Green Jobs for Ex-Offenders: The Urban Resource Initiative\u27s “GreenSkills” Program

In the fall of 2009, New Haven Mayor John Destefano vowed to plant 10,000 new trees across the city, a goal that will require the close cooperation of the Urban Resources Initiative (URI) for successful completion. Not long after, the Pew Center on the States released a report that found 43.3 percent of people released from prison in 2004 were reincarcerated within three years. URI, connecting these two challenging figures, is working with the city to achieve its tree-planting goal through the development of a green jobs program to help ex-offenders transitioning from incarceration to gainful employment. This group is chronically overlooked on the job market, with unemployment rates topping 50 percent in some cases. Unemployment is considered one of the major drivers of recidivism. The green jobs program was designed to simultaneously address the costly urban problems of recidivism and sparse forest resources

X-ray Flux Trends in the Upper Scorpius Proto-Stars

Understanding the relationship between a star and its protoplanetary disk is crucial to understanding planet formation. One such process that requires the interplay between the stellar host and its protoplanetary disk is photoevaporation. Photoevaporation caused by high-energy photons emitted from the central star, and the radiation from the central star penetrates the disk, deposits energy and heats up the gas. In this thesis, I find what the x-ray flux has to contribute with photoevaporation by comparing how it evolves with stellar and the disk parameters. The 106 disks were acquired from Barenfeld et. al, who used data measurements from the Atacama Large millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA), and these sources were then compared to the 23 stellar disks of the Upper Scorpius region that were acquired from the Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO) through the 16 source ids. Based on our current understanding of disk evolution, it is expected that there will be correlations between high-energy stellar fluxes and disk properties. First, we investigate if there are any correlations within disk properties, and then if there are stellar correlations across the four disk types. There is some suggestion that older (debris/evolved transitional) stars in our sample have higher X-ray fluxes and there was no correlation found between disk radii and x-ray flux. The observations are then compared with other trends from different regions, such as Orion Nebula Cluster, and Corona Australis.by Dylan Wals

First Snowfall

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to image the assembly of individual polymer molecules on a mica substrate. This high resolution molecular image provides a glimpse into the workings of the atomic world, providing researchers the insights needed to design self-assembling materials. The coloring of the image is done by the height of polymer above the surface (dark green). The formation shows a single (green/blue layer) and a double (light green layer) thickness layer with the white spots signifying unorganized clustering of polymers. The whole image is reminiscent of a branch of a pine tree after the first snow fall.Ope

Laboratory freeze-thaw durability of pervious concrete with respect to curing time and addition of sand, slag, silica fume, and saltguard

Concerns persist regarding pervious concrete durability in cold climates related to freeze-thaw and exposure to salt. This study was conducted as an extension to previous work regarding pervious concrete in Vermont, to further investigate freeze-thaw durability with salt exposure in a laboratory environment representative of field conditions. Pervious concrete specimen variations included the addition of sand, replacement of cement with slag, replacement of cement with slag with silica fume, curing time, and saltguard treatment. The addition of 5% sand improved freeze-thaw durability, while the addition of 10% sand led to decreased workability, density, and durability. Both the slag and slag with silica fume cement replacements improved the freeze-thaw durability in comparison to the cement only base mix. Curing time (7 to 56 days) did not influence freeze-thaw durability of pervious concrete with slag or slag with silica fume replacement. The application of liquid saltguard treatment for freeze-thaw resistance was found to be best performed using a dipping procedure over spraying the surface of the pervious concrete. Considering the results of the current work as well as previous work regarding pervious concrete conducted at the University of Vermont and Norwich University, the following general conclusions are drawn which may assist in future pervious concrete mix designs and treatments. In general, the presence of sand replacing a small portion of coarse aggregate (up to about 10%) seems to improve freeze-thaw durability of pervious concrete. Adding sand to a mix design without making adjustments to water-tocement ratio and other ingredients will most likely be not beneficial, as adding sand makes the cement ratio lower, resulting in decreased workability, and lower densities. Replacing up to 20% of Portland cement with slag or slag with silica fume also appears to have benefits in improving freeze thaw durability of pervious concrete. Use of slag or slag with silica fume seem to yield better durability than using fly ash as cement replacement. It is likely that incorporating both sand replacement and cementitious alternatives (slag and slag with silica fume) may represent a more durable pervious concrete mix. If precast pervious concrete slabs were to be used, longer curing times and coating the slabs with saltguard may prove to be beneficial; however, any environmental concerns associated with the latter need to be investigated in future studies

Laboratory Performance of Pervious Concrete Subjected to Deicing Salts and Freeze-Thaw

