A high internal heat flux and large core in a warm Neptune exoplanet.

Interactions between exoplanetary atmospheres and internal properties have long been proposed to be drivers of the inflation mechanisms of gaseous planets and apparent atmospheric chemical disequilibrium conditions1. However, transmission spectra of exoplanets have been limited in their ability to observationally confirm these theories owing to the limited wavelength coverage of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and inferences of single molecules, mostly H2O (ref. 2). In this work, we present the panchromatic transmission spectrum of the approximately 750 K, low-density, Neptune-sized exoplanet WASP-107b using a combination of HST Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and JWST Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). From this spectrum, we detect spectroscopic features resulting from H2O (21σ), CH4 (5σ), CO (7σ), CO2 (29σ), SO2 (9σ) and NH3 (6σ). The presence of these molecules enables constraints on the atmospheric metal enrichment (M/H is 10-18× solar3), vertical mixing strength (log10Kzz = 8.4-9.0 cm2 s-1) and internal temperature (>345 K). The high internal temperature is suggestive of tidally driven inflation4 acting on a Neptune-like internal structure, which can naturally explain the large radius and low density of the planet. These findings suggest that eccentricity-driven tidal heating is a critical process governing atmospheric chemistry and interior-structure inferences for most of the cool (<1,000 K) super-Earth-to-Saturn-mass exoplanet population.

Methane throughout the atmosphere of the warm exoplanet WASP-80b.

The abundances of main carbon- and oxygen-bearing gases in the atmospheres of giant exoplanets provide insights into atmospheric chemistry and planet formation processes1,2. Thermochemistry suggests that methane (CH4) should be the dominant carbon-bearing species below about 1,000 K over a range of plausible atmospheric compositions3; this is the case for the solar system planets4 and has been confirmed in the atmospheres of brown dwarfs and self-luminous, directly imaged exoplanets5. However, CH4 has not yet been definitively detected with space-based spectroscopy in the atmosphere of a transiting exoplanet6-11, but a few detections have been made with ground-based, high-resolution transit spectroscopy12,13 including a tentative detection for WASP-80b (ref. 14). Here we report transmission and emission spectra spanning 2.4-4.0 µm of the 825 K warm Jupiter WASP-80b taken with the NIRCam instrument of the JWST, both of which show strong evidence of CH4 at greater than 6σ significance. The derived CH4 abundances from both viewing geometries are consistent with each other and with solar to sub-solar C/O and around five times solar metallicity, which is consistent with theoretical predictions15-17.

A broadband thermal emission spectrum of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-18b.

Close-in giant exoplanets with temperatures greater than 2,000 K ('ultra-hot Jupiters') have been the subject of extensive efforts to determine their atmospheric properties using thermal emission measurements from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and Spitzer Space Telescope1-3. However, previous studies have yielded inconsistent results because the small sizes of the spectral features and the limited information content of the data resulted in high sensitivity to the varying assumptions made in the treatment of instrument systematics and the atmospheric retrieval analysis3-12. Here we present a dayside thermal emission spectrum of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-18b obtained with the NIRISS13 instrument on the JWST. The data span 0.85 to 2.85 µm in wavelength at an average resolving power of 400 and exhibit minimal systematics. The spectrum shows three water emission features (at >6σ confidence) and evidence for optical opacity, possibly attributable to H-, TiO and VO (combined significance of 3.8σ). Models that fit the data require a thermal inversion, molecular dissociation as predicted by chemical equilibrium, a solar heavy-element abundance ('metallicity', [Formula: see text] times solar) and a carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio less than unity. The data also yield a dayside brightness temperature map, which shows a peak in temperature near the substellar point that decreases steeply and symmetrically with longitude towards the terminators.

A reflective, metal-rich atmosphere for GJ 1214b from its JWST phase curve.

There are no planets intermediate in size between Earth and Neptune in our Solar System, yet these objects are found around a substantial fraction of other stars1. Population statistics show that close-in planets in this size range bifurcate into two classes on the basis of their radii2,3. It is proposed that the group with larger radii (referred to as 'sub-Neptunes') is distinguished by having hydrogen-dominated atmospheres that are a few percent of the total mass of the planets4. GJ 1214b is an archetype sub-Neptune that has been observed extensively using transmission spectroscopy to test this hypothesis5-14. However, the measured spectra are featureless, and thus inconclusive, due to the presence of high-altitude aerosols in the planet's atmosphere. Here we report a spectroscopic thermal phase curve of GJ 1214b obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in the mid-infrared. The dayside and nightside spectra (average brightness temperatures of 553 ± 9 and 437 ± 19 K, respectively) each show more than 3σ evidence of absorption features, with H2O as the most likely cause in both. The measured global thermal emission implies that GJ 1214b's Bond albedo is 0.51 ± 0.06. Comparison between the spectroscopic phase curve data and three-dimensional models of GJ 1214b reveal a planet with a high metallicity atmosphere blanketed by a thick and highly reflective layer of clouds or haze.

