Assessing urban heat island mitigation capacities of green infrastructure to address heat vulnerability inequities in San Francisco, California

With extreme heat events projected to become more frequent and longer-lasting, heat vulnerable communities affected by urban heat islands face disproportionate heat impacts. While cities have adopted heat adaptation efforts, there needs to be a focus on vulnerable communities to ensure an equitable distribution of adaptation efforts. Green infrastructure has been a long-standing heat adaptation method with benefits including reduced temperatures, reduced energy consumption, and reduced air pollution. This research analyzed the heat mitigation capacity of four green infrastructure types and identified heat vulnerable communities to address whether current green infrastructure in San Francisco is equitably distributed. Dense tree cover and increased tree abundance had positive impacts on the mitigation ability of each green infrastructure type. San Francisco census tracts with 4.1% poverty had the highest amount of tree abundance and were situated in the coolest parts of the city, while census tracts with 71% poverty were lacking green infrastructure and experienced hotter temperatures. In order for San Francisco to ensure green infrastructure is equitably distributed, I recommend that the scoring process for heat vulnerabilities be modified to consider smaller communities, green infrastructure heat mitigation goals be set for individual districts, and resources for community-led street tree implementation be directed toward vulnerable communities, and green roof retrofitting subsidies or grants offered to existing building. Extreme heat events will continue to affect vulnerable communities if cities are not well prepared, and a just distribution of the resources already being implemented needs to be a priority

A new measurement of the structure functions PLL−PTT/epsilonP_{LL}-P_{TT}/epsilon and PLTP_{LT} in virtual Compton scattering at Q2=Q^2= 0.33 (GeV/c)2^2

The cross section of the $ep \to e' p' \gamma$ reaction has been measured at $Q^2 = 0.33$ (GeV/c)$^2$. The experiment was performed using the electron beam of the MAMI accelerator and the standard detector setup of the A1 Collaboration. The cross section is analyzed using the low-energy theorem for virtual Compton scattering, yielding a new determination of the two structure functions P_LL}-P_{TT}/epsilon and $P_{LT}$ which are linear combinations of the generalized polarizabilities of the proton. We find somewhat larger values than in the previous investigation at the same $Q^2$. This difference, however, is purely due to our more refined analysis of the data. The results tend to confirm the non-trivial $Q^2$-evolution of the generalized polarizabilities and call for more measurements in the low-$Q^2$ region ($\le$ 1 (GeV/c)$^2$).Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures. EPJA version. slight revisions in the text and figure

The reaction dynamics of the 16O(e,e'p) cross section at high missing energies

We measured the cross section and response functions (R_L, R_T, and R_LT) for the 16O(e,e'p) reaction in quasielastic kinematics for missing energies 25 <= E_miss <= 120 MeV at various missing momenta P_miss <= 340 MeV/c. For 25 < E_miss < 50 MeV and P_miss \approx 60 MeV/c, the reaction is dominated by single-nucleon knockout from the 1s1/2-state. At larger P_miss, the single-particle aspects are increasingly masked by more complicated processes. For E_miss > 60 MeV and P_miss > 200 MeV/c, the cross section is relatively constant. Calculations which include contributions from pion exchange currents, isobar currents and short-range correlations account for the shape and the transversity but only for half of the magnitude of the measured cross section.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys Rev Lett, formatting error fixe

One Body Density Matrix, Natural Orbits and Quasi Hole States in 16O and 40Ca

The one body density matrix, momentum distribution, natural orbits and quasi hole states of 16O and 40Ca are analyzed in the framework of the correlated basis function theory using state dependent correlations with central and tensor components. Fermi hypernetted chain integral equations and single operator chain approximation are employed to sum cluster diagrams at all orders. The optimal trial wave function is determined by means of the variational principle and the realistic Argonne v8' two-nucleon and Urbana IX three-nucleon interactions. The correlated momentum distributions are in good agreement with the available variational Monte Carlo results and show the well known enhancement at large momentum values with respect to the independent particle model. Diagonalization of the density matrix provides the natural orbits and their occupation numbers. Correlations deplete the occupation number of the first natural orbitals by more than 10%. The first following ones result instead occupied by a few percent. Jastrow correlations lower the spectroscopic factors of the valence states by a few percent (~1-3%) and an additional ~8-12% depletion is provided by tensor correlations. It is confirmed that short range correlations do not explain the spectroscopic factors extracted from (e,e'p) experiments. 2h-1p perturbative corrections in the correlated basis are expected to provide most of the remaining strength, as in nuclear matter.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures. Submitted to Phys.Rev.

