A discriminating probe of gravity at cosmological scales

The standard cosmological model is based on general relativity and includes dark matter and dark energy. An important prediction of this model is a fixed relationship between the gravitational potentials responsible for gravitational lensing and the matter overdensity. Alternative theories of gravity often make different predictions for this relationship. We propose a set of measurements which can test the lensing/matter relationship, thereby distinguishing between dark energy/matter models and models in which gravity differs from general relativity. Planned optical, infrared and radio galaxy and lensing surveys will be able to measure $E_G$, an observational quantity whose expectation value is equal to the ratio of the Laplacian of the Newtonian potentials to the peculiar velocity divergence, to percent accuracy. We show that this will easily separate alternatives such as $\Lambda$CDM, DGP, TeVeS and $f(R)$ gravity.Comment: v2: minor revisions in the main text, fig, table and references. Slightly longer than the PRL version in press. V3: update the figure (minor change due to a coding bug. No other change

Compliance and noncompliance with cardiac rehabilitation : a family systems, communications perspective.

EducationDoctor of Education (Ed.D.

Staphylococcal carriage among captive dingoes (Canis dingo) in Victoria, Australia

The evolutionary lineage and taxonomy of the Australian dingo is controversial, however recent genomic and gut metagenomic research has suggested that dingoes are evolutionarily distinct from modern dogs. Staphylococcus species are known commensal organisms of dogs and other mammals. In this study we took the opportunity to determine the carriage rate and antimicrobial resistance profiles of Staphylococcus species from 15 captive Australian dingoes. S. pseudintermedius was the only coagulase-positive species recovered, isolated from 6/15 (40%) and 9/13 (69%) of the animals during the 2020 (winter) and 2021 (summer) sampling times, respectively. Twenty-three coagulase-negative isolates were characterised, with S. equorum being the most frequently (20/23, 87%) recovered species. Two isolates of S. equorum had their genomes sequenced to learn more about this species. Antimicrobial resistance amongst both coagulase-positive and -negative isolates was low; with resistance to only 3 of 12 antimicrobials observed: penicillin, erythromycin, and trimethoprim. We have shown that the Australian dingo is a host organism for S. pseudintermedius much like it is in dogs, however the carriage rate was lower than has previously been reported from dogs in Australia. © 2024 The Author

Delayed Recombination and Cosmic Parameters

Current cosmological constraints from Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies are typically derived assuming a standard recombination scheme, however additional resonance and ionizing radiation sources can delay recombination, altering the cosmic ionization history and the cosmological inferences drawn from CMB data. We show that for recent observations of CMB anisotropy, from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe satellite mission 5-year survey (WMAP5) and from the ACBAR experiment, additional resonance radiation is nearly degenerate with variations in the spectral index, n_s, and has a marked effect on uncertainties in constraints on the Hubble constant, age of the universe, curvature and the upper bound on the neutrino mass. When a modified recombination scheme is considered, the redshift of recombination is constrained to z_*=1078\pm11, with uncertainties in the measurement weaker by one order of magnitude than those obtained under the assumption of standard recombination while constraints on the shift parameter are shifted by 1-sigma to R=1.734\pm0.028. Although delayed recombination limits the precision of parameter estimation from the WMAP satellite, we demonstrate that this should not be the case for future, smaller angular scales measurements, such as those by the Planck satellite mission.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Ground Snow Loads for ASCE 7-22 – What Has Changed and Why?

The changes to the ASCE 7 ground snow load maps proposed for the 2022 edition target a uniform reliability rather than a uniform hazard – an important distinction – and are the first of their kind in ASCE 7. Previously, the ASCE 7 snow loads used a uniform-hazard 50-year mean recurrence interval (MRI) with a 1.6 load factor. The newly proposed loads directly target the safety levels stipulated in Chapter 1 of ASCE 7, resulting in a strength design level load that is to be used with a load factor of 1.0. This paper describes changes in design provisions that result from this transition to reliability-targeted loads and provides reasons for some of these differences

Evaluating effects of deficit irrigation strategies on grain sorghum attributes and biofuel production

With reduced water resources available for agriculture, scientists and engineers have developed innovative technologies and management strategies aimed at increasing efficient use of irrigation water. The objective of this research was to study the impact of deficit irrigation strategies on sorghum grain attributes and bioethanol production. Grain sorghum was planted at Southwest Research-Extension Center near Garden City, KS, under five different irrigation capacities (1 inch every 4, 6, 8,10, or 12 days) and dryland in 2015 and 2016 growing seasons. Results showed average kernel weight, kernel diameter and test weight of grain sorghum increased as irrigation capacity increased, whereas kernel hardness index decreased as irrigation capacity increased. Starch and protein contents of sorghum ranged from 69.45 to 72.82% and 8.22e12.50%, respectively. Starch pasting temperature and peak time decreased as irrigation capacity increased. Irrigation capacity had a positive impact on bioethanol yield, whereas both year and interaction between irrigation capacity and year did not show significant effect on bioethanol yield resulting from above normal rainfall received during the growing seasons