Social Spending and Educational Gaps in Infant Health in the United States, 1998-2017.

Recent expansions of child tax, food assistance, and health insurance programs have made American families' need for a robust social safety net highly evident, while researchers and policymakers continue to debate the best way to support families via the welfare state. How much do children-and which children-benefit from social spending? Using the State-by-State Spending on Kids Dataset, linked to National Vital Statistics System birth data from 1998 to 2017, we examine how state-level child spending affects infant health across maternal education groups. We find that social spending has benefits for both low birth weight and preterm birth rates, especially among babies born to mothers with less than a high school education. The stronger benefits of social spending among lower educated families lead to meaningful declines in educational gaps in infant health as social spending increases. Our findings are consistent with the idea that a strong local welfare state benefits infant health and increases equality of opportunity, and that spending on nonhealth programs is equally beneficial for infant health as investments in health programs.

Learning to Value Girls: Balanced Infant Sex Ratios at Higher Parental Education in the United States, 1969-2018.

Infant sex ratios that differ from the biological norm provide a measure of gender status inequality that is not susceptible to social desirability bias. Ratios may become less biased with educational expansion through reduced preference for male children. Alternatively, bias could increase with education through more access to sex-selective medical technologies. Using National Vital Statistics data on the population of live births in the United States for 1969-2018, we examine trends in infant sex ratios by parental race/ethnicity, education, and birth parity over five decades. We find son-biased infant sex ratios among Chinese and Asian Indian births that have persisted in recent years, and regressions suggest son-biased ratios among births to Filipino and Japanese mothers with less than a high school education. Infant sex ratios are more balanced at higher levels of maternal education, particularly when both parents are college educated. Results suggest greater equality of gender status with higher education in the United States.

Variation in the Relationship between School Spending and Achievement: Progressive Spending Is Efficient.

The equity-efficiency trade-off and cumulative return theories predict larger returns to school spending in areas with higher previous investment in children. Equity-not efficiency-is therefore used to justify progressive school funding: spending more in communities with fewer financial resources. Yet it remains unclear how returns to school spending vary across areas by previous investment. Using county-level panel data for 2009-18 from the Stanford Education Data Archive, the Census Finance Survey, and National Vital Statistics, the authors estimate achievement returns to school spending and test whether returns vary between counties with low and high levels of initial human capital (measured as birth weight), child poverty, and previous spending. Spending returns are higher among counties with low previous investment (counties that also have a high percentage of Black students). Evidence of diminishing returns by previous investment documents another way that schools increase equality and establishes another argument for progressive school funding: efficiency.

A solar C/O and sub-solar metallicity in a hot Jupiter atmosphere.

Measurements of the atmospheric carbon (C) and oxygen (O) relative to hydrogen (H) in hot Jupiters (relative to their host stars) provide insight into their formation location and subsequent orbital migration1,2. Hot Jupiters that form beyond the major volatile (H2O/CO/CO2) ice lines and subsequently migrate post disk-dissipation are predicted have atmospheric carbon-to-oxygen ratios (C/O) near 1 and subsolar metallicities2, whereas planets that migrate through the disk before dissipation are predicted to be heavily polluted by infalling O-rich icy planetesimals, resulting in C/O < 0.5 and super-solar metallicities1,2. Previous observations of hot Jupiters have been able to provide bounded constraints on either H2O (refs. 3-5) or CO (refs. 6,7), but not both for the same planet, leaving uncertain4 the true elemental C and O inventory and subsequent C/O and metallicity determinations. Here we report spectroscopic observations of a typical transiting hot Jupiter, WASP-77Ab. From these, we determine the atmospheric gas volume mixing ratio constraints on both H2O and CO (9.5 × 10-5-1.5 × 10-4 and 1.2 × 10-4-2.6 × 10-4, respectively). From these bounded constraints, we are able to derive the atmospheric C/H ([Formula: see text] × solar) and O/H ([Formula: see text] × solar) abundances and the corresponding atmospheric carbon-to-oxygen ratio (C/O = 0.59 ± 0.08; the solar value is 0.55). The sub-solar (C+O)/H ([Formula: see text] × solar) is suggestive of a metal-depleted atmosphere relative to what is expected for Jovian-like planets1 while the near solar value of C/O rules out the disk-free migration/C-rich2 atmosphere scenario.

Resident perspectives of environmental health risk exposures after Hurricane Harvey.

