11,698 research outputs found
Working With Faith-Based Communities to Develop an Education Tool kit on Relationships, Sexuality, and Contraception
Communities disproportionately affected from higher rates of unplanned teen births are in need of sustainable approaches to prevention strategies. One approach is to build the capacity of faith-based communities (FBCs) to address the sexual health needs of the surrounding community. However there is a need for comprehensive, user-friendly resources designed for FBCs that provide critical decision-making information related to pregnancy prevention inclusive of contraception. Using community-based, theoretical and practice-informed strategies, we developed a user-friendly sexuality education tool kit in five phases: (1) building relationships with faith leaders; (2) piloting educational sessions within churches; (3) gaining insight from participating faith leaders; (4) creating the tool kit; and (5) collecting feedback from training and implementation. Our findings suggest faith leaders remained motivated to overcome perceived barriers by their mission to serve their communities. A sexuality education tool kit that is respectful and guided by the input of FBCs can be a viable and innovative approach to address teen pregnancy
Pseudospin, Spin, and Coulomb Dirac-Symmetries: Doublet Structure and Supersymmetric Patterns
Relativistic symmetries of the Dirac Hamiltonian with a mixture of
spherically symmetric Lorentz scalar and vector potentials, are examined from
the point of view of supersymmetric quantum mechanics. The cases considered
include the Coulomb, pseudospin and spin limits relevant, respectively, to
atoms, nuclei and hadrons.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, Proc. Int. Workshop on "Blueprints for the
Nucleus: From First Principles to Collective Motion", May 17-23, 2004, Feza
Gursey Institute, Istanbul, Turke
Improved Color-Temperature Relations and Bolometric Corrections for Cool Stars
We present new grids of colors and bolometric corrections for F-K stars
having 4000 K < Teff < 6500 K, 0.0 < log g < 4.5 and -3.0 < [Fe/H] < 0.0. A
companion paper extends these calculations into the M giant regime. Colors are
tabulated for Johnson U-V and B-V; Cousins V-R and V-I; Johnson-Glass V-K, J-K
and H-K; and CIT/CTIO V-K, J-K, H-K and CO. We have developed these
color-temperature (CT) relations by convolving synthetic spectra with
photometric filter-transmission-profiles. The synthetic spectra have been
computed with the SSG spectral synthesis code using MARCS stellar atmosphere
models as input. Both of these codes have been improved substantially,
especially at low temperatures, through the incorporation of new opacity data.
The resulting synthetic colors have been put onto the observational systems by
applying color calibrations derived from models and photometry of field stars
which have Teffs determined by the infrared-flux method. The color calibrations
have zero points and slopes which change most of the original synthetic colors
by less than 0.02 mag and 5%, respectively. The adopted Teff scale (Bell &
Gustafsson 1989) is confirmed by the extraordinary agreement between the
predicted and observed angular diameters of the field stars. We have also
derived empirical CT relations from the field-star photometry. Except for the
coolest dwarfs (Teff < 5000 K), our calibrated, solar-metallicity model colors
are found to match these and other empirical relations quite well. Our
calibrated, 4 Gyr, solar-metallicity isochrone also provides a good match to
color-magnitude diagrams of M67. We regard this as evidence that our calibrated
colors can be applied to many astrophysical problems, including modelling the
integrated light of galaxies. (abridged)Comment: To appear in the March 2000 issue of the Astronomical Journal. 72
pages including 16 embedded postscript figures (one page each) and 6 embedded
postscript tables (18 pages total
Drivers of redistribution of ïŹshing and non-ïŹshing effort after the implementation of a marine protected area network
Marine spatial planning (MSP) is increasingly utilized to sustainably manage ocean uses. Marine protected areas (MPAs), a form of spatial management in which parts of the ocean are regulated to fishing, are now a common tool in MSP for conserving marine biodiversity and managing fisheries. However, the use of MPAs in MSP often neglects, or simplifies, the redistribution of fishing and non-fishing activities inside and outside of MPAs following their implementation. This redistribution of effort can have important implications for effective MSP. Using long-term (14 yr) aerial surveys of boats at the California Channel Islands, we examined the spatial redistribution of fishing and non-fishing activities and their drivers following MPA establishment. Our data represent 6 yr of information before the implementation of an MPA network and 8 yr after