Global demographic change : some implications for central banks : overview panel

Population ; Banks and banking, Central

An Observational Diagnostic for Distinguishing Between Clouds and Haze in Hot Exoplanet Atmospheres

The nature of aerosols in hot exoplanet atmospheres is one of the primary vexing questions facing the exoplanet field. The complex chemistry, multiple formation pathways, and lack of easily identifiable spectral features associated with aerosols make it especially challenging to constrain their key properties. We propose a transmission spectroscopy technique to identify the primary aerosol formation mechanism for the most highly irradiated hot Jupiters (HIHJs). The technique is based on the expectation that the two key types of aerosols -- photochemically generated hazes and equilibrium condensate clouds -- are expected to form and persist in different regions of a highly irradiated planet's atmosphere. Haze can only be produced on the permanent daysides of tidally-locked hot Jupiters, and will be carried downwind by atmospheric dynamics to the evening terminator (seen as the trailing limb during transit). Clouds can only form in cooler regions on the night side and morning terminator of HIHJs (seen as the leading limb during transit). Because opposite limbs are expected to be impacted by different types of aerosols, ingress and egress spectra, which primarily probe opposing sides of the planet, will reveal the dominant aerosol formation mechanism. We show that the benchmark HIHJ, WASP-121b, has a transmission spectrum consistent with partial aerosol coverage and that ingress-egress spectroscopy would constrain the location and formation mechanism of those aerosols. In general, using this diagnostic we find that observations with JWST and potentially with HST should be able to distinguish between clouds and haze for currently known HIHJs.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, accepted to ApJ Letter

Surviving COVID19 (Increased Domestic Violence, Marginalized Communities, and Innovative Solutions)

Surviving COVID19 (Increased Domestic Violence, Marginalized Communities, and Innovative Solutions) Domestic violence generally refers to violence occurring between residences within one single location. Intimate partner violence is domestic violence by a current or former spouse or partner in an intimate relationship against the other spouse or partner. IPV can take several forms, including physical, verbal, emotional, economic, and sexual abuse. According to the Center for Disease Control, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men experience severe intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner contact sexual violence, and/or intimate partner stalking with impacts such as injury, fearfulness, post-traumatic stress disorder, use of victim services, contraction of sexually transmitted diseases, etc.2 DV/IPV disproportionate affect communities of color and other marginalized groups. According to a report from the Violence Policy Center (Langley & Sugarmann, 2014:1), in 2011, the homicide rate for Black female victims (4.54 per 100,000) was more than three times higher than the homicide rate for White female victims. (1.45 per 100,000). Additionally, a study revealed high rates of intimate partner violence among the LGBTQ community. Bisexual women in particular reported experiencing sexual violence at rates twice that of their heterosexual counterparts. Lesbians and gay men also reported starkly higher incidents of violence than straight people (CDC, 2013). This is important because as COVID19 cases begin to rise the government put in to stay-at-home orders leaving victims of domestic violence vulnerable and trapped with their preparators. This limited their access to technology, medical care, family, and friends. Marginalized communities face higher forms of oppression and experience greater difficulties gaining access to resources in comparison to their white counterparts when reporting IPV. Black women’s mistrust of the police causes them to turn to sisterhood, family, and often the Black church when reporting IPV. Whereas, the LGBTQA populations are less likely to report abuse because of fear of discrimination or being outed to their friends (CDC, 2013). The purpose of this article is to explore: In what ways have COVID19 impacted victims of DV/IPV due to the stay-at-home orders? How does intersectional oppression further exacerbated victims of IPV receiving access to social services during COVID19? What innovative practices and solutions should family members, community leaders, and stakeholders implement for victims of IPV during the COVID19 pandemic? This study uses a systematic review of articles and is based on the conventional scientific standards of preferred reporting procedures for systematic reviews. Findings indicate that DV/IPV victims have experienced increased rates of violence since the onset of the stay-at-home orders. Also, marginalized groups have been more negatively impacted by COVID19 when compared to their counterparts. The data also reveals that other countries have successfully identified solutions for DV/IPV victims to help these vulnerable populations gain access to victims\u27 services that can be replicated here in America. This article clearly identifies barriers that exist for DV/IPV victims of color and provides innovative solutions for these populations to be able to better access social services. The COVID19 pandemic has shown the world that it’s imperative to adapt and implement innovative practices and policies that are designed to save lives and decrease the overall rates of DV/IPV globally

Automation of CO2 Sequestration System

The Direct Air Capture (DAC) system is an automated system that directly captures CO2 from the atmosphere. This poster discusses the beginning stages, design, and future of the DAC system. Ambient air runs through a dehumidifier before being sent through an adsorption column. From the adsorption column, CO2 is pushed to a heat exchanger and then to the cryogenic freezer where CO2 is deposited. The experiment performed indicated that automation for the DAC system is feasible and accurate. The system accurately indicated a person’s breath on the SCD sensor and controlled the flow of the system through pneumatic gas valves. This experiment provides a good starting point for the future construction and implementation of the DAC system in Polar regions

Constraining Isocurvature Initial Conditions with WMAP 3-year data

We present constraints on the presence of isocurvature modes from the temperature and polarization CMB spectrum data from the WMAP satellite alone, and in combination with other datasets including SDSS galaxy survey and SNLS supernovae. We find that the inclusion of polarization data allows the WMAP data alone, as well as in combination with complementary observations, to place improved limits on the contribution of CDM and neutrino density isocurvature components individually. With general correlations, the upper limits on these sub-dominant isocurvature components are reduced to ~60% of the first year WMAP results, with specific limits depending on the type of fluctuations. If multiple isocurvature components are allowed, however, we find that the data still allow a majority of the initial power to come from isocurvature modes. As well as providing general constraints we also consider their interpretation in light of specific theoretical models like the curvaton and double inflation.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures. Revised Sec 4 and Figs 3-4 post-publication to correct an error for models with varying isocurvature spectral inde