156 research outputs found
Public Health Threat of New, Reemerging, and Neglected Zoonoses in the Industrialized World
Microbiologic infections acquired from animals, known as zoonoses, pose a risk to public health. An estimated 60% of emerging human pathogens are zoonotic. Of these pathogens, >71% have wildlife origins. These pathogens can switch hosts by acquiring new genetic combinations that have altered pathogenic potential or by changes in behavior or socioeconomic, environmental, or ecologic characteristics of the hosts. We discuss causal factors that influence the dynamics associated with emergence or reemergence of zoonoses, particularly in the industrialized world, and highlight selected examples to provide a comprehensive view of their range and diversity
Coincidence analysis to search for inspiraling compact binaries using TAMA300 and LISM data
Japanese laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors, TAMA300 and
LISM, performed a coincident observation during 2001. We perform a coincidence
analysis to search for inspiraling compact binaries. The length of data used
for the coincidence analysis is 275 hours when both TAMA300 and LISM detectors
are operated simultaneously. TAMA300 and LISM data are analyzed by matched
filtering, and candidates for gravitational wave events are obtained. If there
is a true gravitational wave signal, it should appear in both data of detectors
with consistent waveforms characterized by masses of stars, amplitude of the
signal, the coalescence time and so on. We introduce a set of coincidence
conditions of the parameters, and search for coincident events. This procedure
reduces the number of fake events considerably, by a factor
compared with the number of fake events in single detector analysis. We find
that the number of events after imposing the coincidence conditions is
consistent with the number of accidental coincidences produced purely by noise.
We thus find no evidence of gravitational wave signals. We obtain an upper
limit of 0.046 /hours (CL ) to the Galactic event rate within 1kpc from
the Earth. The method used in this paper can be applied straightforwardly to
the case of coincidence observations with more than two detectors with
arbitrary arm directions.Comment: 28 pages, 17 figures, Replaced with the version to be published in
Physical Review
A origem das parcerias público-privada na governança global da educação
Durante a última década, a globalização da governança educacional por meio de parcerias público-privadas (PPP) tem gerado considerável debate quanto ao seu significado, propósito, status e resultados. Este debate é particularmente aquecido no setor da educação por causa da ampla aceitação da educação como atividade complexa, social e política que deve permanecer, em grande parte, se não totalmente, no setor público, servindo a interesses públicos. O artigo analisa a rápida expansão das parcerias público-privadas em educação (PPPE) articulada à introdução de regras de mercado no setor. Neste estudo nos concentramos sobre o papel de uma rede de desenvolvimento global, fundamental na globalização de um tipo particular de PPPE, indicando que a ideia de PPP encaixa-se em um projeto mais amplo de reconstituição da educação pública no âmbito do setor de serviços, a ser governada como parte da construção de uma sociedade de mercado.Over the past decade, the globalization and governing of education through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) have generated considerable debate as to their meaning, purpose, status and outcomes. This debate is particularly heated in the education sector because of the widely-held view that education is a complex social and political activity that should remain largely, if not wholly, in the public sector serving public interests. The article analyses the rapid expansion of Education Public Private Partnerships (EPPPs) and the associated introduction of market rules into the education sector. We focus on the role of a key global development network in globalizing a particular kind of ePPPs, and show that the EPPP idea fi ts into a wider project of reconstituting public education as an education services industry to be governed as part of the construction of a market society
Detector Description and Performance for the First Coincidence Observations between LIGO and GEO
For 17 days in August and September 2002, the LIGO and GEO interferometer
gravitational wave detectors were operated in coincidence to produce their
first data for scientific analysis. Although the detectors were still far from
their design sensitivity levels, the data can be used to place better upper
limits on the flux of gravitational waves incident on the earth than previous
direct measurements. This paper describes the instruments and the data in some
detail, as a companion to analysis papers based on the first data.Comment: 41 pages, 9 figures 17 Sept 03: author list amended, minor editorial
change
Formation of dense partonic matter in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC: Experimental evaluation by the PHENIX collaboration
Extensive experimental data from high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions were
recorded using the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider
(RHIC). The comprehensive set of measurements from the first three years of
RHIC operation includes charged particle multiplicities, transverse energy,
yield ratios and spectra of identified hadrons in a wide range of transverse
momenta (p_T), elliptic flow, two-particle correlations, non-statistical
fluctuations, and suppression of particle production at high p_T. The results
are examined with an emphasis on implications for the formation of a new state
of dense matter. We find that the state of matter created at RHIC cannot be
described in terms of ordinary color neutral hadrons.Comment: 510 authors, 127 pages text, 56 figures, 1 tables, LaTeX. Submitted
to Nuclear Physics A as a regular article; v3 has minor changes in response
to referee comments. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures
for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available
at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm
Size Doesn't Matter: Towards a More Inclusive Philosophy of Biology
notes: As the primary author, O’Malley drafted the paper, and gathered and analysed data (scientific papers and talks). Conceptual analysis was conducted by both authors.publication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticlePhilosophers of biology, along with everyone else, generally perceive life to fall into two broad categories, the microbes and macrobes, and then pay most of their attention to the latter. ‘Macrobe’ is the word we propose for larger life forms, and we use it as part of an argument for microbial equality. We suggest that taking more notice of microbes – the dominant life form on the planet, both now and throughout evolutionary history – will transform some of the philosophy of biology’s standard ideas on ontology, evolution, taxonomy and biodiversity. We set out a number of recent developments in microbiology – including biofilm formation, chemotaxis, quorum sensing and gene transfer – that highlight microbial capacities for cooperation and communication and break down conventional thinking that microbes are solely or primarily single-celled organisms. These insights also bring new perspectives to the levels of selection debate, as well as to discussions of the evolution and nature of multicellularity, and to neo-Darwinian understandings of evolutionary mechanisms. We show how these revisions lead to further complications for microbial classification and the philosophies of systematics and biodiversity. Incorporating microbial insights into the philosophy of biology will challenge many of its assumptions, but also give greater scope and depth to its investigations
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