereas increased loading to 5 wt% increased flexural strength, from 6 to 9 MPa. Increasing the hydrothermal treatment temperature increased open porosity, from ~44 to ~48% and reduced biaxial flexural strengths of the treated bodies compared to those of their room temperature isostatically pressed counterparts (~10 to ~6 MPa). © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

Tetraaquabis(3-fluoropyridine-4-carboxylato-\u3cem\u3eκN\u3c/em\u3e)zinc(II) dihydrate

In the title compound, [Zn(C6H3FNO2)2(H2O)4]·2H2O, the ZnII atom is octahedrally coordinated in a ZnO4N2 environment by two 3-fluoropyridine-4-carboxylate (3-fpy4-cbx) ligands and four water molecules. The [Zn(3-fpy4-cbx)2(H2O)4] molecules form a three-dimensional network through strong O-HO and weak O-HF hydrogen bonds between 3-fpy4-cbx and water molecules. The crystal used for data collection was a twin, with the twin law corresponding to a 180° rotation about the real-space [001] axis. The major twin fraction refined to 0.795 (1)

Nanostructures Technology, Research, and Applications

Contains reports on seventeen research projects and a list of publications.Joint Services Electronics Program Contract DAAL03-92-C-0001Joint Services Electronics Program Grant DAAH04-95-1-0038Semiconductor Research Corporation Contract 94-MJ-550National Science Foundation Grant ECS 94-07078U.S. Army Research Office Contract DAAL03-92-G-0291Advanced Research Projects Agency/Naval Air Systems Command Contract N00019-92-K-0021National Aeronautics and Space Administration Contract NAS8-36748National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant NAGW-2003IBM Corporation Contract 1622U.S. Army Research Office Grant DAAH04-94-G-0377U.S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research Grant F-49-620-92-J-006