An Enhanced Archive Facilitating Climate Impacts and Adaptation Analysis

We describe the expansion of a publicly available archive of downscaled climate and hydrology projections for the United States. Those studying or planning to adapt to future climate impacts demand downscaled climate model output for local or regional use. The archive we describe attempts to fulfill this need by providing data in several formats, selectable to meet user needs. Our archive has served as a resource for climate impacts modelers, water managers, educators, and others. Over 1,400 individuals have transferred more than 50 TB of data from the archive. In response to user demands, the archive has expanded from monthly downscaled data to include daily data to facilitate investigations of phenomena sensitive to daily to monthly temperature and precipitation, including extremes in these quantities. New developments include downscaled output from the new Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) climate model simulations at both the monthly and daily time scales, as well as simulations of surface hydrologi- cal variables. The web interface allows the extraction of individual projections or ensemble statistics for user-defined regions, promoting the rapid assessment of model consensus and uncertainty for future projections of precipitation, temperature, and hydrology. The archive is accessible online (http://gdo-dcp.ucllnl.org/downscaled_ cmip_projections)

The Bouncing Jet: A Newtonian Liquid Rebounding off a Free Surface

We find that a liquid jet can bounce off a bath of the same liquid if the bath is moving horizontally with respect to the jet. Previous observations of jets rebounding off a bath (e.g. Kaye effect) have been reported only for non-Newtonian fluids, while we observe bouncing jets in a variety of Newtonian fluids, including mineral oil poured by hand. A thin layer of air separates the bouncing jet from the bath, and the relative motion replenishes the film of air. Jets with one or two bounces are stable for a range of viscosity, jet flow rate and velocity, and bath velocity. The bouncing phenomenon exhibits hysteresis and multiple steady states.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures. submitted to Physical Review

Harmonic moment dynamics in Laplacian growth

Harmonic moments are integrals of integer powers of z = x+iy over a domain. Here the domain is an exterior of a bubble of air growing in an oil layer between two horizontal closely spaced plates. Harmonic moments are a natural basis for such Laplacian growth phenomena because, unlike other representations, these moments linearize the zero surface tension problem (Richardson, 1972), so that all moments except the lowest one are conserved in time. For non-zero surface tension, we show that the the harmonic moments decay in time rather than exhibiting the divergences of other representations. Our laboratory observations confirm the theoretical predictions and demonstrate that an interface dynamics description in terms of harmonic moments is physically realizable and robust. In addition, by extending the theory to include surface tension, we obtain from measurements of the time evolution of the harmonic moments a value for the surface tension that is within 20% of the accepted value.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Human Amniocytes Are Receptive to Chemically Induced Reprogramming to Pluripotency

Restoring pluripotency using chemical compounds alone would be a major step forward in developing clinical-grade pluripotent stem cells, but this has not yet been reported in human cells. We previously demonstrated that VPA_ AFS cells, human amniocytes cultivated with valproic acid (VPA) acquired functional pluripotency while remaining distinct from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), questioning the relationship between the modulation of cell fate and molecular regulation of the pluripotency network. Here, we used single-cell analysis and functional assays to reveal that VPA treatment resulted in a homogeneous population of self-renewing non-transformed cells that fulfill the hallmarks of pluripotency, i.e., a short G1 phase, a dependence on glycolytic metabolism, expression of epigenetic modifications on histones 3 and 4, and reactivation of endogenous OCT4 and downstream targets at a lower level than that observed in hESCs. Mechanistic insights into the process of VPA-induced reprogramming revealed that it was dependent on OCT4 promoter activation, which was achieved independently of the PI3K (phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase)/ AKT/ mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) pathway or GSK3 beta inhibition but was concomitant with the presence of acetylated histones H3K9 and H3K56, which promote pluripotency. Our data identify, for the first time, the pluripotent transcriptional and molecular signature and metabolic status of human chemically induced pluripotent stem cells

A Process and Outcome Evaluation of a Shelter for Homeless Young Women

To evaluate the processes and outcomes of a short-term shelter, both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered via participant observation, focus group interviews with shelter staff and residents, and individual interviews with a sample of 40 young women who had been homeless prior to using the shelter. The process evaluation showed that the shelter staff strived to utilize an empowerment philosophy in their relationships with residents, but that there were many challenges to implementing this philosophy. The outcome evaluation showed that, at a 3-month follow-up, the participants reported significant improvements in housing, income, independence, and life satisfaction, but most continued to experience poverty and a number of other difficulties. The results were discussed in terms of the implications for future research and the value and limitations of shelters for dealing with homeless youth. The need for more sustained and comprehensive program interventions and supportive social policies was underscored

Processing, properties and applications of composites using powder-coated epoxy towpreg technology

Composite manufacturing using the current prepregging technology of impregnating liquid resin into three-dimensionally reinforced textile preforms can be a costly and difficult operation. Alternatively, using polymer in the solid form, grinding it into a powder, and then depositing it onto a carbon fiber tow prior to making a textile preform is a viable method for the production of complex textile shapes. The powder-coated towpreg yarn is stable, needs no refrigeration, contains no solvents and is easy to process into various woven and braided preforms for later consolidation into composite structures. NASA's Advanced Composites Technology (ACT) program has provided an avenue for developing the technology by which advanced resins and their powder-coated preforms may be used in aircraft structures. Two-dimensional braiding and weaving studies using powder-coated towpreg have been conducted to determine the effect of resin content, towpreg size and twist on textile composite properties. Studies have been made to customize the towpreg to reduce friction and bulk factor. Processing parameters have been determined for three epoxy resin systems on eight-harness satin fabric, and on more advanced 3-D preform architectures for the downselected resin system. Processing effects and the resultant mechanical properties of these textile composites will be presented and compared

Electoral bias at the 2015 general election: reducing Labour’s electoral advantage

Electoral bias results in an asymmetrical seat distribution between parties with similar vote shares. Over recent British general elections Labour held an advantage because it efficiently converted votes into seats. Following the 2015 election result this advantage has reduced considerably, principally because Labour’s vote distribution saw it accumulate more ineffective votes, particularly where electoral support was not converted into seats. By contrast, the vote distribution of the Conservative party is now superior to that of Labour because it acquired fewer wasted votes although Labour retains a modest advantage overall because it benefits from inequalities in electorate size and differences in voter turnout. Features of the 2015 election, however, raise general methodological challenges for decomposing electoral bias. The analysis, therefore, considers the effect of substituting the Liberal Democrats as the third party with the United Kingdom Independence Party. It also examines the outcome in Scotland separately from that in England and Wales. Following this analysis it becomes clear that the method for decomposing electoral bias requires clearer guidelines for its application in specific settings