An Analysis of the Effectiveness of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in Uniting the Intelligence Community

September 11, 2001 marks the date of the largest attack on American soil since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II. This event not only changed the lives of individuals who suffered intense loss but changed the course of American history in several ways. This paper focuses specifically on the changes in the intelligence community since the attacks. The attacks that 9/11 presented flaws in the system created demonstrating weakness as a direct result of the immense destruction that occurred. The thesis of this paper is to analyze, assess, and draw conclusions on the effectiveness of the creation of the Director of National Intelligence position in the Intelligence Reform and Prevention Act, 2004. To assess that effectiveness, an overview of the Intelligence Community will be examined along with the relationship that exists between the DNI and other agencies, decisions that were made by incumbents, and an analysis of the security environments for the United States. The analysis demonstrates that the DNI does not necessarily help solve any problems, but creates another layer of bureaucracy

Boundary quantum critical phenomena with entanglement renormalization

We extend the formalism of entanglement renormalization to the study of boundary critical phenomena. The multi-scale entanglement renormalization ansatz (MERA), in its scale invariant version, offers a very compact approximation to quantum critical ground states. Here we show that, by adding a boundary to the scale invariant MERA, an accurate approximation to the critical ground state of an infinite chain with a boundary is obtained, from which one can extract boundary scaling operators and their scaling dimensions. Our construction, valid for arbitrary critical systems, produces an effective chain with explicit separation of energy scales that relates to Wilson's RG formulation of the Kondo problem. We test the approach by studying the quantum critical Ising model with free and fixed boundary conditions.Comment: 8 pages, 12 figures, for a related work see arXiv:0912.289

Autonomy, Good Humor and Support Networks, Potential of Community Resilience Intervention in People Victims of the Earthquake in the Calderón Parish

Resilience is a concept widely used in recent years, especially when it comes to evaluating the level of recovery of communities that are hit by natural phenomena. It can be stated that conceptually resilience constitutes the ability to react effectively and quickly to the effects of disasters, being a complex phenomenon to evaluate and define. And although the level of resilience does not necessarily imply greater control of vulnerability, it can be affirmed that the reduction of vulnerable conditions can strengthen and consolidate the resilient capacity of individuals and communities, in the face of the effects of natural disasters

Estimating Kidney Function in the Critically Ill Patients

Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is an accepted measure for assessment of kidney function. For the critically ill patient, creatinine clearance is the method of reference for the estimation of the GFR, although this is often not measured but estimated by equations (i.e., Cockroft-Gault or MDRD) not well suited for the critically ill patient. Functional evaluation of the kidney rests in serum creatinine (Crs) that is subjected to multiple external factors, especially relevant overhydration and loss of muscle mass. The laboratory method used introduces variations in Crs, an important fact considering that small increases in Crs have serious repercussion on the prognosis of patients. Efforts directed to stratify the risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) have crystallized in the RIFLE or AKIN systems, based in sequential changes in Crs or urine flow. These systems have provided a common definition of AKI and, due to their sensitivity, have meant a considerable advantage for the clinical practice but, on the other side, have introduced an uncertainty in clinical research because of potentially overestimating AKI incidence. Another significant drawback is the unavoidable period of time needed before a patient is classified, and this is perhaps the problem to be overcome in the near future

Detección de puntos calientes para la predicción de averías en las zonas de estudio I y II de la CNEL – EP, UNIDAD DE NEGOCIOS MANABI

Abstract: This paper deals with the detection of PC that is presented in the lines of M / T nearshore for which the study is conducted in San Clemente and Crucita to 13.8 Kv feeders, which is determined as area I study, this study describes how to detect the existence of PC in the different elements of the structures forming the said power lines (zona study I). And in this other area are in populated areas and abundant pollution for which the study  is conducted in the feeders 3 (Portoviejo Centro) and 4 (Shopping-. Cdla Los Tamarindos) to 13.8 KV, which is determined as an area of study II. This study describes how to detect the existence of P.C in the different elements of the structures forming the said power lines. Once the current state of the lines is described, it proceeds to determine the possible presence of P.C in each of the elements of the structures. In addition, statistical analysis will determine the items that need maintenance either preventive, predictive or corrective measures in order to implement measures that help to maintain proper lines  M /  T, and to  provide better quality  of electric service, and not have to regret lost electric power by joule effects shots in lines due to PC.  Index Terms: maintenance, preventive measures, predictive measures, corrective measures, power lines

Fabrication and characterization of polyethersulfone nanocomposite membranes for the removal of endocrine disrupting micropollutants from wastewater. Mechanisms and performance

Producción CientíficaThe addition of carbon nanotubes to improves the removal and adsorption of endocrine disrupting micropollutants (bisphenol A and nonylphenol). Increasing the SWCNT (single walled carbon nanotubes) content increases removal and diminishes reversible and irreversible fouling. The isoelectric point of the SWCNT containing membranes decreases when the content of nanotubes increases with more negative charges at alkaline pH. Because, the nanotube loaded membranes are also less hydrophilic and bisphenol and nonylphenol are hydrophobous, adsorption plays a key role in the removal of micropollutants. An increase in the transmembrane applied pressure decreases the removal and more steeply for the membranes containing more SWCNT. Higher porosities, leading to higher water permeabilities, are also obtained for more loaded membranes. Too high SWCNT contents lead to a saturation and decrease of removal probably because high porosities lead to a decrease in adsorption due to both a decrease in the available surface and a sweeping action of convection through the membrane.Junta de Castilla y León (programa de apoyo a proyectos de investigación – Ref. VA302U13

Entanglement renormalization and boundary critical phenomena

The multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz is applied to the study of boundary critical phenomena. We compute averages of local operators as a function of the distance from the boundary and the surface contribution to the ground state energy. Furthermore, assuming a uniform tensor structure, we show that the multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz implies an exact relation between bulk and boundary critical exponents known to exist for boundary critical systems.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures; for a related work see arXiv:0912.164

Polimorfismo dd de la enzima convertidora de angiotensina (eca) asociada a infarto de miocardio

Determinar una asociación entre el genotipo DD de la ECA y el riesgo de infarto agudo del miocardio

Polimorfismo dd de la enzima convertidora de angiotensina (eca) asociada a infarto de miocardio

Determinar una asociación entre el genotipo DD de la ECA y el riesgo de infarto agudo del miocardio