The Great Recession and Distribution of Income in California

Analyzes changes in household income during the 2007-09 recession by percentile, family structure, and region; the gap between high- and low-income families compared to other states; the impact of un- and underemployment; and the role of education

Magneto-electrostatic trapping of ground state OH molecules

We report the magnetic confinement of neutral, ground state hydroxyl radicals (OH) at a density of $\sim3\times10^{3}$ cm$^{-3}$ and temperature of $\sim$30 mK. An adjustable electric field of sufficient magnitude to polarize the OH is superimposed on the trap in either a quadrupole or homogenous field geometry. The OH is confined by an overall potential established via molecular state mixing induced by the combined electric and magnetic fields acting on the molecule's electric dipole and magnetic dipole moments, respectively. An effective molecular Hamiltonian including Stark and Zeeman terms has been constructed to describe single molecule dynamics inside the trap. Monte Carlo simulation using this Hamiltonian accurately models the observed trap dynamics in various trap configurations. Confinement of cold polar molecules in a magnetic trap, leaving large, adjustable electric fields for control, is an important step towards the study of low energy dipole-dipole collisions.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

OH hyperfine ground state: from precision measurement to molecular qubits

We perform precision microwave spectroscopy--aided by Stark deceleration--to reveal the low magnetic field behavior of OH in its ^2\Pi_{3/2} ro-vibronic ground state, identifying two field-insensitive hyperfine transitions suitable as qubits and determining a differential Lande g-factor of 1.267(5)\times10^{-3} between opposite parity components of the \Lambda-doublet. The data are successfully modeled with an effective hyperfine Zeeman Hamiltonian, which we use to make a tenfold improvement of the magnetically sensitive, astrophysically important \Delta F=\pm1 satellite-line frequencies, yielding 1720529887(10) Hz and 1612230825(15) Hz.Comment: 4+ pages, 3 figure

Precision Spectroscopy of Polarized Molecules in an Ion Trap

Polar molecules are desirable systems for quantum simulations and cold chemistry. Molecular ions are easily trapped, but a bias electric field applied to polarize them tends to accelerate them out of the trap. We present a general solution to this issue by rotating the bias field slowly enough for the molecular polarization axis to follow but rapidly enough for the ions to stay trapped. We demonstrate Ramsey spectroscopy between Stark-Zeeman sublevels in 180Hf19F+ with a coherence time of 100 ms. Frequency shifts arising from well-controlled topological (Berry) phases are used to determine magnetic g-factors. The rotating-bias-field technique may enable using trapped polar molecules for precision measurement and quantum information science, including the search for an electron electric dipole moment.Comment: Accepted to Scienc

Berry-Like Phases in Structured Atoms and Molecules

Quantum mechanical phases arising from a periodically varying Hamiltonian are considered. These phases are derived from the eigenvalues of a stationary, “dressed” Hamiltonian that is able to treat internal atomic or molecular structure in addition to the time variation. In the limit of an adiabatic time variation, the usual Berry phase is recovered. For more rapid variation, nonadiabatic corrections to the Berry phase are recovered in perturbation theory, and their explicit dependence on internal structure emerges. Simple demonstrations of this formalism are given, to particles containing interacting spins, and to molecules in electric fields

Ferry Parking and Landside Access Study: implementing public outreach and impact assessment

Through federal regulations, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) are mandated to perform public outreach and impact assessment. Although there are some established parameters, the quality and effectiveness of public outreach efforts vary widely, and in many instances information dissemination becomes the central focus of public outreach efforts. However, information dissemination, although essential, is not as effective as a two-way process of public involvement in which members of the public may provide feedback to shape agency initiatives. Research conducted for the Ferry Parking and Landside Access Study is used to describe best practices in public outreach, focusing on socio-economic and community impact assessment. The landside access study represents a dedicated effort by the New York MPO to approach planning for waterborne services by using a comprehensive approach based on land use. With emphasis on land-use criteria, the focus is on people and impact, unlike the traditional demand analysis seen in past ferry studies. By acknowledging regulatory shortcomings and outlining a plan for implementing public outreach and impact assessment, success for consensus building is likely. Practitioners are encouraged to examine the effectiveness of their own public outreach and impact assessment methods

Ferry Parking and Landside Access Study: Implementing Public Outreach and Impact Assessment