This study examines what visitors to urban parks in Houston, TX, know about environmental health risks resulting from Hurricane Harvey, a category 4 storm that made landfall in August 2017 and dropped over 60 in. of rain in 8 days making it the most significant rainfall event in US history. Interviews were conducted with adult Houstonians using purposive sampling. In total, 27 interviews were conducted with 36 different participants. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed qualitatively using a phronetic iterative approach. This study found that park visitors lack sufficient knowledge about environmental health risks, yet they have strong desires to learn more about such risks. In particular, participants have clear opinions on what the content of the messages (i.e., concise, manageable, not fear-inducing) should be and how they would like to receive the information (i.e., conveniently accessible, from trusted local sources). Implications for health campaign interventions utilizing uncertainty theories are discussed.

Going Places: Effects of Early U.S. Compulsory Schooling Laws on Internal Migration.

Both the industrialization thesis and institutional theories of education hypothesize that early educational expansion increased internal migration. We take advantage of state variation in early U.S. compulsory schooling laws and use a regression discontinuity approach to test this hypothesis in 1860-1950 Census data. Results indicate that those required to attend school were more likely to leave their state of birth than others. Effects were stronger among men in states with low occupational status scores, suggesting education encouraged migration out of states with fewer occupational opportunities. Potential contemporary implications for the U.S. and developing countries are discussed.

Unequal Opportunity Spreaders: Higher COVID-19 Deaths with Later School Closure in the United States.

Mixed evidence on the relationship between school closure and COVID-19 prevalence could reflect focus on large-scale levels of geography, limited ability to address endogeneity, and demographic variation. Using county-level Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 data through June 15, 2020, two matching strategies address potential heterogeneity: nearest geographic neighbor and propensity scores. Within nearest neighboring pairs in different states with different school closure timing, each additional day from a county's first case until state-ordered school closure is related to 1.5 to 2.4 percent higher cumulative COVID-19 deaths per capita (1,227-1,972 deaths for a county with median population and deaths/capita). Results are consistent using propensity score matching, COVID-19 data from two alternative sources, and additional sensitivity analyses. School closure is more strongly related to COVID-19 deaths in counties with a high concentration of Black or poor residents, suggesting schools play an unequal role in transmission and earlier school closure is related to fewer lives lost in disadvantaged counties.

Minority Support: School District Demographics and Support for Funding Election Measures.

In the context of tight state budgets, local education funding is increasingly important. This article examines the relationship between district-level demographic characteristics and voter support for tax increases to fund the local school district. Using district-level panel data on California school district elections and demographics from 1995 to 2014, we ask the following questions: (1) What is the relationship between demographics and support for school district tax measures? and (2) Does this relationship vary by the type of tax measure? Results suggest that voter support varies by district demographics. However, results differ for bond and property tax measures and suggest that the proportion of Black students increases the likelihood of passing a bond measure but reduces the likelihood of passing a property tax measure. This heterogeneity offers one potential explanation for contradictory evidence in the literature. Results have implications for racial inequality of educational resources between districts.

The Effects of State-Level Medicaid Coverage on Family Wealth.

Jointly financed by the federal government and the states, Medicaid represents the second largest form of public-sector investment in children. Research documents direct positive effects of Medicaid on children's well-being, but little is known about the effects of Medicaid expansions on the wealth of families with children. Using state variation in Medicaid access during the prenatal and infant period, linked to longitudinal data from the children of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 79, we ask whether state-level Medicaid generosity is associated with family wealth among families with children and whether these effects vary by parental education and race-ethnicity. We find that greater state-level Medicaid access is associated with a larger total amount held in savings and retirement accounts, as well as in mortgages. These effects are largely driven by non-Hispanic white families, and those with more highly educated mothers.

Paternal Education and Infant Health: Variation by Race/Ethnicity.

In the USA, efforts to improve unequal infant health outcomes require knowledge about how the relationship between education and infant health varies by parental gender and race/ethnicity. Drawing from a pooled random sample of over 1 million live births from the 2011 to 2017 National Vital Statistics System data, we examine the relationship between maternal and paternal education and infant health and assess how it varies by maternal racial and ethnic background. The model fit statistics suggest that the relationship between paternal education and infant health is about equal to maternal education and infant health. However, we find a weaker relationship overall between parental education and infant health among Asian and Hispanic fathers than Whites, American Indian, and Black fathers. Black fathers' education is more strongly associated with infant health than that of Black mothers. At some levels, paternal education is also more strongly related to health among Hispanic infants. The results suggest a greater focus on fathers' contributions to infant health is warranted, and programs or policies that focus on fathers could help address racial and ethnic infant health disparities.

Rising inequality of infant health in the U.S.

