Results of magnetospheric barium ion cloud experiment of 1971

The barium ion cloud experiment involved the release of about 2 kg of barium at an altitude of 31 482 km, a latitude of 6.926 N., and a longitude of 74.395 W. Significant erosion of plasma from the main ion core occurred during the initial phase of the ion cloud expansion. From the motion of the outermost striational filaments, the electric field components were determined to be 0.19 mV/m in the westerly direction and 0.68 mV/m in the inward direction. The differences between these components and those measured from balloons flown in the proximity of the extremity of the field line through the release point implied the existence of potential gradients along the magnetic field lines. The deceleration of the main core was greater than theoretically predicted. This was attributed to the formation of a polarization wake, resulting in an increase of the area of interaction and resistive dissipation at ionospheric levels. The actual orientation of the magnetic field line through the release point differed by about 10.5 deg from that predicted by magnetic field models that did not include the effect of ring current

A Cross-Sectional Exploration of Food Security, Depression, and CHAOS in Low-Income Households with Children

Depression has been linked to food security, particularly among low-income mothers. However, less is known about the relationship between CHAOS (Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale), a measure of family functioning such as timeliness and order, and varying levels food security. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the relationship between depression, CHAOS, and sociodemographics on the level of food insecurity in a cross-sectional sample of low-income households with children, ages 0-18 years. Participants were recruited from low-income communities in a medium sized Midwestern city in the United States. Eligible participants were ≥19 years of age, a parent or primary caregiver to at least one child, and English- or Spanish- speaking. Survey items included participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), food security, depression, CHAOS, and sociodemographics/family characteristics. Descriptives and Chi-square tests were conducted for all variables. Potential covariates were assessed (e.g., age, income, education, race/ethnicity, sex, SNAP participation, number of children and adults in the household, and marital status) and included in the final logistic regression model through backward elimination. All statistics were conducted using SAS (version 9.4, SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC). Participants (N=252) were 75% female, 42% Non-Hispanic Black, 31% Non-Hispanic White, 12% Hispanic, and 15% other race categories. The mean number of children in households was 2.33 (SD=1.58), and half of the respondents reported earning ≤$10,000/year. Chi-Square tests showed univariate relationships between study variables and varying household food security levels. Those in the “high” and “medium” groups for depression and CHAOS were both more likely than the “low” groups to experience low or very low food security. Income and education were also related to food security, with low levels of education and low income being associated with low or very low food security. Age, sex, race/ethnicity, and marital status were not associated with food security status. The fully adjusted logistic regression models of depression and CHAOS accounted for 10% and 14% of the variance in food security, respectively (depression: (OR=0.31, CI=0.15-0.65; pp In the current study, CHAOS demonstrated a stronger relationship with food security than depression, when controlling for sociodemographics. CHAOS is a measurement that has not been tested widely among food insecure populations, but has been shown to be an influencing factor on child development, and might help explain some of the stress experienced by low-income families. Understanding more about the psychological aspects of food insecurity may help inform the development of tailored interventions to alleviate food insecurity in low-income households, and ultimately improve health, achievement and related outcomes in children

What’s Next for Tobacco Control Efforts? Health Equity Related Lessons Learned from a National Qualitative Study on Tobacco Control and Prevention

Context: Despite gains in the tobacco prevention and control movement, tobacco products remain a threat, with specific populations at greater risk. Objective: The purpose of this paper is to examine the role that leaders in the tobacco prevention and control movement have played in progress achieved to date and identify recommendations for the future using a health equity framework. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role that leading organizations in the tobacco prevention and control movement have played in progress achieved to date, identify future recommendations within the context of current public health priorities (e.g., obesity prevention), and explore potential for tobacco prevention and control using a health equity framework. Design: Qualitative key informant interviews were conducted with representatives from four key tobacco prevention and control organizations and their partners. Setting: Interviews were conducted on-site at tobacco prevention and control organization offices or by telephone. Participants: Key informant interviews (n=87) were conducted during July-December of 2017. Main outcome measures: Interviewees describe their work in providing technical assistance to leading public health and policy efforts in tobacco prevention and control. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded for meaning units. This analysis was conducted November 2017-January 2018. This study was determined exempt from review by the University of Nebraska Medical Center Institutional Review Board. Results: Three overarching themes emerged from our analysis: (1) maintaining tobacco prevention and control as a public health issue, (2) the importance of health equity in tobacco prevention and control work, and (3) planning for the next generation of tobacco prevention and control advocates. Certain populations remain untouched by broad public health approaches to reduce tobacco use. Conclusions: Tailored, focused, and comprehensive approaches to address health equity in tobacco prevention and control work across specific communities are needed. Adopting a health equity lens across public health priority areas (e.g., obesity, opioids, and tobacco prevention and control) could reduce prevalence among vulnerable groups for multiple conditions

Tracking Down the Intuitiveness of Gesture Interaction in the Truck Domain

AbstractTouchless hand gesture control potentially leads to a safer, more comfortable and more intuitive Human Vehicle Interaction (HVI) if relevant ergonomic requirements are met. To achieve intuitive interaction and thus to favor user acceptance, the gesture interface should be conform to user expectation and enable the users to apply their prior knowledge. This particularly concerns the gestures used for input. The conducted experiment investigates which gestures subjects tend to use for various functions of a truck and how these gestures are affected by the subjects’ prior knowledge. In total, 17 potential functions were considered for this purpose. Within the experiment, 74 subjects performed gestures for each of these functions while being recorded on video. The video data shows a variety of gestures differing in hand pose, execution space, and palm orientation. Nevertheless, several interindividual similarities in gesturing can be observed, which made it possible to analyze the gestures in terms of the prior knowledge applied. The results show that gestures differ according to the sources of prior knowledge like culture and instincts. Depending on the function, the gestures observed within the experiment are based on gestures of quasi-direct manipulation, emblematic gestures, instinctive gestures, standardized gestures and gestures expressing the users’ mental model. However, the applicability of these gestures is limited by capabilities of gesture recognition and is depending on how the user interface will be designed

A microscopic quantum dynamics approach to the dilute condensed Bose gas

We derive quantum evolution equations for the dynamics of dilute condensed Bose gases. The approach contains, at different orders of approximation, for cases close to equilibrium, the Gross Pitaevskii equation and the first order Hartree Fock Bogoliubov theory. The proposed approach is also suited for the description of the dynamics of condensed gases which are far away from equilibrium. As an example the scattering of two Bose condensates is discussed.Comment: 8 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Algebraic Approach to Shape Invariance

The integrability condition called shape invariance is shown to have an underlying algebraic structure and the associated Lie algebras are identified. These shape-invariance algebras transform the parameters of the potentials such as strength and range. Shape-invariance algebras, in general, are shown to be infinite-dimensional. The conditions under which they become finite-dimensional are explored.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review A. Latex file, 9 pages. Manuscript is also available at http://nucth.physics.wisc.edu/preprints

Development of viscometers for kraft black liquor. Summary report, Phase 2 and 2A

This report documents the results of the evaluation of the on-line prototype viscometers for kraft black liquors carried out at the Pilot Plant facilities of the University of Florida. The original plan called for the evaluation of five prototype on-line viscometers along with laboratory bench versions. At a later stage in the project an additional experimental prototype under development at Southwest Research Institute was added. The viscometers are evaluated for accuracy and repeatability under varying process conditions, such as black liquor species, solids content, temperature, flow rate, and contaminants, as well as for maintenance and reliability. This document reports extensive results of the evaluations and recommendations for design modifications and for the installation of the instruments in industrial pulping mills for further field evaluations in Phase 3 of the project. The report also documents relevant details of the final design of the pilot flow loop used to support the experiments