Significant research and development have occurred for pervious concrete, but its acceptance in cold climates is still limited. Vulnerability to freeze-thaw and salt exposure has led to uncertainty about its long-term performance. Additionally, the current standardized freeze-thaw testing procedure is not recommended for pervious concrete, as it is not representative of field conditions. This study employed testing processes that are more representative of field conditions to determine the effects of the inclusion of sand as a fine aggregate; fly ash, slag and silica fume as cementitious alternatives, and construction practices on freeze-thaw durability and deicing salts exposure of pervious concrete. The use of pervious concrete itself is considered a best management practice in stormwater management; possibility of substituting cement with a waste product such as fly ash, slag and silica fume promotes sustainability even further

Measurements of the pp → ZZ production cross section and the Z → 4ℓ branching fraction, and constraints on anomalous triple gauge couplings at √s = 13 TeV

Four-lepton production in proton-proton collisions, pp -> (Z/gamma*)(Z/gamma*) -> 4l, where l = e or mu, is studied at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1). The ZZ production cross section, sigma(pp -> ZZ) = 17.2 +/- 0.5 (stat) +/- 0.7 (syst) +/- 0.4 (theo) +/- 0.4 (lumi) pb, measured using events with two opposite-sign, same-flavor lepton pairs produced in the mass region 60 4l) = 4.83(-0.22)(+0.23) (stat)(-0.29)(+0.32) (syst) +/- 0.08 (theo) +/- 0.12(lumi) x 10(-6) for events with a four-lepton invariant mass in the range 80 4GeV for all opposite-sign, same-flavor lepton pairs. The results agree with standard model predictions. The invariant mass distribution of the four-lepton system is used to set limits on anomalous ZZZ and ZZ. couplings at 95% confidence level: -0.0012 < f(4)(Z) < 0.0010, -0.0010 < f(5)(Z) < 0.0013, -0.0012 < f(4)(gamma) < 0.0013, -0.0012 < f(5)(gamma) < 0.0013

Community Resource for Innovation in Polymer Technology (CRIPT): A Scalable Polymer Material Data Structure

Polymeric materials are integral components of nearly every aspect of modern life. However, developing cheminformatic solutions for polymers has been difficult since they are large stochastic molecules with hierarchical structures spanning multiple length scales. Here we present the design for a general material data model that underpins the Community Resource for Innovation in Polymer Technology (CRIPT) data ecosystem

Lessons learnt from a discontinued randomised controlled trial:Adalimumab injection compared with placebo for patients receiving physiotherapy treatment for sciatica (Subcutaneous Injection of Adalimumab Trial compared with Control: SCIATiC)

Background Adalimumab, a biological treatment targeting tumour necrosis factor α, might be useful in sciatica. This paper describes the challenges faced when developing a new treatment pathway for a randomised controlled trial of adalimumab for people with sciatica, as well as the reasons why the trial discussed was stopped early. Methods A pragmatic, parallel group, randomised controlled trial with blinded (masked) participants, clinicians, outcome assessment and statistical analysis was conducted in six UK sites. Participants were identified and recruited from general practices, musculoskeletal services and outpatient physiotherapy clinics. They were adults with persistent symptoms of sciatica of 1 to 6 months’ duration with moderate to high level of disability. Eligibility was assessed by research physiotherapists according to clinical criteria, and participants were randomised to receive two doses of adalimumab (80 mg then 40 mg 2 weeks later) or saline placebo subcutaneous injections in the posterior lateral thigh. Both groups were referred for a course of physiotherapy. Outcomes were measured at baseline, 6-week, 6-month and 12-month follow-up. The main outcome measure was disability measured using the Oswestry Disability Index. The planned sample size was 332, with the first 50 in an internal pilot phase. Results The internal pilot phase was discontinued after 10 months from opening owing to low recruitment (two of the six sites active, eight participants recruited). There were several challenges: contractual delays; one site did not complete contract negotiations, and two sites signed contracts shortly before trial closure; site withdrawal owing to patient safety concerns; difficulties obtaining excess treatment costs; and in the two sites that did recruit, recruitment was slower than planned because of operational issues and low uptake by potential participants. Conclusions Improved patient care requires robust clinical research within contexts in which treatments can realistically be provided. Step changes in treatment, such as the introduction of biologic treatments for severe sciatica, raise complex issues that can delay trial initiation and retard recruitment. Additional preparatory work might be required before testing novel treatments. A randomised controlled trial of tumour necrosis factor-α blockade is still needed to determine its cost-effectiveness in severe sciatica