1,359 research outputs found
Slots in the City: A Critical Look at the Balance of Decision-Making Power in Gaming Legislation
This Note focuses on the ability of local governmental bodies and local actors to become involved when a state seeks to introduce casino-based gaming or license additional casino properties. Traditionally, states retain the power to make most gaming-related decisions, sometimes only allowing simple yes or no voter referenda. This note argues that an increased role for local actors in bringing gaming to cities will best protect the interests of the people most affected by casinos. Part I provides a brief background of gambling in America and the key aspects of gaming-enabling legislation in various states. Part II discusses local government law and theory. Part III examines aspects of casino gambling that highlight the importance of local involvement in the legislative and regulatory process. It also discusses case studies of commercial casino development in Philadelphia and Detroit. Part IV compares the introduction of gaming in the two cities to better understand the successful introduction of casinos in Detroit. The Note concludes that the capability for local actors to help guide the healthy development of gambling necessarily requires that state enabling legislation reserves a role for local governments and voters in the process of introducing and licensing gaming operations in their municipality
Slots in the City: A Critical Look at the Balance of Decision-Making Power in Gaming Legislation
This Note focuses on the ability of local governmental bodies and local actors to become involved when a state seeks to introduce casino-based gaming or license additional casino properties. Traditionally, states retain the power to make most gaming-related decisions, sometimes only allowing simple yes or no voter referenda. This note argues that an increased role for local actors in bringing gaming to cities will best protect the interests of the people most affected by casinos. Part I provides a brief background of gambling in America and the key aspects of gaming-enabling legislation in various states. Part II discusses local government law and theory. Part III examines aspects of casino gambling that highlight the importance of local involvement in the legislative and regulatory process. It also discusses case studies of commercial casino development in Philadelphia and Detroit. Part IV compares the introduction of gaming in the two cities to better understand the successful introduction of casinos in Detroit. The Note concludes that the capability for local actors to help guide the healthy development of gambling necessarily requires that state enabling legislation reserves a role for local governments and voters in the process of introducing and licensing gaming operations in their municipality
Three-dimensional orbits of the triple-O stellar system HD 150136
peer reviewedContext. HD 150136 is a triple hierarchical system and a non-thermal radio emitter. It is formed by an O3-3.5 V + O5.5-6 V close binary and a more distant O6.5-7 V tertiary. So far, only the inner orbital properties have been reliably constrained. Aims. To quantitatively understand the non-thermal emission process, accurate knowledge of the physical and orbital properties of the object is crucial. Here, we aim to investigate the orbital properties of the wide system and to constrain the inclinations of the inner and outer binaries, and with these the absolute masses of the system components. Methods. We used the PIONIER combiner at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer to obtain the very first interferometric measurements of HD 150136. We combined the interferometric observations with new and existing high resolution spectroscopic data to derive the orbital solution of the outer companion in the three-dimensional space. Results. The wide system is clearly resolved by PIONIER, with a projected separation on the plane of the sky of about 9 milli-arcsec. The best-fit orbital period, eccentricity, and inclination are 8.2 yr, 0.73 and 108 degr. We constrain the masses of the three stars of the system to 63 +/- 10, 40 +/- 6, and 33 +/- 12 Msun for the O3-3.5 V, O5.5-6 V and O6.5-7 V components. Conclusions. The dynamical masses agree within errors with the evolutionary masses of the components. Future interferometric and spectroscopic monitoring of HD 150136 should allow one to reduce the uncertainties to a few per cent only and to accurately constrain the distance to the system. This makes HD 150136 an ideal system to quantitatively test evolutionary models of high-mass stars as well as the physics of non-thermal processes occurring in O-type systems
A Look at the Generalized Heron Problem through the Lens of Majorization-Minimization
In a recent issue of this journal, Mordukhovich et al.\ pose and solve an
