Instrument Performance in Kepler's First Months

The Kepler Mission relies on precise differential photometry to detect the 80 parts per million (ppm) signal from an Earth-Sun equivalent transit. Such precision requires superb instrument stability on time scales up to ~2 days and systematic error removal to better than 20 ppm. To this end, the spacecraft and photometer underwent 67 days of commissioning, which included several data sets taken to characterize the photometer performance. Because Kepler has no shutter, we took a series of dark images prior to the dust cover ejection, from which we measured the bias levels, dark current, and read noise. These basic detector properties are essentially unchanged from ground-based tests, indicating that the photometer is working as expected. Several image artifacts have proven more complex than when observed during ground testing, as a result of their interactions with starlight and the greater thermal stability in flight, which causes the temperature-dependent artifact variations to be on the timescales of transits. Because of Kepler's unprecedented sensitivity and stability, we have also seen several unexpected systematics that affect photometric precision. We are using the first 43 days of science data to characterize these effects and to develop detection and mitigation methods that will be implemented in the calibration pipeline. Based on early testing, we expect to attain Kepler's planned photometric precision over 80%-90% of the field of view.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables, Astrophysical Journal Letters, accepte

PhD Supervision up to 9 months

Information and guidance for students in the early stages of their PhD studie

Nepal Earthquake Humanitarian Situation Report: Three Months Review

This report discusses the current humanitarian situation in Nepal. Three months after the two major earthquakes affected 2.8 million Nepalese lives, 1.1 million children are still in need of vital humanitarian assistance. Three months after the devastating earthquakes of 25 April and 12 May which struck Nepal, the overall humanitarian situation has improved. The frequency of aftershocks has decreased and several countries have lifted their travel restrictions to Nepal. On 22 June, the Government of Nepal also declared an end to the emergency phase and a shift from humanitarian response to recovery. These recovery and reconstruction efforts are guided by the findings of the Government-led Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) and supported by the International Conference on Nepal's Reconstruction on 25 June where the international community pledged two-thirds ($4.4 billion) of the$6.7 billion appeal by the Government. The total financial losses from the earthquakes is estimated as $7.06 billion according to the PDNA findings.Despite these advancements, over 5.2 million people live in the 31 districts that have been affected out of which 2.8 million people who live in the 14 most affected districts are still in need of vital humanitarian assistance1. Of this population, an estimated 1.1 million (40 percent) are children. Shelter, food and livelihood support, medical care, sanitation and hygiene, education, nutrition supplements and protection remain as key humanitarian needs. As of mid-July, the number of casualties reached 8,8972 people of which 30 per cent are children3, and 22,310 people have been injured.The situation is projected to worsen with the impact from the monsoon which began mid-June. The heavy monsoon rains will add complexities to the existing needs and to the already challenging logistical access to remote districts, potentially delaying the post-earthquake recovery process. Indeed an estimated 90 per cent of the earthquake-affected population is living in areas which are at high risk of landslides and floods. Over 5,600 landslides were observed after the 25 April earthquake, which is much higher than the total number of landslides reported in the past five years combined

Community-Based Exercise Education During Colder Months

Approximately 50% of US adults and 75% of US high school students don\u27t meet recommended weekly physical activity guidelines, and physical activity declines further during colder seasons. Resources describing local suggestions for physical activity should be made broadly available to community members, such as at their primary health care office.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fmclerk/1514/thumbnail.jp

E-Reader Ownership Doubles in Six Months

Presents survey findings about trends in ownership of e-book readers such as Kindles or Nooks and tablet computers such as iPads or Motorola Xooms, compared with other devices and by gender, parental status, race/ethnicity, age, education, and income

China Forces Abortion on Woman at 8 Months

This document is part of a digital collection provided by the Martin P. Catherwood Library, ILR School, Cornell University, pertaining to the effects of globalization on the workplace worldwide. Special emphasis is placed on labor rights, working conditions, labor market changes, and union organizing.CLW_2010_Report_China_china_forces.pdf: 30 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Terguride stimulates locomotor activity at 2 months but not 10 months after 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine treatment of common marmosets

The mixed dopamine (DA) agonist/antagonist terguride acts as a DA antagonist on normosensitive receptors but shows DA agonistic properties at supersensitive DA receptors. Such a compound could offer an alternative to the treatment of Parkinson's disease with indirect or direct DA agonists. The present study compares the actions of terguride, 4-12 mg/kg i.p., in naive common marmosets with its effects in animals rendered parkinsonian by administration of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP), 2 months or 10 months previously, in order to test its antiparkinsonian efficacy. Terguride reduced locomotor activity in naive common marmosets, similar to its effects in rodents and in line with the DA antagonistic activity of the compound. In marmosets treated with MPTP 2 months previously and exhibiting pronounced behavioural motor deficits, terguride stimulated locomotor activity, showing DA agonistic properties under these conditions. In contrast, the locomotor activity of animals that had recovered from MPTP treatment 10 months previously was not altered by terguride. It is concluded that terguride has anti-akinetic efficacy in this primate model of Parkinson's disease. In addition, terguride offers a unique opportunity to differentiate, pharmacologically, the extent of dopaminergic recovery from MPTP treatment in this primate species

Sandy's Mold Legacy: The Unmet Need Six Months After the Storm

Just over six months ago, Hurricane Sandy hit the shores of New York, bringing floods and standing water to neighborhoods across the tri-state area. But if the destructive capacity of flooding and water damage was bad, it soon became clear homeowners were faced with an even greater threat. Flooded homes not dried out within 24 to 48 hours were at serious risk of developing mold infestations, threatening the health and safety of thousands of New Yorkers. At the end of January 2013, city administrators created the privately funded Neighborhood Revitalization NYC program ("NRNYC" or "the program") to remediate 2,000 homes, responding to growing reports of mold contamination in the press.The organizations that drafted this report have engaged with the City and the non-governmental agency administering the Neighborhood Revitalization NYC program throughout the several months it has existed, and have been able to provide feedback on the effectiveness of the program. The city and program administrators have been extremely open to feedback, and many obstacles have been improved because of that openness. However, as the results of this study indicate, for a variety of reasons, the city's current approach to mold remediation post-Sandy needs expansion and improvement. Six months later, the acute need for mold remediation across New York City has not abated, and mold's disproportionate impact on low-income and immigrant communities has resulted in displacement, sickness, and continued crisis in Sandy-affected neighborhoods. Major community-based organizations with roots in those neighborhoods have stepped in to help construct solutions. Members of the Alliance for a Just Rebuilding, a coalition of labor unions and community, faith-based, environmental and policy organizations across New York, have begun to survey residents in order to meaningfully assess the post-Sandy mold crisis across the city. In March and April, Faith in New York (formerly Queens Congregations United for Action), Make the Road NY, and New York Communities for Change conducted phone and door-to-door surveys across the Rockaways and in Staten Island, reaching almost 700 households. Feedback from residents forms the basis for this report's analysis of the threat of mold in hurricane-ravaged neighborhoods and our recommendations on how city leaders should respond to the crisis

Integration of audio-visual information in 8-months-old infants

The results from a series of perception experiments designed to test 8-month-old infants’ ability to derive linguistic information from audio-visual events are reported in this presentation. Using a visual preference technique, groups of 8-month-old infants were tested on their ability to extract linguistic information implicit in short video sequences where the images displayed different puppets and the audio tracks presented sentences describing the puppets in naturalistic infant-directed speech style. To assess the relative importance of memory and attention factors, the prosodic and syntactic structure of the speech materials was systematically changed across different groups of subjects. The experimental results are interpreted in terms of the emergentistic acquisition model discussed in the paper presented by Lacerda et al. (“Ecological theory of language acquisition”)