Physical Transport and Chemical Behavior of Dispersed Oil

During response operations, scientific information is provided to decision makers, such as the Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC), state and federal trustees, and the public. The decision to use chemical dispersants during a response is made among all these parties, and during the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill the dispersant discussion included both surface and subsurface application of chemical dispersants. This paper is intended to provide perspective on research needs considered pre- and post-DWH oil spill related to response modeling and data collection needs for decision support of dispersant application and its potential effects. Given time constraints for implementing models and sampling strategies for response, requirements for data and types of questions to be addressed may be significantly different than requirements for research or damage assessment activities. At the time of this writing, just over a year after the successful response operations to cap the well, many studies are still in progress, and data are still being collected and evaluated to assess dispersant effectiveness and possible impacts. More information and research results will become available over the next months to years. Thus these research needs, as summarized for this workshop, should be evaluated again at a later time

Work-based training and job prospects for the unemployed: an evaluation of training for work

"Training for Work (TfW) was a major DfEE programme aimed at helping people who had been claimant unemployed for over six months to find jobs and improve their skills, by providing appropriate training and work experience. After initial assessment and guidance, entrants took one of three main routes: employer placements (with either trainee or employed status), full-time off-the-job training, or project placements... A nationally representative sample of TfW participants in England and Wales who left TfW during the autumn of 1995 was interviewed in spring 1996 and a second time in summer 1997. The present analysis excluded those who had been unemployed for less than six months at the point of entry to the programme (the 'special needs' group)." - Page 1

National Newspaper Analysis of the Press Coverage of Jesse Jackson\u27s 1984 Presidential Campaign: The Confirmation of the Candidate

Jesse Jackson\u27s 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns have motivated thousands of citizens throughout America to take a more active role in politics. The 1984 campaign witnessed many previously unregistered Americans actively participating in Jackson\u27s call to join the Rainbow Coalition. Four years later, Jackson once again hit a responsive chord within the American electorate, broadening his support base in his second run for the White House. His vibrant campaigns presented challenges not only to the American system of government, but also to accepted journalistic traditions in campaign reporting. Specifically, the dilemma has been a difficult one for journalists responsible for campaign coverage. How much coverage should a reporter give to Jesse Jackson\u27s campaign? Should he be treated like an Alan Cranston or Gary Hart in 1984, or a Paul Simon or Albert Gore in 1988? Or does the historical impact of his being the first black candidate to make a serious bid for the presidency warrant a different approach to press coverage? Highlighting this dilemma in the 1984 campaign, Dates and Gandy note: Jackson\u27s candidacy was a challenge for the press because on the one hand journalistic traditions would dictate that the ideological orientation of the media organization would constrain its coverage to be consistent with longstanding editorial practice.[1

Ligand Discrimination in Myoglobin from Linear-Scaling DFT+U

Myoglobin modulates the binding of diatomic molecules to its heme group via hydrogen-bonding and steric interactions with neighboring residues, and is an important benchmark for computational studies of biomolecules. We have performed calculations on the heme binding site and a significant proportion of the protein environment (more than 1000 atoms) using linear-scaling density functional theory and the DFT+U method to correct for self-interaction errors associated with localized 3d states. We confirm both the hydrogen-bonding nature of the discrimination effect (3.6 kcal/mol) and assumptions that the relative strain energy stored in the protein is low (less than 1 kcal/mol). Our calculations significantly widen the scope for tackling problems in drug design and enzymology, especially in cases where electron localization, allostery or long-ranged polarization influence ligand binding and reaction.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures. Supplementary material 8 pages, 3 figures. This version matches that accepted for J. Phys. Chem. Lett. on 10th May 201

Reconstructing ice-sheet accumulation rates at ridge B, East Antarctica

Understanding how ice sheets responded to past climate change is fundamental to forecasting how they will respond in the future. Numerical models calculating the evolution of ice sheets depend upon accumulation data, which are principally available from ice cores. Here, we calculate past rates of ice accumulation using internal layering. The englacial structure of the East Antarctic ice divide at ridge B is extracted from airborne ice-penetrating radar. The isochronous surfaces are dated at their intersection with the Vostok ice-core site, where the depth–age relationship is known. The dated isochrons are used as input to a one-dimensional ice-flow model to investigate the spatial accumulation distribution. The calculations show that ice-accumulation rates generally increase from Vostok lake towards ridge B. The western flank of the ice divide experiences markedly more accumulation than in the east. Further, ice accumulation increases northwards along the ice divide. The results also show the variability of accumulation in time and space around the ridge B ice divide over the last 124 000 years

EAPC task force on education for psychologists in palliative care

It is argued that psychological aspects of care and psychosocial problems are essential components of palliative care. However, the provision of appropriate services remains somewhat arbitrary. Unlike medical and nursing care, which are clearly delivered by doctors and nurses respectively, psychological and psychosocial support in palliative care are not assigned exclusively to psychologists. It is generally expected that all professionals working in palliative care should have some knowledge of the psychological dynamics in terminal illness, as well as skills in communication and psychological risk assessment. On the one hand, palliative care education programmes for nurses and doctors comprise a considerable amount of psychological and psychosocial content. On the other hand, only a few palliative care associations provide explicit information on the role and tasks of psychologists in palliative care. Psychologists’ associations do not deal much with this issue either. If they refer to it at all, it is in the context of the care of the aged, end-of-life care or how to deal with grief

Renormalization of myoglobin-ligand binding energetics by quantum many-body effects

We carry out a first-principles atomistic study of the electronic mechanisms of ligand binding and discrimination in the myoglobin protein. Electronic correlation effects are taken into account using one of the most advanced methods currently available, namely a linear-scaling density functional theory (DFT) approach wherein the treatment of localized iron 3d electrons is further refined using dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT). This combination of methods explicitly accounts for dynamical and multi-reference quantum physics, such as valence and spin fluctuations, of the 3d electrons, whilst treating a significant proportion of the protein (more than 1000 atoms) with density functional theory. The computed electronic structure of the myoglobin complexes and the nature of the Fe-O2 bonding are validated against experimental spectroscopic observables. We elucidate and solve a long standing problem related to the quantum-mechanical description of the respiration process, namely that DFT calculations predict a strong imbalance between O2 and CO binding, favoring the latter to an unphysically large extent. We show that the explicit inclusion of many body-effects induced by the Hund's coupling mechanism results in the correct prediction of similar binding energies for oxy- and carbonmonoxymyoglobin.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2014). For the published article see http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/04/09/1322966111.abstrac

Study of state-of-the-art static inverter design Final report, 6 Jan. - 6 Jun. 1966

Multiple purpose inverter design based on phase demodulated inverter circuit selected from state-of-the-art assessment of ten inverter circuit