interesting non-differentiable generalization of the Heron problem in the
framework of modern convex analysis. In the generalized Heron problem one is
given closed convex sets in \Real^d equipped with its Euclidean norm
and asked to find the point in the last set such that the sum of the distances
to the first sets is minimal. In later work the authors generalize the
Heron problem even further, relax its convexity assumptions, study its
theoretical properties, and pursue subgradient algorithms for solving the
convex case. Here, we revisit the original problem solely from the numerical
perspective. By exploiting the majorization-minimization (MM) principle of
computational statistics and rudimentary techniques from differential calculus,
we are able to construct a very fast algorithm for solving the Euclidean
version of the generalized Heron problem.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figure
Optical Photometry of the Type Ia SN 1999ee and the Type Ib/c SN 1999ex in IC 5179
We present UBVRIz lightcurves of the Type Ia SN 1999ee and the Type Ib/c SN
1999ex, both located in the galaxy IC 5179. SN 1999ee has an extremely well
sampled lightcurve spanning from 10 days before Bmax through 53 days after
peak. Near maximum we find systematic differences ~0.05 mag in photometry
measured with two different telescopes, even though the photometry is reduced
to the same local standards around the supernova using the specific color terms
for each instrumental system. We use models for our bandpasses and
spectrophotometry of SN 1999ee to derive magnitude corrections (S-corrections)
and remedy this problem. This exercise demonstrates the need of accurately
characterizing the instrumental system before great photometric accuracies of
Type Ia supernovae can be claimed. It also shows that this effect can have
important astrophysical consequences since a small systematic shift of 0.02 mag
in the B-V color can introduce a 0.08 mag error in the extinction corrected
peak B magnitudes of a supernova and thus lead to biased cosmological
parameters. The data for the Type Ib/c SN 1999ex present us with the first ever
observed shock breakout of a supernova of this class. These observations show
that shock breakout occurred 18 days before Bmax and support the idea that Type
Ib/c supernovae are due to core collapse of massive stars rather than
thermonuclear disruption of white dwarfs.Comment: 55 pages, 15 figures, accepted by the Astronomical Journa
Acculturation, Dietary Behaviors, and Macronutrient intake among Mexican americans With Prediabetes: the Starr County Diabetes Prevention initiative
PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to examine the influences of sex and acculturation on dietary behaviors, macronutrient intake, and dietary quality in participants enrolled in a diabetes prevention initiative in Starr County, Texas.
METHODS: Baseline data from the Starr County diabetes prevention study (N = 300) were analyzed-acculturation (country of origin, years in Starr County, language and food preferences), depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), healthy eating self-efficacy (Weight Efficacy Lifestyle Questionnaire-Short Form), diet quality (USDA Healthy Eating Index), fat avoidance (Fat Avoidance Scale, Spanish version), and macronutrients. Descriptive statistics and univariate analysis of covariance were used to examine differences based on acculturation, controlling for sex.
RESULTS: Participants were predominantly female (73%) and, on average, 51 years of age. Language and food preferences favored Spanish language and Hispanic foods, respectively. The majority (71%) was born in Mexico but had resided in Starr County for 33 years, on average. Depressive symptoms were moderate, and eating self-efficacy scores suggested low confidence in making healthy food choices, particularly for saturated fats. Spanish language preference was associated with worse dietary habits. The mean dietary quality score was lower than the national average (54 vs 59 nationally); females had slightly higher dietary quality than males and a higher mean fat avoidance score, although differences were not clinically significant. Intakes of carbohydrate, saturated fats, and cholesterol were higher than recommended daily allowances.
CONCLUSIONS: The overall preference for speaking Spanish and the influence of language on dietary intake should inform future dietary interventions. Accommodating cultural norms and food preferences remain major challenges to improving dietary quality among the diverse Hispanic ethnic groups
The Effects of Gender and Country of origin On acculturation, Psychological Factors, Lifestyle Factors, and Diabetes-Related Physiological Outcomes among Mexican americans: the Starr County Diabetes Prevention initiative
OBJECTIVES: Examine acculturation and psychological, lifestyle, and physiological factors based on gender and country of origin (U.S. vs. Mexico).
