Energy levels and lifetimes of Nd IV, Pm IV, Sm IV, and Eu IV

To address the shortage of experimental data for electron spectra of triply-ionized rare earth elements we have calculated energy levels and lifetimes of 4f{n+1} and 4f{n}5d configurations of Nd IV (n=2), Pm IV (n=3), Sm IV (n=4), and Eu IV (n=5) using Hartree-Fock and configuration interaction methods. To control the accuracy of our calculations we also performed similar calculations for Pr III, Nd III and Sm III, for which experimental data are available. The results are important, in particular, for physics of magnetic garnets.Comment: 4 pages 1 tabl

Firefighter’s Workers’ Compensation Claims in Montana, 2007-2017: A Cost Analysis

The objective of this study was to examine costs associated with workers’ compensation claims from firefighters in Montana. Workers’ compensation claims data were obtained from the Montana Department of Labor and Industry. The highest proportion of total benefit amount dollars was paid to male firefighters (93.7%), public employees (84.8%), and those who were 45-54 years of age at time of injury (23.9%). Part-time employees represented the employment category receiving the highest total benefit amount ($766,354). July represented the month with the highest average total benefit amount cost ($52,084). Strains and sprains, back injuries, and lifting activities all represented the highest total benefit amount cost in terms of nature of injury, body part injured, and cause of injury, respectively. No statistically significant difference was found between the median total benefit costs in terms of gender, employment type, employment sector, or firefighting activity. Understanding the costs associated with workers’ compensation claims can provide insight into injury severity and these results may aid in the development of more informed decisions for resource allocation and effective prevention strategies

The Role of International Factors in Electoral Volatility in Latin America: An Examination of Structural Adjustment

Does structural adjustment increase party system instability in Latin America? We employ the Latin American Presidential and Legislative Elections (LAPALE) database (http://www.lapaledata.com) and our own original data set for structural adjustment to assess the effects of structural adjustment and other economic, social, and political variables on legislative volatility in 18 Latin American countries during the period of 1982 to 2016. The results of our study indicate that structural adjustment results in higher levels of within-system electoral volatility and support a broad version of economic voting theory. Extra-system electoral volatility is driven primarily by institutional and demographic factors. Our findings also highlight the importance of disaggregating electoral volatility as within-system volatility and extra-system volatility appear to be largely driven by different factors, or in different ways by the same factors

Searches for violation of fundamental time reversal and space reflection symmetries in solid state experiments

The electric dipole moment (EDM) of a particle violates both time reversal (T) and space reflection (P) symmetries. There have been recent suggestions for searches of the electron EDM using solid state experiments [1,2]. These experiments could improve the sensitivity compared to present atomic and molecular experiments by several orders of magnitude. In the present paper we calculate the expected effect. We also suggest that this kind of experiment is sensitive to T,P-violation in nuclear forces and calculate effects caused by the nuclear Schiff moment. The compounds under consideration contain magnetic Gd$^{3+}$ ions and oxygen O$^{2-}$ ions. We demonstrate that the main mechanism for the T,P-odd effects is related to the penetration of the Oxygen 2p-electrons to the Gd core. All the effects are related to the deformation of the crystal lattice.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure

Education-Related Hurricane Relief: Legislative Action

This report provides an overview of the waivers that have been granted by the Department of Education in response to the Gulf Coast hurricanes; three public laws that have been enacted, specifically to provide financial relief to postsecondary students and institutions of higher education; and education-related hurricane relief provisions included in FY2006 defense appropriations. For K-12 education, the latter provides several waivers of existing requirements and appropriates $1.4 billion, primarily to restart school operations in affected areas and to provide emergency impact aid grants to schools serving displaced students. For higher education, P.L. 109-148 provides waivers of existing requirements and makes available$200 million to provide assistance under various HEA programs

Germline DDX41 mutations cause ineffective hematopoiesis and myelodysplasia

DDX41 mutations are the most common germline alterations in adult myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs). The majority of affected individuals harbor germline monoallelic frameshift DDX41 mutations and subsequently acquire somatic mutations in their other DDX41 allele, typically missense R525H. Hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) with biallelic frameshift and R525H mutations undergo cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, causing bone marrow failure in mice. Mechanistically, DDX41 is essential for small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA) processing, ribosome assembly, and protein synthesis. Although monoallelic DDX41 mutations do not affect hematopoiesis in young mice, a subset of aged mice develops features of MDS. Biallelic mutations in DDX41 are observed at a low frequency in non-dominant hematopoietic stem cell clones in bone marrow (BM) from individuals with MDS. Mice chimeric for monoallelic DDX41 mutant BM cells and a minor population of biallelic mutant BM cells develop hematopoietic defects at a younger age, suggesting that biallelic DDX41 mutant cells are disease modifying in the context of monoallelic DDX41 mutant BM

Enhancement of the electron electric dipole moment in gadolinium garnets

Effects caused by the electron electric dipole moment (EDM) in gadolinium garnets are considered. Experimental studies of these effects could improve current upper limit on the electron EDM by several orders of magnitude. We suggest a consistent theoretical model and perform calculations of observable effects in gadolinium gallium garnet and gadolinium iron garnet. Our calculation accounts for both direct and exchange diagrams.Comment: 9 page

Taiwanese Preservice Teachers’ Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Teaching Intention

This study applies the theory of planned behavior as a basis for exploring the impact of knowledge, values, subjective norms, perceived behavioral controls, and attitudes on the behavioral intention toward science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education among Taiwanese preservice science teachers. Questionnaires (N = 139) collected information on the behavioral intention of preservice science teachers engaging in STEM education. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, path analysis, and analysis of variance. Results revealed that, in terms of direct effects, higher perceived behavioral control and subjective norms were associated with stronger STEM teaching intention. More positive attitude and greater knowledge were indirectly associated with higher subjective norms and perceived behavioral control, which resulted in stronger STEM teaching intention. Additionally, gender did not affect preservice teachers’ intention to adopt STEM teaching approaches. However, preservice teachers whose specialization was in different fields tended to influence their knowledge and perceived behavioral control; these issues require further investigation

A bovine lymphosarcoma cell line infected with theileria annulata exhibits an irreversible reconfiguration of host cell gene expression

Theileria annulata, an intracellular parasite of bovine lymphoid cells, induces substantial phenotypic alterations to its host cell including continuous proliferation, cytoskeletal changes and resistance to apoptosis. While parasite induced modulation of host cell signal transduction pathways and NFκB activation are established, there remains considerable speculation on the complexities of the parasite directed control mechanisms that govern these radical changes to the host cell. Our objectives in this study were to provide a comprehensive analysis of the global changes to host cell gene expression with emphasis on those that result from direct intervention by the parasite. By using comparative microarray analysis of an uninfected bovine cell line and its Theileria infected counterpart, in conjunction with use of the specific parasitacidal agent, buparvaquone, we have identified a large number of host cell gene expression changes that result from parasite infection. Our results indicate that the viable parasite can irreversibly modify the transformed phenotype of a bovine cell line. Fifty percent of genes with altered expression failed to show a reversible response to parasite death, a possible contributing factor to initiation of host cell apoptosis. The genes that did show an early predicted response to loss of parasite viability highlighted a sub-group of genes that are likely to be under direct control by parasite infection. Network and pathway analysis demonstrated that this sub-group is significantly enriched for genes involved in regulation of chromatin modification and gene expression. The results provide evidence that the Theileria parasite has the regulatory capacity to generate widespread change to host cell gene expression in a complex and largely irreversible manner