Virtual Compton Scattering and the Generalized Polarizabilities of the Proton at Q^2=0.92 and 1.76 GeV^2

Virtual Compton Scattering (VCS) on the proton has been studied at Jefferson Lab using the exclusive photon electroproduction reaction (e p --> e p gamma). This paper gives a detailed account of the analysis which has led to the determination of the structure functions P_LL-P_TT/epsilon and P_LT, and the electric and magnetic generalized polarizabilities (GPs) alpha_E(Q^2) and beta_M(Q^2) at values of the four-momentum transfer squared Q^2= 0.92 and 1.76 GeV^2. These data, together with the results of VCS experiments at lower momenta, help building a coherent picture of the electric and magnetic GPs of the proton over the full measured Q^2-range, and point to their non-trivial behavior.Comment: version 2: modified according to PRC Editor's and Referee's recommendations. Archival paper for the E93-050 experiment at JLab Hall A. 28 pages, 23 figures, 5 cross-section tables. To be submitted to Phys.Rev.

Backward electroproduction of pi0 mesons on protons in the region of nucleon resonances at four momentum transfer squared Q**2 = 1.0 GeV**2

Exclusive electroproduction of pi0 mesons on protons in the backward hemisphere has been studied at Q**2 = 1.0 GeV**2 by detecting protons in the forward direction in coincidence with scattered electrons from the 4 GeV electron beam in Jefferson Lab's Hall A. The data span the range of the total (gamma* p) center-of-mass energy W from the pion production threshold to W = 2.0 GeV. The differential cross sections sigma_T+epsilon*sigma_L, sigma_TL, and sigma_TT were separated from the azimuthal distribution and are presented together with the MAID and SAID parametrizations.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, information can be found at http://hallaweb.jlab.org/experiment/E93-050/vcs.html updated content about SAID analysis updated MAID results following new reference nucl-th/0310041 updated figure

Large Momentum Transfer Measurements of the Deuteron Elastic Structure Function A(Q^2) at Jefferson Laboratory

The deuteron elastic structure function A(Q^2) has been extracted in the Q^2 range 0.7 to 6.0 (GeV/c)^2 from cross section measurements of elastic electron-deuteron scattering in coincidence using the Hall A Facility of Jefferson Laboratory. The data are compared to theoretical models based on the impulse approximation with inclusion of meson-exchange currents, and to predictions of quark dimensional scaling and perturbative quantum chromodynamicsComment: Submitted to Physical Review Letter

Display of probability densities for data from a continuous distribution

Based on cumulative distribution functions, Fourier series expansion and Kolmogorov tests, we present a simple method to display probability densities for data drawn from a continuous distribution. It is often more efficient than using histograms.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, presented at Computer Simulation Studies XXIV, Athens, GA, 201

Virtual Compton Scattering and Neutral Pion Electroproduction in the Resonance Region up to the Deep Inelastic Region at Backward Angles

We have made the first measurements of the virtual Compton scattering (VCS) process via the H$(e,e'p)\gamma$ exclusive reaction in the nucleon resonance region, at backward angles. Results are presented for the $W$-dependence at fixed $Q^2=1$ GeV$^2$, and for the $Q^2$-dependence at fixed $W$ near 1.5 GeV. The VCS data show resonant structures in the first and second resonance regions. The observed $Q^2$-dependence is smooth. The measured ratio of H$(e,e'p)\gamma$ to H$(e,e'p)\pi^0$ cross sections emphasizes the different sensitivity of these two reactions to the various nucleon resonances. Finally, when compared to Real Compton Scattering (RCS) at high energy and large angles, our VCS data at the highest $W$ (1.8-1.9 GeV) show a striking $Q^2$- independence, which may suggest a transition to a perturbative scattering mechanism at the quark level.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures. To appear in Phys.Rev.

Physician-assisted suicide: a review of the literature concerning practical and clinical implications for UK doctors

BACKGROUND: A bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide in the UK recently made significant progress in the British House of Lords and will be reintroduced in the future. Until now there has been little discussion of the clinical implications of physician-assisted suicide for the UK. This paper describes problematical issues that became apparent from a review of the medical and psychiatric literature as to the potential effects of legalized physician-assisted suicide. DISCUSSION: Most deaths by physician-assisted suicide are likely to occur for the illness of cancer and in the elderly. GPs will deal with most requests for assisted suicide. The UK is likely to have proportionately more PAS deaths than Oregon due to the bill's wider application to individuals with more severe physical disabilities. Evidence from other countries has shown that coercion and unconscious motivations on the part of patients and doctors in the form of transference and countertransference contribute to the misapplication of physician-assisted suicide. Depression influences requests for hastened death in terminally ill patients, but is often under-recognized or dismissed by doctors, some of whom proceed with assisted death anyway. Psychiatric evaluations, though helpful, do not solve these problems. Safeguards that are incorporated into physician-assisted suicide criteria probably decrease but do not prevent its misapplication. SUMMARY: The UK is likely to face significant clinical problems arising from physician-assisted suicide if it is legalized. Terminally ill patients with mental illness, especially depression, are particularly vulnerable to the misapplication of physician-assisted suicide despite guidelines and safeguards