Test well exploration in the Myakka River Basin area, Florida

In recent years, difficulties encountered in obtaining ground-water supplies with acceptable chemical characteristics in the Myakka River basin area led to the implementation of a test drilling program. Under this program, well drilling and data collection were executed in such a manner that all water-producing zones of the local aquifers, together with the quality and quantity of the water available, were effectively identified. A step-drilling method was utilized which allowed the collection of formation cuttings, water samples, and water-level data, from isolated zones in the well as drilling proceeded. The step drilling procedure is described. The driller's logs, geophysical logs, and chemical quality of water tables are presented.(Document has 66 pages.

Spectral Statistics of "Cellular" Billiards

For a bounded planar domain $\Omega^0$ whose boundary contains a number of flat pieces $\Gamma_i$ we consider a family of non-symmetric billiards $\Omega$ constructed by patching several copies of $\Omega^0$ along $\Gamma_i$'s. It is demonstrated that the length spectrum of the periodic orbits in $\Omega$ is degenerate with the multiplicities determined by a matrix group $G$. We study the energy spectrum of the corresponding quantum billiard problem in $\Omega$ and show that it can be split in a number of uncorrelated subspectra corresponding to a set of irreducible representations $\alpha$ of $G$. Assuming that the classical dynamics in $\Omega^0$ are chaotic, we derive a semiclassical trace formula for each spectral component and show that their energy level statistics are the same as in standard Random Matrix ensembles. Depending on whether ${\alpha}$ is real, pseudo-real or complex, the spectrum has either Gaussian Orthogonal, Gaussian Symplectic or Gaussian Unitary types of statistics, respectively.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure

Semiclassical approach to discrete symmetries in quantum chaos

We use semiclassical methods to evaluate the spectral two-point correlation function of quantum chaotic systems with discrete geometrical symmetries. The energy spectra of these systems can be divided into subspectra that are associated to irreducible representations of the corresponding symmetry group. We show that for (spinless) time reversal invariant systems the statistics inside these subspectra depend on the type of irreducible representation. For real representations the spectral statistics agree with those of the Gaussian Orthogonal Ensemble (GOE) of Random Matrix Theory (RMT), whereas complex representations correspond to the Gaussian Unitary Ensemble (GUE). For systems without time reversal invariance all subspectra show GUE statistics. There are no correlations between non-degenerate subspectra. Our techniques generalize recent developments in the semiclassical approach to quantum chaos allowing one to obtain full agreement with the two-point correlation function predicted by RMT, including oscillatory contributions.Comment: 26 pages, 8 Figure

If Doubt Arises : How the Department of State\u27s Interpretation of The Immigration and Naturalization Act Invites Discrimination Against the Children of Gay and Lesbian Americans

Federal statutes granting US. citizenship to children born abroad to an American parent became law long before the advent of reproductive technologies that have helped millions of people grow their families. As written, the laws require further interpretation to address situations where a child is born to a married couple when one parent is American but does not have a biological link to the child. The U.S. Department of State \u27s interpretation of the laws requires staff to review a series offactors when a family applies for their child\u27s citizenship by birth abroad, and these factors result in gay and lesbian headed families always having to prove a biological link between the American parent and child, whilefamilies with straight parents generally do not. The State Department\u27s biological test does not reflect federal appellate courts\u27 understanding of parent-child legal relationships. Courts understand the law as interested in the marital status of the parents at the time of birth, deeming a child born during the course of a valid marriage to be the legal child of the two married parents. This test ignores biology and can be more equitably applied to gay and lesbian parents as well as their straight peers, since the focus is on the parents\u27 marriage rather than the child\u27s conception. Families whose children have been denied US. citizenship by birth abroad to a gay or lesbian American parent are suing the State Department, relying on the judicial test. This comment explores the laws and lawsuits and proposes changes to State Department policy

Students in Transition: The Library Of Congress Classification System as Initiation

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Quantifying sympathetic neuro-haemodynamic transduction at rest in humans:Insights into sex, ageing and blood pressure control

KEY POINTS: We have developed a simple analytical method for quantifying the transduction of sympathetic activity into vascular tone. This method demonstrates that as women age, the transfer of sympathetic nerve activity into vascular tone is increased, so that for a given level of sympathetic activity there is more vasoconstriction. In men, this measure decreases with age. Test–re‐test analysis demonstrated that the new method is a reliable estimate of sympathetic transduction. We conclude that increased sympathetic vascular coupling contributes to the age‐related increase in blood pressure that occurs in women only. This measure is a reliable estimate of sympathetic transduction in populations with high sympathetic nerve activity. Thus, it will provide information regarding whether treatment targeting the sympathetic nervous system, which interrupts the transfer of sympathetic nerve activity into vascular tone, will be effective in reducing blood pressure in hypertensive patients. This may provide insight into which populations will respond to certain types of anti‐hypertensive medication. ABSTRACT: Sex and age differences in the sympathetic control of resting blood pressure (BP) may be due to differences in the transduction of sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) into vascular tone. Current methods for dynamically quantifying transduction focus on the relationship between SNA and vasoconstriction during a pressor stimulus, which increases BP and may be contra‐indicated in patients. We describe a simple analytical method for quantifying transduction under resting conditions. We performed linear regression analysis of binned muscle SNA burst areas against diastolic BP (DBP). We assessed whether the slope of this relationship reflects the transduction of SNA into DBP. To evaluate this, we investigated whether this measure captures differences in transduction in different populations. Specifically, we (1) quantified transduction in young men (YM), young women (YW), older men (OM) and postmenopausal women (PMW); and (2) measured changes in transduction during β‐blockade using propranolol in YW, YM and PMW. YM had a greater transduction vs. OM (0.10 ± 0.01 mmHg (% s)(−1), n = 23 vs. 0.06 ± 0.01 mmHg (% s)(−1), n = 18; P = 0.003). Transduction was lowest in YW (0.02 ± 0.01 mmHg (% s)(−1), n = 23) and increased during β‐blockade (0.11 ± 0.01 mmHg (% s)(−1); P < 0.001). Transduction in PMW (0.07 ± 0.01 mmHg (% s)(−1), n = 23) was greater compared to YW (P = 0.001), and was not altered during β‐blockade (0.06 ± 0.01 mmHg (% s)(−1); P = 0.98). Importantly, transduction increased in women with age, but decreased in men. Transduction in women intersected that in men at 55 ± 1.5 years. This measure of transduction captures age‐ and sex‐differences in the sympathetic regulation of DBP and may be valuable in quantifying transduction in disease. In particular, this measure may help target treatment strategies in specific hypertensive subpopulations

Chaotic maps and flows: Exact Riemann-Siegel lookalike for spectral fluctuations

To treat the spectral statistics of quantum maps and flows that are fully chaotic classically, we use the rigorous Riemann-Siegel lookalike available for the spectral determinant of unitary time evolution operators $F$. Concentrating on dynamics without time reversal invariance we get the exact two-point correlator of the spectral density for finite dimension $N$ of the matrix representative of $F$, as phenomenologically given by random matrix theory. In the limit $N\to\infty$ the correlator of the Gaussian unitary ensemble is recovered. Previously conjectured cancellations of contributions of pseudo-orbits with periods beyond half the Heisenberg time are shown to be implied by the Riemann-Siegel lookalike