implementation. Different types of boats responded in different ways to the closures, ranging from behaviors by commercial dive boats that support the hypothesis of fishing-the-line, to behaviors by urchin, sport fishing, and recreational boats that support the theory of ideal free distribution. Additionally, we found that boats engaged in recreational activities targeted areas that are sheltered from large waves and located near their home ports, while boats engaged in fishing activities also avoided high wave areas but were not constrained by the distance to their home ports. We did not observe the expected pattern of effort concentration near MPA borders for some boat types; this can be explained by the habitat preference of certain activities (for some activities, the desired habitat attributes are not inside the MPAs), speciesâ biology (species such as urchins where the MPA benefit would likely come from larval export rather than adult spillover), or policy-infraction avoidance. The diversity of boat responses reveals variance from the usual simplified assumption that all extractive boats respond similarly to MPA establishment. Our work is the first empirical study to analyze the response of both commercial and recreational boats to closure. Our results will inform MSP in better accounting for effort redistribution by ocean users in response to the implementation of MPAs and other closures
IR-dust observations of Comet Tempel 2 with CRAF VIMS
Measurement strategies are now being planned for using the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) to observe the asteroid Hestia, and the nucleus, and the gas and dust in the coma of comet P/Tempel 2 as part of the Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) mission. The spectral range of VIMS will cover wavelengths from 0.35 to 5.2 micrometers, with a spectral resolution of 11 nm from 0.35 to 2.4 micrometers and of 22 nm from 2.4 to 5.2 micrometers. The instantaneous field of view (IFOV) provided by the foreoptics is 0.5 milliradians, and the current design of the instrument provides for a scanning secondary mirror which will scan a swath of length 72 IFOVs. The CRAF high resolution scan platform motion will permit slewing VIMS in a direction perpendicular to the swath. This enables the building of a two dimensional image in any or all wavelength channels. Important measurements of the dust coma will include the onset of early coma activity, the mapping of gas and dust jets and correlations with active nucleus areas, observations of the dust coma from various scattering phase angles, coverage of the low wavelength portion of the thermal radiation, and the 3.4 micrometer hydrocarbon emission. A description of the VIMS instrument is presented
Recovery of surface reflectance spectra and evaluation of the optical depth of aerosols in the near-IR using a Monte-Carlo approach: Application to the OMEGA observations of high latitude regions of Mars
We present a model of radiative transfer through atmospheric particles based
on Monte Carlo methods. This model can be used to analyze and remove the
contribution of aerosols in remote sensing observations. We have developed a
method to quantify the contribution of atmospheric dust in near-IR spectra of
the Martian surface obtained by the OMEGA imaging spectrometer on board Mars
Express. Using observations in the nadir pointing mode with significant
differences in solar incidence angles, we can infer the optical depth of
atmospheric dust, and we can retrieve the surface reflectance spectra free of
aerosol contribution. Martian airborne dust properties are discussed and
constrained from previous studies and OMEGA data. We have tested our method on
a region at 90{\deg}E and 77{\deg}N extensively covered by OMEGA, where
significant variations of the albedo of ice patches in the visible have been
reported. The consistency between reflectance spectra of ice-covered and
ice-free regions recovered at different incidence angles validates our
approach. The optical depth of aerosols varies by a factor 3 in this region
during the summer of Martian year 27. The observed brightening of ice patches
does not result from frost deposition but from a decrease in the dust
contamination of surface ice and (to a lower extent) from a decrease in the
optical thickness of atmospheric dust. Our Monte Carlo-based model can be
applied to recover the spectral reflectance characteristics of the surface from
OMEGA spectral imaging data when the optical thickness of aerosols can be
evaluated. It could prove useful for processing image cubes from the Compact
Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on board the Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
The Old Bailey proceedings and the representation of crime and criminal justice in eighteenth-century London
The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, published accounts of felony trials held at Londonâs central criminal court, were a remarkable publishing phenomenon. First published in 1674, they quickly became a regular periodical, with editions published eight times a year following each session of the court. Despite the huge number of trial reports (some 50,000 in the eighteenth century), the Proceedings, also known as the âSessions Papersâ, have formed the basis of several important studies in social history, dating back to Dorothy Georgeâs seminal London Life in the Eighteenth Century (1925). Their recent publication online, however, has not only made them more widely available, but also changed the way historians consult them, leading to greater use of both quantitative analysis, using the statistics function, and qualitative examination of their language, through keyword searching. In the context of recent renewed interest in the history of crime and criminal justice, for which this is the most important source available in this period, the growing use of the Proceedings raises questions about their reliability, and, by extension, the motivations for their original publication. Historians generally consider the Proceedings to present accurate, if often incomplete, accounts of courtroom proceedings. From this source, along with manuscript judicial records, criminal biographies (including the Ordinaryâs Accounts), polemical pamphlets such as Henry Fieldingâs Enquiry into the Causes of the Late Increase of Robbers (1751), and of course the satirical prints of William Hogarth, they have constructed a picture of eighteenth-century London as a city overwhelmed by periodic crime waves and of a policing and judicial system which was forced into wide-ranging reforms in order to meet this challenge
Combined use of steady-state fluorescence emission and anisotropy of merocyanine 540 to distinguish crystalline, gel, ripple, and liquid crystalline phases in dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine bilayers
The various lamellar phases of dipalmitoylphosphadtidylcholine bilayers with and without cholesterol were used to assess the versatility of the fluorescent probe merocyanine 540 through simultaneous measurements of emission intensity, spectral shape, and steady-state anisotropy. Induction of the crystalline phase (Lc') by pre-incubation at 4°C produced a wavelength dependence of anisotropy which was strong at 15 and 25°C, weak at 38°C, and minimal above the main transition (>~41.5°C) or after returning the temperature from 46 to 25°C. The profile of anisotropy values across this temperature range revealed the ability of the probe to detect crystalline, gel (LÎČ'), and liquid crystalline (Lα) phases. The temperature dependence of fluorescence intensity was additionally able to distinguish between the ripple (PÎČ') and gel phases. In contrast, the shape of the emission spectrum, quantified as the ratio of merocyanine monomer and dimer peaks (585 and 621 nm), was primarily sensitive to the crystalline and gel phases because dimer fluorescence requires a highly-ordered environment. This requirement also explained the diminution of anisotropy wavelength dependence above 25°C. Repetition of experiments with vesicles containing cholesterol allowed creation of a phase map. Superimposition of data from the three simultaneous measurements provided details about the various phase regions in the map not discernible from any one of the three alone. The results were applied to assessment of calcium-induced membrane changes in living cells
Abundances of Baade's Window Giants from Keck/HIRES Spectra: I. Stellar Parameters and [Fe/H] Values
We present the first results of a new abundance survey of the Milky Way bulge
based on Keck/HIRES spectra of 27 K-giants in the Baade's Window (, ) field. The spectral data used in this study are of much higher resolution
and signal-to-noise than previous optical studies of Galactic bulge stars. The
[Fe/H] values of our stars, which range between -1.29 and , were used to
recalibrate large low resolution surveys of bulge stars. Our best value for the
mean [Fe/H] of the bulge is . This mean value is similar to the
mean metallicity of the local disk and indicates that there cannot be a strong
metallicity gradient inside the solar circle. The metallicity distribution of
stars confirms that the bulge does not suffer from the so-called ``G-dwarf''
problem. This paper also details the new abundance techniques necessary to
analyze very metal-rich K-giants, including a new Fe line list and regions of
low blanketing for continuum identification.Comment: Accepted for publication in January 2006 Astrophysical Journal. Long
tables 3--6 withheld to save space (electronic tables in journal paper). 53
pages, 10 figures, 9 table
Beneficial plant-microbial interactions in agroecosystems: deciphering the rhizosphere microbial community in two field grown crops
Non-Peer Reviewe
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