Has infant health inequality narrowed or grown in recent decades? Inequality may have narrowed due to expanded medical insurance coverage and greater knowledge about fetal health. However, greater income inequality may have reduced health for births to the most economically disadvantaged mothers, leading to growing infant health inequality. We use administrative birth certificate data for over 22 million births to examine trends in inequality of infant health from 1989 to 2018 in the U.S. This period allows us to consider how contextual factors - such as passage of the Affordable Care Act, changing demographics, the Great Recession, or delayed impacts of rising income inequality - may have altered infant health inequality. We assess gaps in infant health by maternal race, marital status, and education. Following previous research, we also examine gaps between the most economically advantaged mothers - married, white mothers with a college degree - and the most economically disadvantaged mothers - single, Black mothers without a high school degree. Results reveal that inequality of infant health has increased since 2010.

Engaging Men With BRCA-Related Cancer Risks: Practical Advice for BRCA Risk Management From Male Stakeholders.

Men are at risk for developing hereditary cancers such as breast, prostate, pancreatic, and melanoma due to a pathogenic germline variant in either the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene. The purpose of this study was to identify and provide practical advice for men managing their BRCA-related cancer risks based on men's real-life experiences. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 25 men who either tested positive for a pathogenic variant in BRCA1/2 gene or who had an immediate family member who had tested positive for a pathogenic variant in BRCA1/2. A thematic analysis of the interview transcripts was completed utilizing the constant comparison method. Qualitative analysis produced three categories of participant advice for men who recently learned of their hereditary cancer risk. Specifically, participants advised the following: (a) know the basics, (b) engage in the family narrative, and (c) advocate for yourself. Results showed the need for men to know and understand their BRCA cancer risks and communicate that genetic risk information to their family members and practitioners. In particular, the findings stress the importance of addressing men's risks and medical management from a family-focused approach. Overall, because men are historically undereducated about their BRCA-related cancer risks, this practical advice serves as a first step for men managing BRCA-related cancer risks and may ultimately assist them in making preventive and screening health behaviors.

Applying Family Communication Patterns to Patient-provider Communication: Examining Perceptions of Patient Involvement, Satisfaction, and Medical Adherence.

This study investigates patient perceptions of patient-provider communication and family communication patterns theory (FCPT). Using FCPT, the study predicts that family communicative environment relates to patient perceptions of patient involvement in care as well as patient satisfaction and medical adherence. Further, this study tests new measures of conformity orientation (warm and cold conformity) to investigate the multi-faceted nature of the variable. The results show significant relationships between FCPT and patient perceptions and outcomes. Specifically, warm conformity was the strongest and most reliable predictor of patient perceptions and outcomes across the three FCPT variables tested in the model. Additionally, results show differences between how warm and cold conformity predict patient perception and outcome variables. Finally, tests of the interaction between conversation orientation and both types of conformity indicate relationships between interaction variables and patient involvement in care, but not satisfaction or adherence. Practical implications and future research ideas are also discussed.

Family storytelling about hereditary cancer: Framing shared understandings of risk.

Family communication about the family's health history (FHH) is an important step in alerting individuals to their hereditary disease risks and facilitating prevention. Individuals often communicate about the FHH of hereditary cancer as a story, which highlights the importance of analyzing family narratives of hereditary cancer to better understand their relation to psychological and physical well-being. This study investigates the content of family stories by examining how narrative tone and framing relate to coping, perceptions of risk, and medical decision-making. The current study recruited 42 family dyads with a prevalent FHH of hereditary cancer to participate in dyadic phone interviews to jointly tell their family narrative of hereditary cancer. Using an iterative analysis, findings examine how families create a shared understanding of FHH and hereditary risk. Narrative tone reflects participants' psychological well-being and contributed to the way families framed their experiences. Common frames to family narratives of hereditary cancer included empowerment, adversity, laissez faire, and discrepant. Each frame gave insight into how families were coping, their perceptions of risk, and how they make medical decisions to manage those risks. Developing a better understanding of how families communicate about their hereditary cancer risks can aid in designing clinical interventions to help families re-frame their stories to promote improved health outcomes.

Why Who Marries Whom Matters: Effects of Educational Assortative Mating on Infant Health in the U.S. 1969-1994.

Educational assortative mating patterns in the U.S. have changed since the 1960s, but we know little about the effects of these patterns on children, particularly on infant health. Rising educational homogamy may alter prenatal contexts through parental stress and resources, with implications for inequality. Using 1969-1994 NVSS birth data and aggregate cohort-state census measures of spousal similarity of education and labor force participation as instrumental variables (IV), this study estimates effects of parental educational similarity on infant health. Controlling for both maternal and paternal education, results support family systems theory and suggest that parental educational homogamy is beneficial for infant health while hypergamy is detrimental. These effects are stronger in later cohorts and are generally limited to mothers with more education. Hypogamy estimates are stable by cohort, suggesting that rising female hypogamy may have limited effect on infant health. In contrast, rising educational homogamy could have increasing implications for infant health. Effects of parental homogamy on infant health could help explain racial inequality of infant health and may offer a potential mechanism through which inequality is transmitted between generations.