The peculiar velocity field: constraining the tilt of the Universe

A large bulk flow, which is in tension with the Lambda Cold Dark Matter ($\Lambda$CDM) cosmological model, has been observed. In this paper, we provide a physically plausible explanation of this bulk flow, based on the assumption that some fraction of the observed dipole in the cosmic microwave background is due to an intrinsic fluctuation, so that the subtraction of the observed dipole leads to a mismatch between the cosmic microwave background (CMB) defined rest frame and the matter rest frame. We investigate a model that takes into account the relative velocity (hereafter the tilted velocity) between the two frames, and develop a Bayesian statistic to explore the likelihood of this tilted velocity. By studying various independent peculiar velocity catalogs, we find that: (1) the magnitude of the tilted velocity $u$ is around 400 km/s, and its direction is close to what is found from previous bulk flow analyses; for most catalogs analysed, u=0 is excluded at about the $2.5 \sigma$ level;(2) constraints on the magnitude of the tilted velocity can result in constraints on the duration of inflation, due to the fact that inflation can neither be too long (no dipole effect) nor too short (very large dipole effect); (3) Under the assumption of a super-horizon isocurvature fluctuation, the constraints on the tilted velocity require that inflation lasts at least 6 e-folds longer (at the 95% confidence interval) than that required to solve the horizon problem. This opens a new window for testing inflation and models of the early Universe from observations of large scale structure.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, match the published version in Phys.Rev.

How to be SSB-free: Assessing the attitudes and readiness for a sugar sweetened beverage-free healthcare center in the Bronx, NY

In recent years, communities and institutions have sought new interventions intended to reduce sugar sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption among children. Among these interventions are “SSB-free zones,” where such beverages are not permitted to be consumed on the premises. Insufficient knowledge still exists, however, about the readiness for such restrictive SSB policies within health care institutions. Understanding attitudes toward SSB consumption among adults is necessary to guide an institution-wide policy, where staff and patients serve as role models for parents and their children. We conducted focus groups with health center patients and staff to determine perceptions surrounding health and SSB consumption and to better understand the support and readiness (or lack thereof) for an SSB-free zone intervention prior to its implementation. We found that contextual practices present challenges to breaking personal consumption habits, even if beverages are banned from the worksite. Nevertheless, participants expressed support for SSB-free zones, and recommended more education about the harmful effects of soda and energy drink consumption to help improve acceptability for the policy. We conclude that policies restricting onsite SSB consumption may be more effective when combined with educational information and expressions of understanding that this specific behavior change can be difficult

Use of an Integrated System Dynamics Model for Analyzing Behaviour of the Social-economic-climatic System in Policy Development

Climate change remains one of the most critical issues that humans and the natural world face today. Yet while a strong body of scientific research has identified the risks if mitigation and adaptation measures are not taken, there still remains a policy lag. This leads researchers to pose several questions: is there an identified need by the policy domain for more or different science? Is the science that is conducted made policyrelevant? If not, are there tools to better link science to policy? This report will explain the process of science-policy communication related to the development of an integrated system dynamics model of the social-economic-climatic system at the University of Western Ontario under NSERC strategic grant program funding. It will describe the science-policy interface and outline the main challenge to developing science tools for policy, and will then explain how the UWO research team overcame such challenges. Finally, it explains (a) briefly the proposed model and (b) the process of policy scenarios development. The main objective of the research presented in this report is to bring the model closer to policy makers and emphasize how useful this tool is specifically for the Canadian federal government. The science policy communication process has been established through the set of interviews and workshops. Interviews were used (a) to identify the issues of importance to be incorporated in the model development and (b) to formalize a set of policy scenarios that will provide input for policy making. Workshops were used to communicate science to policy developers and discuss the issues of importance for policy development. The research was fundamentally based on a multi-disciplinary approach that assisted in bridging the research domain to the policy domain. Ultimately, the feedback from the interviews and workshops was embedded in the development of the model and its scenarios, and made it possible to transform policy questions into model scenarios. In other words, by linking science and policy domains, the research team was able to produce a science-based and policy-relevant tool. Limitations to the work mainly reflect the current stage of research and model development. As the strategic research continues on the integrated system dynamics model of the social-economic-climatic system, these limitations are likely to be overcome. The other key limitation is in the selection of the government partners. While the current group of partners has provided valuable insight, further research will aim to expand the group of partners across different departments. This will not only reflect a broader range of interests, but will also more accurately represent a systems view of government. Furthermore, a broader range of disciplinary biases will be consulted, including government policymakers who work more intimately with science and policy research.https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/wrrr/1029/thumbnail.jp

The Poisson-Boltzmann model for implicit solvation of electrolyte solutions: Quantum chemical implementation and assessment via Sechenov coefficients.