Through federal regulations, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) are mandated to perform public outreach and impact assessment. Although there are some established parameters, the quality and effectiveness of public outreach efforts vary widely, and in many instances information dissemination becomes the central focus of public outreach efforts. However, information dissemination, although essential, is not as effective as a two-way process of public involvement in which members of the public may provide feedback to shape agency initiatives. Research conducted for the Ferry Parking and Landside Access Study is used to describe best practices in public outreach, focusing on socioeconomic and community impact assessment. The landside access study represents a dedicated effort by the New York MPO to approach planning for waterborne services by using a comprehensive approach based on land use. With emphasis on land-use criteria, the focus is on people and impact, unlike the traditional demand analysis seen in past ferry studies. By acknowledging regulatory shortcomings and outlining a plan for implementing public outreach and impact assessment, success for consensus building is likely. Practitioners are encouraged to examine the effectiveness of their own public outreach and impact assessment methods

The Journal of Nutrition Nutrient Physiology, Metabolism, and Nutrient-Nutrient Interactions Divalent Minerals Decrease Micellarization and Uptake of Carotenoids and Digestion Products into Caco-2 Cells 1-3

Abstract Carotenoids are lipophilic, dietary antioxidants with the potential to prevent chronic and age-related diseases. Prior to their availability for physiological functions, carotenoids require micellarization and intestinal uptake, both constituting marginally understood processes. Based on an in vitro digestion model coupled to Caco-2 cells, we assessed the effect of dietary abundant divalent ions on spinach-derived carotenoid micellarization and cellular uptake: calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) ranging from 7.5 to 25 mmol/L in the digesta and zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) ranging from 3.8 to 12.5 mmol/L. Both micellarization and uptake were significantly inhibited by minerals in a concentration-dependent manner, with stronger effects for Fe and Zn compared to Ca and Mg. Compared to controls (no mineral addition), fractional micellarization and uptake were decreased to the greatest extent (to 22.5 and 5.0%, respectively; P , 0.001) by 12.5 mmol/L Fe. Effects of Mg were of the least magnitude; at 25 mmol/L, only uptake was decreased significantly to 69.2% of the control value (P , 0.001). Total cellular carotenoid uptake from test meals decreased similarly compared to micellarization; however, decreased b-carotene micellarization was counterbalanced by improved fractional cellular uptakes from the micelles for all ions. Compared to controls, fractional b-carotene uptake from the micelles was greater in samples digested in the presence of Fe, Ca, and Zn, by up to 5-10 times at the highest concentrations of each ion (P , 0.001). Like for the above carotenoids, a high cellular uptake of the epoxycarotenoid conversion products neochrome (from neoxanthin) and luteoxanthin+auroxanthin (from violaxanthin) was also observed. The present results indicate that divalent ions may inhibit carotenoid micellarization and uptake. J. Nutr

A framework for a European network for a systematic environmental impact assessment of genetically modified organisms (GMO)

The assessment of the impacts of growing genetically modified (GM) crops remains a major political and scientific challenge in Europe. Concerns have been raised by the evidence of adverse and unexpected environmental effects and differing opinions on the outcomes of environmental risk assessments (ERA). The current regulatory system is hampered by insufficiently developed methods for GM crop safety testing and introduction studies. Improvement to the regulatory system needs to address the lack of well designed GM crop monitoring frameworks, professional and financial conflicts of interest within the ERA research and testing community, weaknesses in consideration of stakeholder interests and specific regional conditions, and the lack of comprehensive assessments that address the environmental and socio economic risk assessment interface. To address these challenges, we propose a European Network for systematic GMO impact assessment (ENSyGMO) with the aim directly to enhance ERA and post-market environmental monitoring (PMEM) of GM crops, to harmonize and ultimately secure the long-term socio-political impact of the ERA process and the PMEM in the EU. These goals would be achieved with a multi-dimensional and multi-sector approach to GM crop impact assessment, targeting the variability and complexity of the EU agro-environment and the relationship with relevant socio-economic factors. Specifically, we propose to develop and apply methodologies for both indicator and field site selection for GM crop ERA and PMEM, embedded in an EU-wide typology of agro-environments. These methodologies should be applied in a pan-European field testing network using GM crops. The design of the field experiments and the sampling methodology at these field sites should follow specific hypotheses on GM crop effects and use state-of-the art sampling, statistics and modelling approaches. To address public concerns and create confidence in the ENSyGMO results, actors with relevant specialist knowledge from various sectors should be involved