Soft-bottom benthic assemblages and levels of contaminants in sediments and biota at Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary and nearby shelf waters off the coast of Georgia (2000 and 2001)

A series of studies was initiated to assess the condition of benthic macroinfauna and chemical contaminant levels in sediments and biota of the Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary (GRNMS) and nearby shelf waters off the coast of Georgia. Four key objectives of the research are (1) to document existing environmental conditions within the sanctuary in order to provide a quantitative benchmark for tracking any future changes due to either natural or human disturbances; (2) to examine broader cross-shelf spatial patterns in benthic fauna and sediment contaminant concentrations and to identify potential controlling factors associated with the observed patterns; (3) to assess any between-year temporal variability in benthic fauna; and (4) to evaluate the importance of benthic fauna as prey for higher trophic levels. Such questions are being addressed to help fulfill long-term science and management goals of the GRNMS. However, it is anticipated that the information will be of additional value in broadening our understanding of the surrounding South Atlantic Bight (SAB) ecosystem and in bringing the knowledge to bear on related resourcemanagement issues of the region. We have begun to address the first three of these objectives with data from samples collected in spring 2000 at stations within GRNMS, and in spring 2001 at stations within the sanctuary and along three cross-shelf transects extending from the mouths of Sapelo, Doboy, and Altamaha Sounds out to sanctuary depths (about 17-20 m). This report provides a description of baseline conditions within the sanctuary, based on results of the spring 2000 survey (Section II), and uses data from both 2000 and 2001 to examine overall spatial and temporal patterns in biological and chemical variables within the sanctuary and surrounding inner-shelf environment (Section III). (PDF contains 65 pages

Stolen Wages in the Nation's Capital: Fixing DC's Broken Wage Theft Claims Process

Today in the District of Columbia ("the District" or "DC"), low wage workers are being shortchanged. Policies currently in place make it very difficult, to nearly impossible, for victims of wage theft to hold employers accountable for failing to pay wages owed. The Wage Theft Prevention Act of 2014, co-introduced on February 4, 2014 by Councilmembers Vincent Orange, Jim Graham, and Mary Cheh, would provide needed accountability and stronger protections to ensure that those working an honest day receive honest pay for their labor. This document provides an introduction to the current barriers affecting workers in the District, and presents an overview of the ways in which the Wage Theft Prevention Act of 2014 would ameliorate these problems; thereby making the District a better place for workers and responsible businesses

Python’s Lunch: geometric obstructions to decoding Hawking radiation

According to Harlow and Hayden [arXiv:1301.4504] the task of distilling information out of Hawking radiation appears to be computationally hard despite the fact that the quantum state of the black hole and its radiation is relatively un-complex. We trace this computational difficulty to a geometric obstruction in the Einstein-Rosen bridge connecting the black hole and its radiation. Inspired by tensor network models, we conjecture a precise formula relating the computational hardness of distilling information to geometric properties of the wormhole — specifically to the exponential of the difference in generalized entropies between the two non-minimal quantum extremal surfaces that constitute the obstruction. Due to its shape, we call this obstruction the ‘Python’s Lunch’, in analogy to the reptile’s postprandial bulge

The influence of screw length on predicted cut-out failures for proximal humeral fracture fixations predicted by finite element simulations

Background: The aim of this study was to identify the effect of screw length on predictions of fixation failure in three-part proximal humeral fractures using a finite element-based osteosynthesis modelling toolkit. Methods: A mal-reduced unstable three-part AO/OTA 11-B3.2 fracture with medial comminution was simulated in forty-two digitally processed proximal humeri covering a spectrum of bone densities and fixed with the PHILOS plate using three distal and six proximal locking screws. Four test groups were generated based on the screw tip to joint surface distance (TJD), with all proximal screws being shortened from 4 mm TJD to be 8, 12 or 16 mm TJD. Average bone strains around the screw tips, correlating with biomechanical cyclic cut-out-type failure, were evaluated in three physiological loading protocols representing simple shoulder motions. Six further groups were tested, where five of the proximal screws were inserted to 4 mm TJD and the sixth screw to 8 mm TJD. Results: Exponential increases in the predicted risk of fixation failure were seen with increased tip-to-joint distances (p &lt; 0.001). When one of the proximal screws was placed 8 mm from the joint, with the remaining five at 4 mm distance, significant increases (p &lt; 0.001) were registered in the strains around the screw tips in all except the two superior screws. This effect was maximal around the calcar screws (p &lt; 0.001) and for lower density samples (p &lt; 0.001). Conclusions: These results suggest that longer screws provide reduced risk of cut-out failure, i.e. distalisation and/or varisation of the head fragment, and thus may decrease failure rates in proximal humeral fractures treated with angular stable plates. These findings require clinical corroboration and further studies to investigate the risk of screw perforation.</p

Python’s Lunch: geometric obstructions to decoding Hawking radiation

According to Harlow and Hayden [arXiv:1301.4504] the task of distilling information out of Hawking radiation appears to be computationally hard despite the fact that the quantum state of the black hole and its radiation is relatively un-complex. We trace this computational difficulty to a geometric obstruction in the Einstein-Rosen bridge connecting the black hole and its radiation. Inspired by tensor network models, we conjecture a precise formula relating the computational hardness of distilling information to geometric properties of the wormhole — specifically to the exponential of the difference in generalized entropies between the two non-minimal quantum extremal surfaces that constitute the obstruction. Due to its shape, we call this obstruction the ‘Python’s Lunch’, in analogy to the reptile’s postprandial bulge

Demography and Environment in Grassland Settlement: Using Linked Longitudinal and Cross-Sectional Data to Explore Household and Agricultural Systems

The Demography and Environment in Grassland Settlement project (DEGS) is a study of the relationship between population and environment in Kansas during its settlement and conversion from grassland to grain cultivation and rangeland. The research team involved in this project had as its goal to bring together data about farms and farm families in order to understand the core transformations in land use and family dynamics that took place during the process of settling and developing an agricultural landscape. For reasons we will explain later, the state of Kansas – located near the centre of the U.S. in a grassland ecosystem – is ideally suited for this study by virtue of its location, history and the documents that exist about it. In order to capture the environmental variability of Kansas, we are assembling a linked database of farm and family census records for twenty-five townships scattered across the state. This paper is about the process of choosing that sample, about the data we have accumulated and about the process we are undertaking to link records about families and farms through time and to attempt to find their locations in space.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/60442/1/sylvester_etal.demography and environment.pd

Vulnerability to bullying in children with a history of specific speech and language difficulties

This is an electronic version of an article published in Lindsay, Geoff and Dockrell, Julie and Mackie, Clare (2008) Vulnerability to bullying in children with a history of specific speech and language difficulties. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 23 (1). pp. 1-16. European Journal of Special Needs Education is available online at: http://www.informaworld.com/10.1080/0885625070179120

Teaching and Learning Functional Grammar in Junior Primary Classrooms

The teaching and learning of grammatics ('knowledge about grammar') with young school children is the focus of this study. Historical literature on the teaching of grammar is widely believed to show that a knowledge of grammar is not effective for improving students' literacy outcomes, usually specified in terms of writing. Under-scrutinised in this research are two issues which bear strongly on questions of effectiveness: the affordances of the kind of grammatical description taught, and the quality of pedagogy deployed in the teaching of grammatics. The thesis explores both these issues. Specifically, it investigates the teaching and learning of aspects of systemic functional grammar (developed by M.A.K. Halliday) within a pedagogic framework based on sociocultural constructivist theory (L.S. Vygotsky). The data for the project are drawn from two case studies conducted in Year 2 classrooms. 'Slices' of the case study data are used to analyse and interpret: ways in which to begin the study of a functional grammatics with young novices; benefits from knowledge about verbal Processes for children's improvement in expressive oral reading and punctuation of direct speech; the application of grammatical and genre knowledge in developing a critical reading of a narrative; and early moves in using the grammatics of Theme in one specific aspect of writing. A significant contribution is the project's incorporation of transcribed classroom talk, which is used to illuminate situated practices in teaching and learning grammatics, including the ways in which teacher talk and class discussion mediate the learning of grammatical concepts. Evidence is provided for the accessibility and utility of a grammatics drawn from systemic functional grammar, with the grammar's orientation to meaning in language being central to its potential. Attention to pedagogic design is also argued to be integral to the development of a productive grammatics for schools. The thesis recommends the principled design of forms of semiotic mediation used to teach grammatical concepts (including teacher talk), and the thoughtful and meaningful integration of grammatics with other dimensions of the English/literacy curriculum so that grammatics is taught 'in context' but also with a view to longer term development of a flexible, systematic understanding

The curious case of (caffeine).(benzoic acid): how heteronuclear seeding allowed the formation of an elusive cocrystal

Cocrystals are modular multicomponent solids with exceptional utility in synthetic chemistry and materials science. A variety of methods exist for the preparation of cocrystals yet, some promising cocrystal phases have proven to be intractable synthetic targets. We describe a strategy for the synthesis of the pharmaceutically relevant (caffeine).(benzoic acid) cocrystal (1), which persistently failed to form using a broad range of established techniques. State-of-the-art crystal structure prediction methods were employed to assess the possible existence of a thermodynamically stable form of 1, and to identify appropriate heteronuclear seeds for corystallization. Once introduced, the designed heteronuclear seeds facilitated the formation of 1 and, significantly, continued to act as long-lasting laboratory .contaminants., which encouraged cocrystal formation even when present at such low levels as to evade detection. The seeding technique described thus enables the synthesis of cocrystals regarded as unobtainable under desired conditions, and potentially signifies a new direction in the field of materials research