A Redshift Survey of Nearby Galaxy Groups: the Shape of the Mass Density Profile

We constrain the mass profile and orbital structure of nearby groups and clusters of galaxies. Our method yields the joint probability distribution of the density slope n, the velocity anisotropy beta, and the turnover radius r0 for these systems. The measurement technique does not use results from N-body simulations as priors. We incorporate 2419 new redshifts in the fields of 41 systems of galaxies with z < 0.04. The new groups have median velocity dispersion sigma=360 km/s. We also use 851 archived redshifts in the fields of 8 nearly relaxed clusters with z < 0.1. Within R < 2 r200, the data are consistent with a single power law matter density distribution with slope n = 1.8-2.2 for systems with sigma < 470 km/s, and n = 1.6-2.0 for those with sigma > 470 km/s (95% confidence). We show that a simple, scale-free phase space distribution function f(E,L^2) ~ (-E)^(alpha-1/2) L^(-2 \beta) is consistent with the data as long as the matter density has a cusp. Using this DF, matter density profiles with constant density cores (n=0) are ruled out with better than 99.7% confidence.Comment: 22 pages; accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

Monthly SNAP benefit duration and its association with food security, hunger-coping, and physiological hunger symptoms among low-income families

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between monthly Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit duration (i.e., the number of weeks each month a participants’ SNAP benefits provide food), and five primary outcome variables: food security, three hunger-coping behavior scales (rationing food supplies, financial strategies, making trade-offs), and physiological hunger symptoms, among a sample of families with children 0-18 years currently receiving SNAP benefits. Methods Baseline survey data were collected as part of a community-based intervention to alleviate child hunger. Participants included in the analytic sample were current SNAP recipients, parents (or caregivers), and 19 years of age and older (n=161). The survey assessed sociodemographics, household characteristics, food and financial assistance use, food security, three hunger-coping behavior scales, diet intake frequency, and one physiological hunger symptoms scale. The three hunger-coping scales and the physiological hunger scale were dichotomized into a “high” group (if above the sample median score) and a “low” group (if at or below the sample median score). Sociodemographic and family characteristics were included as covariates. Logistic regression models were used to assess relationships between monthly SNAP benefit duration and the five primary outcome variables in this study. Results Respondents were predominately mothers/female caregivers (78%), a majority reported annual family incomes below $10,000 (58%), and 80% were experiencing “low” or “very low” food security. The sample was 43% non-Hispanic black, 30% non-Hispanic white, 10% Hispanic/Latino, 17% American Indian or other racial/ethnic groups. Monthly SNAP benefit duration (M=2.8, SD=1.0) was not likely driven by allotment amount, because households’ percent of the federal poverty line (a proxy measure for allotment amount) was not associated with the number of weeks each month that benefits lasted (p=0.36). After controlling for relevant sociodemographic variables and household characteristics, the more weeks each month participants reported their SNAP benefits lasting, the lower their odds of experiencing “low” or “very low” food security (OR=0.444, 95%CI=0.259-0.761; p Conclusions These findings suggest that monthly SNAP benefit duration may be useful as a proxy for SNAP allotment adequacy in the context of food security and hunger. Families that were not able to make monthly benefits extend as long as other families were more likely to be food insecure and experience “high” levels of physiological hunger symptoms. While associations with hunger-coping behaviors were only significant in univariate analysis, they were in the direction expected and should be further examined in future studies as these behaviors may be exacerbate, buffer, or be symptoms of the experience of food insecurity and hunger among low-income families. Policies are needed to better tailor SNAP benefit allotments to the needs of disadvantaged families, and research and programming is needed to investigate ways these families can better utilize their current allotments as a potential path to address food insecurity and hunger

Orbital Magnetism in Small Quantum Dots with Closed Shells

It is found that various kind of shell structure which occurs at specific values of the magnetic field leads to the disappearance of the orbital magnetization for particular magic numbers of small quantum dots with an electron number $A < 30$.Comment: 4 pages, latex file, four figures as postscript files, to appear at JETP Letters, December 199