METHODS: Baseline data from the Starr County diabetes prevention study (
RESULTS: Participants were: predominantly female (73%); 51 years of age, on average; born in Mexico (71%); and Spanish-speaking. Individuals spent 11 of their waking hours (range = 0-18 h) in sedentary activities. Compared to females, more males spoke English and reported fewer hours in sedentary activities. Compared to participants born in Mexico, those born in the U.S. were more likely to: speak English; report depressive symptoms; and exhibit elevated BMI and insulin resistance rates. Two distinct models significantly predicted
DISCUSSION: Significant gender and country-of-origin differences were found. Future research on diabetes prevention should examine other Hispanic subgroups and strategies for addressing individual differences, while employing cost-effective group interventions that incorporate these differences and reach more at-risk individuals
Transitioning From an in-Person intervention to augmented Text Messaging During Covid-19 in Mexican americans With Prediabetes: the Starr County Diabetes Prevention Randomized Clinical Trial
PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to explore the feasibility of using commonly available technology, such as text messaging, for diabetes prevention in rural Mexican American communities during COVID-19.
METHODS: Participants were selected from a diabetes prevention study funded by the National Institutes of Health that, prior to COVID-19, involved in-person group intervention sessions. Participants were predominantly female adults born in Mexico and Spanish-speaking. A subsample (n = 140) was divided into 3 cohorts: (1) 50 who completed the initial in-person intervention prior to the COVID-19 research pause, (2) 60 who needed additional support sessions to complete the intervention and thus received 10 text messages with links to relevant online diabetes prevention videos (TM+), and (3) 30 who received enhanced usual care involving health guidance offered during data collection (control). Repeated measures analysis of covariance was used to evaluate cohort differences at 24 months post baseline.
RESULTS: No significant cohort differences were found for depression, eating self-efficacy, alcohol intake, fat avoidance, or sedentary behaviors. Differences in A1C showed both in-person and TM+ cohorts having lower mean A1C levels (5.5%) than the control cohort (5.7%). The TM+ cohort had lower body mass index than other cohorts and a lower diabetes conversion rate (22.2%) compared to the control cohort (28%). Participants indicated preferences for in-person/TM+ combination interventions. The strongest positive feedback was for the TM+ intervention cooking demonstration videos.
CONCLUSIONS: Augmented text messaging combined with in-person sessions had similar outcomes to the all in-person strategy and thus has the potential for expanding the reach of diabetes prevention to many Mexican American communities
SDSS J092455.87+021924.9: an Interesting Gravitationally Lensed Quasar from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
We report the discovery of a new gravitationally lensed quasar from the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey, SDSS J092455.87+021924.9 (SDSS J0924+0219). This object was
selected from among known SDSS quasars by an algorithm that was designed to
select another known SDSS lensed quasar (SDSS 1226-0006A,B). Five separate
components, three of which are unresolved, are identified in photometric
follow-up observations obtained with the Magellan Consortium's 6.5m Walter
Baade telescope at Las Campanas Observatory. Two of the unresolved components
(designated A and B) are confirmed to be quasars with z=1.524; the velocity
difference is less than 100 km sec^{-1} according to spectra taken with the W.
M. Keck Observatory's Keck II telescope on Mauna Kea. A third stellar
component, designated C, has the colors of a quasar with redshift similar to
components A and B. The maximum separation of the point sources is 1.78". The
other two sources, designated G and D, are resolved. Component G appears to be
the best candidate for the lensing galaxy. Although component D is near the
expected position of the fourth lensed component in a four image lens system,
its properties are not consistent with being the image of a quasar at z~1.5.
Nevertheless, the identical redshifts of components A and B and the presence of
component C strongly suggest that this object is a gravitational lens. Our
observations support the idea that a foreground object reddens the fourth
lensed component and that another unmodeled effect (such as micro- or
milli-lensing) demagnificates it, but we cannot rule out the possibility that
SDSS0924+0219 is an example of the relatively rare class of ``three component''
lens systems.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figures, accepted by A
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