Academic Placement Data and Analysis: 2016 Final Report

Academic Placement Data and Analysis (APDA), a project funded by the American Philosophical Association (APA) and headed by Carolyn Dicey Jennings (UC Merced), aims “to make information on academic job placement useful to prospective graduate students in philosophy.” The project has just been updated to include new data, which Professor Jennings describes in a post at New APPS. She also announces a new interactive data tool with which one can sift through and sort information. (from Daily Nous

Nitrogen activation in a Mars-van Krevelen mechanism for ammonia synthesis on Co3Mo3N

Co3Mo3N is one of the most active catalysts for ammonia synthesis; however, little is known about the atomistic details of N2 adsorption and activation. Here we examine whether N2 can adsorb and activate at nitrogen surface vacancies. We have identified the most favorable sites for surface nitrogen vacancy formation and have calculated vacancy formation free energies (and concentrations) taking into account vacancy configurational entropy and the entropy of N2 at temperature and pressure conditions relevant to ammonia synthesis (380–550 °C, 100 atm) via a semiempirical approach. We show that 3-fold hollow bound nitrogen-containing (111)-surfaces have surprisingly high concentrations (1.6 × 1016 to 3.7 × 1016 cm–2) of nitrogen vacancies in the temperature range for ammonia synthesis. It is shown that these vacancy sites can adsorb and activate N2 demonstrating the potential of a Mars–van Krevelen type mechanism on Co3Mo3N. The catalytically active surface is one where 3f-hollow-nitrogens are bound to the molybdenum framework with a hexagonal array of embedded Co8 cobalt nanoclusters. We find that the vacancy-formation energy (VFE) combined with the adsorption energy can be used as a descriptor in the screening of materials that activate doubly and triply bonded molecules that are bound end-on at surface vacancies

The Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON): the evolution of grassroots network science

Nine years later, with over 380 members from 40 countries, and 50 publications to its credit, GLEON is growing at a rapid pace and pushing the boundaries of the practice of network science. GLEON is really three networks: a network of lakes, data, and peopl

Mechanisms of action and outcomes for students in Recovery Colleges

Objective\ud Recovery Colleges are widespread, with little empirical research on how they work and outcomes they produce. This study aimed to co-produce a change model characterising mechanisms of action and outcomes for mental health service users attending as students at a Recovery College.\ud Methods\ud A systematised review identified all Recovery College publications. Inductive collaborative data analysis by academic researchers and co-researchers with lived experience of ten key papers informed a theoretical framework for mechanisms and outcome for students, which was refined through deductive analysis of 34 further publications. A change model was co-produced and then refined through stakeholder interviews (n=33).\ud Results\ud Three mechanisms of action for Recovery College students were identified: empowering environment (safety, respect, supporting choices), enabling different relationships (power, peers, working together) and facilitating personal growth (e.g. co-produced learning, strengths, celebrating success). Outcomes were change in the student (e.g. self-understanding, self-confidence) and changes in the student’s life (e.g. occupational, social, service use). A co-produced change model mapping mechanisms of action to outcomes was created.\ud Conclusions\ud The key features identified as differentiating Recovery Colleges from traditional services are an empowering environment, enabling relationships and growth orientation. Recovery Colleges may benefit most attenders, but mental health service users to particularly encourage to enrol may include those who lack confidence, those who services struggle to engage with, those who will benefit from exposure to peer role models, and those lacking social capital. The change model provides the first testable characterisation of mechanisms and outcomes, allowing formal evaluation of Recovery Colleges

A Global lake ecological observatory network (GLEON) for synthesising high-frequency sensor data for validation of deterministic ecological models

A Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON; www.gleon.org) has formed to provide a coordinated response to the need for scientific understanding of lake processes, utilising technological advances available from autonomous sensors. The organisation embraces a grassroots approach to engage researchers from varying disciplines, sites spanning geographic and ecological gradients, and novel sensor and cyberinfrastructure to synthesise high-frequency lake data at scales ranging from local to global. The high-frequency data provide a platform to rigorously validate processbased ecological models because model simulation time steps are better aligned with sensor measurements than with lower-frequency, manual samples. Two case studies from Trout Bog, Wisconsin, USA, and Lake Rotoehu, North Island, New Zealand, are presented to demonstrate that in the past, ecological model outputs (e.g., temperature, chlorophyll) have been relatively poorly validated based on a limited number of directly comparable measurements, both in time and space. The case studies demonstrate some of the difficulties of mapping sensor measurements directly to model state variable outputs as well as the opportunities to use deviations between sensor measurements and model simulations to better inform process understanding. Well-validated ecological models provide a mechanism to extrapolate high-frequency sensor data in space and time, thereby potentially creating a fully 3-dimensional simulation of key variables of interest

Multi-Messenger Gravitational Wave Searches with Pulsar Timing Arrays: Application to 3C66B Using the NANOGrav 11-year Data Set

When galaxies merge, the supermassive black holes in their centers may form binaries and, during the process of merger, emit low-frequency gravitational radiation in the process. In this paper we consider the galaxy 3C66B, which was used as the target of the first multi-messenger search for gravitational waves. Due to the observed periodicities present in the photometric and astrometric data of the source of the source, it has been theorized to contain a supermassive black hole binary. Its apparent 1.05-year orbital period would place the gravitational wave emission directly in the pulsar timing band. Since the first pulsar timing array study of 3C66B, revised models of the source have been published, and timing array sensitivities and techniques have improved dramatically. With these advances, we further constrain the chirp mass of the potential supermassive black hole binary in 3C66B to less than $(1.65\pm0.02) \times 10^9~{M_\odot}$ using data from the NANOGrav 11-year data set. This upper limit provides a factor of 1.6 improvement over previous limits, and a factor of 4.3 over the first search done. Nevertheless, the most recent orbital model for the source is still consistent with our limit from pulsar timing array data. In addition, we are able to quantify the improvement made by the inclusion of source properties gleaned from electromagnetic data to `blind' pulsar timing array searches. With these methods, it is apparent that it is not necessary to obtain exact a priori knowledge of the period of a binary to gain meaningful astrophysical inferences.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures. Accepted by Ap

Multidecadal Climate Variability and the Florescence of Fremont Societies in Eastern Utah

Fremont societies of the Uinta Basin incorporated domesticates into a foraging lifeway over a 1,000-year period from AD 300 to 1300. Fremont research provides a unique opportunity to critically examine the social and ecological processes behind the adoption and abandonment of domesticates by hunter-gatherers. We develop and integrate a 2,115-year precipitation reconstruction with a Bayesian chronological model for the growth of Fremont societies in the Cub Creek reach of Dinosaur National Monument. Comparison of the archaeological chronology with the precipitation record suggests that the florescence of Fremont societies was an adaptation to multidecadal precipitation variability with an approximately 30-plus-year periodicity over most, but not all, of the last 2,115 years. Fremont societies adopted domesticates to enhance their resilience to periodic droughts. We propose that reduced precipitation variability from AD 750 to AD 1050, superimposed over consistent mean precipitation availability, was the tipping point that increased maize production, initiated agricultural intensification, and resulted in increased population and development of pithouse communities. Our study develops a multidecadal/multigenerational model within which to evaluate the strategies underwriting the adoption of domesticates by foragers, the formation of Fremont communities, and the inherent vulnerabilities to resource intensification that implicate the eventual dissolution of those communities. Las sociedades de Fremont de la cuenca de Uinta incorporaron a los domesticados en una forma de vida de alimentación durante un período de 1.000 años desde 300–1300 dC. La investigación de Fremont brinda una oportunidad única para examinar críticamente los procesos sociales y ecológicos detrás de la adopción y el abandono de los domésticos por parte de los cazadores-recolectores. Desarrollamos e integramos una reconstrucción de precipitación de 2.115 años con un modelo cronológico Bayesiano para el crecimiento de las sociedades de Fremont en el alcance de Cub Creek del Dinosaur National Monument. La comparación de la cronología arqueológica con el registro de precipitación sugiere que la floración de las sociedades de Fremont fue una adaptación a la variabilidad de precipitación multidecadal con una periodicidad de aproximadamente 30 años en la mayoría, pero no en todos, de los últimos 2.115 años. Las sociedades de Fremont adoptaron domesticados para mejorar su resistencia a las sequías periódicas. Proponemos que la variabilidad reducida de la precipitación desde 750–1050 dC, superpuesta sobre la disponibilidad de precipitación media constante, fue el punto de inflexión que aumentó la producción de maíz, inició la intensificación agrícola y dio como resultado un aumento de la población y el desarrollo de las comunidades de médulas. Nuestro estudio desarrolla un modelo multidecadal/multigeneracional dentro del cual evaluar las estrategias que sustentan la adopción de domesticados por parte de los recolectores, la formación de comunidades de Fremont y las vulnerabilidades inherentes a la intensificación de recursos que implican la eventual disolución de esas comunidades