Statistical modeling of ground motion relations for seismic hazard analysis

We introduce a new approach for ground motion relations (GMR) in the probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA), being influenced by the extreme value theory of mathematical statistics. Therein, we understand a GMR as a random function. We derive mathematically the principle of area-equivalence; wherein two alternative GMRs have an equivalent influence on the hazard if these GMRs have equivalent area functions. This includes local biases. An interpretation of the difference between these GMRs (an actual and a modeled one) as a random component leads to a general overestimation of residual variance and hazard. Beside this, we discuss important aspects of classical approaches and discover discrepancies with the state of the art of stochastics and statistics (model selection and significance, test of distribution assumptions, extreme value statistics). We criticize especially the assumption of logarithmic normally distributed residuals of maxima like the peak ground acceleration (PGA). The natural distribution of its individual random component (equivalent to exp(epsilon_0) of Joyner and Boore 1993) is the generalized extreme value. We show by numerical researches that the actual distribution can be hidden and a wrong distribution assumption can influence the PSHA negatively as the negligence of area equivalence does. Finally, we suggest an estimation concept for GMRs of PSHA with a regression-free variance estimation of the individual random component. We demonstrate the advantages of event-specific GMRs by analyzing data sets from the PEER strong motion database and estimate event-specific GMRs. Therein, the majority of the best models base on an anisotropic point source approach. The residual variance of logarithmized PGA is significantly smaller than in previous models. We validate the estimations for the event with the largest sample by empirical area functions. etc

Adolescent brain maturation and cortical folding: evidence for reductions in gyrification

Evidence from anatomical and functional imaging studies have highlighted major modifications of cortical circuits during adolescence. These include reductions of gray matter (GM), increases in the myelination of cortico-cortical connections and changes in the architecture of large-scale cortical networks. It is currently unclear, however, how the ongoing developmental processes impact upon the folding of the cerebral cortex and how changes in gyrification relate to maturation of GM/WM-volume, thickness and surface area. In the current study, we acquired high-resolution (3 Tesla) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from 79 healthy subjects (34 males and 45 females) between the ages of 12 and 23 years and performed whole brain analysis of cortical folding patterns with the gyrification index (GI). In addition to GI-values, we obtained estimates of cortical thickness, surface area, GM and white matter (WM) volume which permitted correlations with changes in gyrification. Our data show pronounced and widespread reductions in GI-values during adolescence in several cortical regions which include precentral, temporal and frontal areas. Decreases in gyrification overlap only partially with changes in the thickness, volume and surface of GM and were characterized overall by a linear developmental trajectory. Our data suggest that the observed reductions in GI-values represent an additional, important modification of the cerebral cortex during late brain maturation which may be related to cognitive development

Theoretical Insights into Vinyl Derivatives Adsorption on a Cu(100) Surface

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b06142Here, we present a thorough theoretical study of the adsorption of acrolein (ACO), acrylonitrile (ACN), and acrylamide (ACA) on Cu(100) surface. For this purpose, we have used the density functional theory, imposing periodic boundary conditions to have a correct description of the electronic band structure of the metal and including dispersion forces through two different schemes: the D2 method of Grimme and the vdW-DF. We have found several adsorption geometries. In all of them, the vinyl group together with the amide (in ACA), ciano (in ACN), and carbonyl (in ACO) groups, is highly involved. The highest adsorption energy is found for acrylamide, followed by acrolein and the lowest for acrylonitrile (depending on the level of theory employed ∼1.2, 1.0, and 0.9 eV, respectively). We show that a strong coupling between the π electronic system (both occupied and virtual orbitals) and the electronic levels of the metal is mainly responsible of the chemisorption. As a consequence, electronic density is transferred from the surface to the molecule, whose carbon atoms acquire a partial sp3 hybridization. Lone-pair orbitals of the cyano, amide, and carbonyl groups also play a role in the interaction. The simulations and following analysis allow to disentangle the nature of the interaction, which can be explained on the basis of a simple chemical picture: donation from the occupied lone pair and π orbitals of the molecule to the surface and backdonation from the surface to the π∗ orbital of the molecule (π-backbonding)This work was partially supported by the project CTQ2016-76061-P of the Spanish Ministerio de Economı́a y Competitividad (MINECO). F.A.G. acknowledges the FPI grant associated with the project CTQ2013-43698-P (MINECO). Financial support from the MINECO through the “Marı́a de Maeztu” Program for Units of Excellence in R&D (MDM-2014-0377) is also acknowledge