North Atlantic oscillation response to anomalous Indian Ocean SST in a coupled GCM

The dominant pattern of atmospheric variability in the North Atlantic sector is the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Since the 1970s the NAO has been well characterized by a trend toward its positive phase. Recent atmospheric general circulation model studies have linked this trend to a progressive warming of the Indian Ocean. Unfortunately, a clear mechanism responsible for the change of the NAO could not be given. This study provides further details of the NAO response to Indian Ocean sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies. This is done by conducting experiments with a coupled ocean–atmosphere general circulation model (OAGCM). The authors develop a hypothesis of how the Indian Ocean impacts the NAO

Cultural Context in the Effort to Improve Oral Health Among Alaska Native People: The Dental Health Aide Therapist Model

The Alaska Native people in rural Alaska face serious challenges in obtaining dental care. Itinerant care models have failed to meet their needs for more than 50 years. The dental health aide therapist (DHAT) model, which entails training midlevel care providers to perform limited restorative, surgical, and preventive procedures, was adopted to address some of the limitations of the itinerant model. We used quantitative and qualitative methods to assess residents’ satisfaction with the model and the role of DHATs in the cultural context in which they operate. Our findings suggest that the DHAT model can provide much-needed access to urgent care and is beneficial from a comprehensive cultural perspective

“Success stories” as an evidence form: Organizational legitimization in an international technology assistance project

This paper looks at how evidence and success were constructed in Biblionet - Global Libraries Romania, an NGO-led, technology-based project in Romania. The main focus of Biblionet is to provide public access to computers and the internet in public libraries throughout Romania. Here, we discuss how project staff relied on one particular set of measures to legitimatize, validate and sell their project to audiences in Romania and in the West. This NGO tended to demonstrate success using relatively weak measures. Perhaps the most suspect of these were, paradoxically, appeals to science, that is to say, hard numbers and and one-time, one-off inspirational success stories that would play well in popular media. Our research on the Biblionet program in Salaj County, Romania identified trends in information, technology, and library use which either fell outside of or were not captured by the NGO\u27s quantitative metrics. This is despite the fact that these trends seemed to indicate a greater potential for this project\u27s long-term success than the ones the NGO itself employed. This raises a number of issues that neither the anthropology of development nor the anthropology of science have taken seriously. In particular, this paper suggests that the role lay or folk notions of empiricism and success play in the legitimization and evaluation of NGO efforts requires more attention than it has received in the literature so far

“Success stories” as an evidence form: Organizational legitimization in an international technology assistance project

This paper looks at how evidence and success were constructed in Biblionet - Global Libraries Romania, an NGO-led, technology-based project in Romania. The main focus of Biblionet is to provide public access to computers and the internet in public libraries throughout Romania. Here, we discuss how project staff relied on one particular set of measures to legitimatize, validate and sell their project to audiences in Romania and in the West. This NGO tended to demonstrate success using relatively weak measures. Perhaps the most suspect of these were, paradoxically, appeals to science, that is to say, hard numbers and and one-time, one-off inspirational success stories that would play well in popular media. Our research on the Biblionet program in Salaj County, Romania identified trends in information, technology, and library use which either fell outside of or were not captured by the NGO\u27s quantitative metrics. This is despite the fact that these trends seemed to indicate a greater potential for this project\u27s long-term success than the ones the NGO itself employed. This raises a number of issues that neither the anthropology of development nor the anthropology of science have taken seriously. In particular, this paper suggests that the role lay or folk notions of empiricism and success play in the legitimization and evaluation of NGO efforts requires more attention than it has received in the literature so far

Electronic reconstruction at SrMnO3-LaMnO3 superlattice interfaces

We use resonant soft x-ray scattering to study electronic reconstruction at the interface between the Mott insulator LaMnO3 and the "band" insulator SrMnO3. Superlattices of these two insulators were shown previously to have both ferromagnetism and metallic tendencies [Koida et al., Phys. Rev. B 66, 144418 (2002)]. By studying a judiciously chosen superlattice reflection we show that the interface density of states exhibits a pronounced peak at the Fermi level, similar to that predicted by Okamoto et al. [Phys. Rev. B 70, 241104(R) (2004)]. The intensity of this peak correlates with the conductivity and magnetization, suggesting it is the driver of metallic behavior. Our study demonstrates a general strategy for using RSXS to probe the electronic properties of heterostructure interfaces.Comment: 4.2 pages, 4 figure

Provisional Crown Failures in Dental School Predoctoral Clinics

Following a preliminary study indicating that at least 10 percent of single-unit crown temporary restorations failed in patients who received treatment by predoctoral students, a comprehensive examination of provisional crown failure was initiated to identify strategies to reduce the failure rate. For all provisionalized, natural tooth, single-unit crown preparations in University of North Carolina School of Dentistry predoctoral clinics for one year (N=1008), we noted tooth type, type of crown, student level, faculty coverage experience, treatment clinic, temporary material and luting agent, and retreatment (failure) of the provisional restoration. For failures, we also noted the stage of crown preparation at failure and the time since initial placement of the temporary. We analyzed these data using simple cross-tabs and logistic regression on need for retreatment (alpha =0.05). The failure rate was 18.75 percent (N=189). The median time to failure was twelve days; the 25(th) and 75(th) percentiles were six and twenty-six days. Significant risk factors, in order of odds ratio estimates, were molar tooth, second- or third-year student, and inexperienced faculty. Most provisional failures occurred during the final preparation phase of treatment. Provisional restoration failure is more frequent than was initially suspected from preliminary studies. Strategies for institutional intervention to reduce provisional restoration failure include greater attention to evaluating provisional crowns placed by inexperienced students (sophomores and juniors) and placing more emphasis on the retentiveness of provisional restorations reused following the final impression. Review of provisional evaluation procedures is also indicated for faculty who do not routinely supervise these procedures

Characterizing 3-dimensional Melt Distribution and Anisotropic Permeability in Sheared Partially Molten Rocks

With increasing shear strain, initially homogeneously distributed melt can segregate into an array of melt-rich bands, flanked by melt-poor regions. To address how the formation of these melt-rich bands affects the transport properties of partially molten rocks, I analyzed X-ray synchrotron microtomographic images of an aggregate composed of 10 vol% basaltic melt and 90 vol% olivine that was sheared to a total strain of 13.3. At 0.16 m per pixel, the spatial resolution of the microtomographic dataset is sufficiently high for quantitative characterization of 3-dimensional melt distribution. The results show that the melt distribution is bimodal: in the melt-poor regions, the total melt fractions range from 0.078-0.100, with no interconnected melt; in the melt-rich regions, the total melt fractions range from 0.116 to 0.178, with the interconnected melt fraction ranging from 0.08 to 0.16. The permeability of the sample was calculated using a digital rock physics approach. Along a melt-rich band, permeability (k) as function of melt fraction (ϕ) and grain size (d) can be expressed as k=(ϕ^3.2 d^2)/12.4. Between melt-rich bands, the permeability is negligible. Thus, the permeability of the sheared partially molten rock is highly anisotropic and negligible in the direction perpendicular to the bands. Grain size measurements were obtained through electron backscatter diffraction. After adjusting for grain size, the permeability of a sheared partially molten rock measured along the direction of melt bands is higher than that of its isotropic counterpart with the same bulk melt fraction. The strong anisotropic permeability provides new insight into the effect of melt band formation on melt migration and melt focusing at mid ocean ridges