Constraining f(R) Gravity as a Scalar Tensor Theory

We search for viable f(R) theories of gravity, making use of the equivalence between such theories and scalar-tensor gravity. We find that models can be made consistent with solar system constraints either by giving the scalar a high mass or by exploiting the so-called chameleon effect. However, in both cases, it appears likely that any late-time cosmic acceleration will be observationally indistinguishable from acceleration caused by a cosmological constant. We also explore further observational constraints from, e.g., big bang nucleosynthesis and inflation.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure

Economic Implications of a Delayed Uniform Planting Date for Cotton Production in the Texas Rolling Plains.

40 p

Father involvement and socioeconomic disparities in child academic outcomes

OBJECTIVE This article explores whether father involvement can reduce socioeconomic disparities in child academic outcomes. BACKGROUND An emerging body of literature points to the benefits to children of involvement by low‐socioeconomic status (SES) fathers. Research has not systematically investigated whether differences in father involvement can account for SES‐based disparities in child outcomes. METHOD This study used data from 12,030 unique children from the 1998 Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. Using multiple regression models and novel simulation analyses, it investigated whether accounting for SES‐based differences in either the amount or effect of involvement by biological fathers explains gaps in reading scores, math scores, and rates of grade retention between low‐SES and high‐SES children. RESULTS Father residence, resident father school involvement, and a comprehensive index of nonresident father involvement were associated with better child academic outcomes. Associations between residence and nonresident father involvement and child outcomes were consistent for fathers in all SES quintiles. School involvement by low‐SES resident fathers was more beneficial than involvement by the highest SES fathers. Simulation analyses indicated that increasing the amount of involvement by low‐SES fathers to that of high‐SES fathers would result in minimal decreases in SES disparities in reading and math scores, but more sizeable decreases in rates of grade retention. CONCLUSION Increasing some types of father involvement may help to narrow academic gaps between low‐ and high‐SES children.Accepted manuscrip

'To live and die [for] Dixie': Irish civilians and the Confederate States of America

Around 20,000 Irishmen served in the Confederate army in the Civil War. As a result, they left behind, in various Southern towns and cities, large numbers of friends, family, and community leaders. As with native-born Confederates, Irish civilian support was crucial to Irish participation in the Confederate military effort. Also, Irish civilians served in various supporting roles: in factories and hospitals, on railroads and diplomatic missions, and as boosters for the cause. They also, however, suffered in bombardments, sieges, and the blockade. Usually poorer than their native neighbours, they could not afford to become 'refugees' and move away from the centres of conflict. This essay, based on research from manuscript collections, contemporary newspapers, British Consular records, and Federal military records, will examine the role of Irish civilians in the Confederacy, and assess the role this activity had on their integration into Southern communities. It will also look at Irish civilians in the defeat of the Confederacy, particularly when they came under Union occupation. Initial research shows that Irish civilians were not as upset as other whites in the South about Union victory. They welcomed a return to normalcy, and often 'collaborated' with Union authorities. Also, Irish desertion rates in the Confederate army were particularly high, and I will attempt to gauge whether Irish civilians played a role in this. All of the research in this paper will thus be put in the context of the Drew Gilpin Faust/Gary Gallagher debate on the influence of the Confederate homefront on military performance. By studying the Irish civilian experience one can assess how strong the Confederate national experiment was. Was it a nation without a nationalism

Supracubital perineurioma misdiagnosed as carpal tunnel syndrome: case report

BACKGROUND: Perineuriomas have been defined as tumorous lesions of the peripheral nerves which derive from perineurial cell proliferation and may be associated with abnormalities on chromosome 22. CASE PRESENTATION: Three years after a painful cubital vein procaine injection, a 33 year-old man developed a median nerve lesion, initially diagnosed as carpal tunnel syndrome. Symptoms progressed despite appropriate surgery. Clinical and electrophysiological re-evaluation revealed a fusiform mass at the distal upper arm, confirmed by MRI. Immunohistochemical studies classified the tumor as a mixed perineurioma and neuroma. CONCLUSIONS: Perineurioma mixed with neuroma may potentially caused by the previous trauma or cytotoxic effects of procaine

Distal and proximal family predictors of adolescents' smoking initiation and development: A longitudinal latent curve model analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Studies on adolescent smoking indicate that the smoking behaviours of their parents, siblings and friends are significant micro-level predictors. Parents' socioeconomic status (SES) is an important macro-level predictor. We examined the longitudinal relationships between these predictors and the initiation and development of adolescents' smoking behaviour in Norway.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We employed data from <it>The Norwegian Longitudinal Health Behaviour Study (NLHB)</it>, in which participants were followed from the age of 13 to 30. We analysed data from the first 5 waves, covering the age span from 13 to 18, with latent curve modeling (LCM).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Smoking rates increased from 3% to 31% from age 13 to age 18. Participants' smoking was strongly associated with their best friends' smoking. Parental SES, parents' smoking and older siblings' smoking predicted adolescents' initial level of smoking. Furthermore, the same variables predicted the development of smoking behaviour from age 13 to 18. Parents' and siblings' smoking behaviours acted as mediators of parents' SES on the smoking habits of adolescents.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Parents' SES was significantly associated, directly and indirectly, with both smoking initiation and development. Parental and older siblings' smoking behaviours were positively associated with both initiation and development of smoking behaviour in adolescents. There were no significant gender differences in these associations.</p

Direct formation of nitrogen-vacancy centers in nitrogen doped diamond along the trajectories of swift heavy ions

Funding Information: The work at LBL was supported by the Office of Science, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, of the U.S. Department of Energy, and Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) funding from Berkeley Lab, provided by the Director, Office of Science, of the U.S. Department of Energy; and the work at the Molecular Foundry was supported by the Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, of the U.S. Department of Energy, under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. The ion irradiation at GSI is based on a UMAT experiment, which was performed at the M-branch of the UNILAC at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum fu€r Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt (Germany) in the frame of FAIR Phase-0. R.E.L. acknowledges support from the Academy of Finland under Grant No. 265675 and the Aalto University Centre for Quantum Engineering. M.T. acknowledges funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation program under Grant Agreement No. 730871. This work was also supported by the coordinated research project “F11020” of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Publisher Copyright: © 2021 U.S. Government. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.We report depth-resolved photoluminescence measurements of nitrogen-vacancy (NV-) centers formed along the tracks of swift heavy ions (SHIs) in type Ib synthetic single crystal diamonds that had been doped with 100 ppm nitrogen during crystal growth. Analysis of the spectra shows that NV- centers are formed preferentially within regions where electronic stopping processes dominate and not at the end of the ion range where elastic collisions lead to the formation of vacancies and defects. Thermal annealing further increases NV yields after irradiation with SHIs preferentially in regions with high vacancy densities. NV centers formed along the tracks of single swift heavy ions can be isolated with lift-out techniques for explorations of color center qubits in quasi-1D registers with an average qubit spacing of a few nanometers and of order 100 color centers per micrometer along 10 to 30-μm-long percolation chains.Peer reviewe