We present the theory and implementation of a Poisson-Boltzmann implicit solvation model for electrolyte solutions. This model can be combined with arbitrary electronic structure methods that provide an accurate charge density of the solute. A hierarchy of approximations for this model includes a linear approximation for weak electrostatic potentials, finite size of the mobile electrolyte ions, and a Stern-layer correction. Recasting the Poisson-Boltzmann equations into Euler-Lagrange equations then significantly simplifies the derivation of the free energy of solvation for these approximate models. The parameters of the model are either fit directly to experimental observables-e.g., the finite ion size-or optimized for agreement with experimental results. Experimental data for this optimization are available in the form of Sechenov coefficients that describe the linear dependence of the salting-out effect of solutes with respect to the electrolyte concentration. In the final part, we rationalize the qualitative disagreement of the finite ion size modification to the Poisson-Boltzmann model with experimental observations by taking into account the electrolyte concentration dependence of the Stern layer. A route toward a revised model that captures the experimental observations while including the finite ion size effects is then outlined. This implementation paves the way for the study of electrochemical and electrocatalytic processes of molecules and cluster models with accurate electronic structure methods

Forecast Constraints on Inflation from Combined CMB and Gravitational Wave Direct Detection Experiments

We study how direct detection of the inflationary gravitational wave background constrains inflationary parameters and complements CMB polarization measurements. The error ellipsoids calculated using the Fisher information matrix approach with Planck and the direct detection experiment, BBO (Big Bang Observer), show different directions of parameter degeneracy, and the degeneracy is broken when they are combined. For a slow-roll parameterization, we show that BBO could significantly improve the constraints on the tensor-to-scalar ratio compared with Planck alone. We also look at a quadratic and a natural inflation model. In both cases, if the temperature of reheating is also treated as a free parameter, then the addition of BBO can significantly improve the error bars. In the case of natural inflation, we find that the addition of BBO could even partially improve the error bars of a cosmic variance-limited CMB experiment.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures; matches version to appear in PRD; typos correcte

Aquaporin 4 is a Ubiquitously Expressed Isoform in the Dogfish (\u3cem\u3eSqualus acanthias\u3c/em\u3e) Shark

The dogfish ortholog of aquaporin 4 (AQP4) was amplified from cDNA using degenerate PCR followed by cloning and sequencing. The complete coding region was then obtained using 5′ and 3′ RACE techniques. Alignment of the sequence with AQP4 amino acid sequences from other species showed that dogfish AQP4 has high levels (up to 65.3%) of homology with higher vertebrate sequences but lower levels of homology to Agnathan (38.2%) or teleost (57.5%) fish sequences. Northern blotting indicated that the dogfish mRNA was approximately 3.2 kb and was highly expressed in the rectal gland (a shark fluid secretory organ). Semi-quantitative PCR further indicates that AQP4 is ubiquitous, being expressed in all tissues measured but at low levels in certain tissues, where the level in liver \u3e gill \u3e intestine. Manipulation of the external environmental salinity of groups of dogfish showed that when fish were acclimated in stages to 120% seawater (SW) or 75% SW, there was no change in AQP4 mRNA expression in either rectal gland, kidney, or esophagus/cardiac stomach. Whereas quantitative PCR experiments using the RNA samples from the same experiment, showed a significant 63.1% lower abundance of gill AQP4 mRNA expression in 120% SW-acclimated dogfish. The function of dogfish AQP4 was also determined by measuring the effect of the AQP4 expression in Xenopus laevis oocytes. Dogfish AQP4 expressing-oocytes, exhibited significantly increased osmotic water permeability (Pf) compared to controls, and this was invariant with pH. Permeability was not significantly reduced by treatment of oocytes with mercury chloride, as is also the case with AQP4 in other species. Similarly AQP4 expressing-oocytes did not exhibit enhanced urea or glycerol permeability, which is also consistent with the water-selective property of AQP4 in other species

An integrated circuit for chip-based analysis of enzyme kinetics and metabolite quantification

We have created a novel chip-based diagnostic tools based upon quantification of metabolites using enzymes specific for their chemical conversion. Using this device we show for the first time that a solid-state circuit can be used to measure enzyme kinetics and calculate the Michaelis-Menten constant. Substrate concentration dependency of enzyme reaction rates is central to this aim. Ion-sensitive field effect transistors (ISFET) are excellent transducers for biosensing applications that are reliant upon enzyme assays, especially since they can be fabricated using mainstream microelectronics technology to ensure low unit cost, mass-manufacture, scaling to make many sensors and straightforward miniaturisation for use in point-of-care devices. Here, we describe an integrated ISFET array comprising 216 sensors. The device was fabricated with a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process. Unlike traditional CMOS ISFET sensors that use the Si3N4 passivation of the foundry for ion detection, the device reported here was processed with a layer of Ta2O5 that increased the detection sensitivity to 45 mV/pH unit at the sensor readout. The drift was reduced to 0.8 mV/hour with a linear pH response between pH 2 – 12. A high-speed instrumentation system capable of acquiring nearly 500 fps was developed to stream out the data. The device was then used to measure glucose concentration through the activity of hexokinase in the range of 0.05 mM – 231 mM, encompassing glucose’s physiological range in blood. Localised and temporal enzyme kinetics of hexokinase was studied in detail. These results present a roadmap towards a viable personal metabolome machine

Workshop on Mars Sample Return Science

Martian magnetic history; quarantine issues; surface modifying processes; climate and atmosphere; sampling sites and strategies; and life sciences were among the topics discussed

Collaborative Recovery: An integrative model for working with individuals who experience chronic and recurring mental illness

Objectives: Recovery is an emerging movement in mental health. Evidence for recovery-based approaches is not well developed and approaches to implement recovery-oriented services are not well articulated. The collaborative recovery model (CRM) is presented as a model that assists clinicians to use evidencebased skills with consumers, in a manner consistent with the recovery movement. A current 5 year multisite Australian study to evaluate the effectiveness of CRM is briefly described. Conclusion: The collaborative recovery model puts into practice several aspects of policy regarding recovery-oriented services, using evidence-based practices to assist individuals who have chronic or recurring mental disorders (CRMD). It is argued that thismodel provides an integrative framework combining (i) evidence-based practice; (ii) manageable and modularized competencies relevant to case management and psychosocial rehabilitation contexts; and (iii) recognition of the subjective experiences of consumers