Mechanisms of action and outcomes for students in Recovery Colleges

Objective Recovery Colleges are widespread, with little empirical research on how they work and outcomes they produce. This study aimed to co-produce a change model characterising mechanisms of action and outcomes for mental health service users attending as students at a Recovery College. Methods A systematised review identified all Recovery College publications. Inductive collaborative data analysis by academic researchers and co-researchers with lived experience of ten key papers informed a theoretical framework for mechanisms and outcome for students, which was refined through deductive analysis of 34 further publications. A change model was co-produced and then refined through stakeholder interviews (n=33). Results Three mechanisms of action for Recovery College students were identified: empowering environment (safety, respect, supporting choices), enabling different relationships (power, peers, working together) and facilitating personal growth (e.g. co-produced learning, strengths, celebrating success). Outcomes were change in the student (e.g. self-understanding, self-confidence) and changes in the student’s life (e.g. occupational, social, service use). A co-produced change model mapping mechanisms of action to outcomes was created. Conclusions The key features identified as differentiating Recovery Colleges from traditional services are an empowering environment, enabling relationships and growth orientation. Recovery Colleges may benefit most attenders, but mental health service users to particularly encourage to enrol may include those who lack confidence, those who services struggle to engage with, those who will benefit from exposure to peer role models, and those lacking social capital. The change model provides the first testable characterisation of mechanisms and outcomes, allowing formal evaluation of Recovery Colleges

Mechanisms of action and outcomes for students in Recovery Colleges

Objective Recovery Colleges are widespread, with little empirical research on how they work and outcomes they produce. This study aimed to co-produce a change model characterising mechanisms of action and outcomes for mental health service users attending as students at a Recovery College. Methods A systematised review identified all Recovery College publications. Inductive collaborative data analysis by academic researchers and co-researchers with lived experience of ten key papers informed a theoretical framework for mechanisms and outcome for students, which was refined through deductive analysis of 34 further publications. A change model was co-produced and then refined through stakeholder interviews (n=33). Results Three mechanisms of action for Recovery College students were identified: empowering environment (safety, respect, supporting choices), enabling different relationships (power, peers, working together) and facilitating personal growth (e.g. co-produced learning, strengths, celebrating success). Outcomes were change in the student (e.g. self-understanding, self-confidence) and changes in the student’s life (e.g. occupational, social, service use). A co-produced change model mapping mechanisms of action to outcomes was created. Conclusions The key features identified as differentiating Recovery Colleges from traditional services are an empowering environment, enabling relationships and growth orientation. Recovery Colleges may benefit most attenders, but mental health service users to particularly encourage to enrol may include those who lack confidence, those who services struggle to engage with, those who will benefit from exposure to peer role models, and those lacking social capital. The change model provides the first testable characterisation of mechanisms and outcomes, allowing formal evaluation of Recovery Colleges

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy