the desire and drive for excellence in any endeavor in life requires an effort from the individual; in addition it requires a constellation of features around such individuals that help them to become successful. for surgeons, it is the operating room staff, the administrative and medical assistants and our residents and fellows. however, perhaps the most important contribution to a physician’s...

Context. Since 1999, we have been conducting a radial velocity survey of 179 K giants using the Coudé Auxiliary Telescope at UCO/Lick observatory. At present ∼20−100 measurements have been collected per star with a precision of 5 to 8 m s−1. Of the stars monitored, 145 (80%) show radial velocity (RV) variations at a level >20 m s−1, of which 43 exhibit significant periodicities. Aims. Our aim i...