President Trump's war on regulatory science

The Trump Administration has taken numerous actions that appear hostile to scientists, scientific research, and scientific data, leading some observers to assert that a war on science is underway. A more precise characterization is that the Trump Administration is engaging in a war on regulatory science, as these actions take aim specifically at regulatory science - i.e., knowledge production and synthesis carried out by EPA and other government agencies in the course of developing government regulations. The Administrative Procedure Act ("APA") and other laws may constrain some aspects of the war on regulatory science, provided that they are subject to judicial review. Internal administrative law and agency norms also can promote rule of law values, but their success depends largely on the good faith of executive branch actors and the willingness of Congress and the public to push back when norms of administrative legality are ignored. Absent such pushback, the Trump Administration's war on regulatory science could lead to irrational policies and threaten democratic governance

Modelling Effluent Assimilative Capacity of Ikpoba River, Benin City, Nigeria

The sheer display of reprehensible propensity on the part of public hospitals, abattoirs, breweries and city dwellers  at large to discharge untreated waste, debris, scum and, in particular, municipal and industrial effluents into Ikpoba River has morphed into a situation whereby the assimilative capacity of the river has reached a record level. The seeming quietism and clinical posture of the relevant Environmental Agency to this pathological condition is sickening and in any case seen as remiss on their part. This paper seeks to determine the assimilative capacity of the river with a view to articulating policy-proposal stream in the instance that its value is unsafe for ichthyofaunal beings and humans.  A combination of basic Streeter-Phelp equation and monograph of Fair et al. were used for the determination of the assimilative capacity and the maximum allowable biological oxygen demand (BOD) load discharged into the river from three identified point sources of wastewater and for three different seasons in Nigeria (i.e. rainy, dry and harmattan seasons). Results indicate that in all the segments studied, the Fair ratio (self-purification factor) is less than unity, indicating the predominance of deoxygenation rate over reaeration rate. Reaeration rate ranges over all real values from 0.641day-1to 0.693day-1, while deoxygenation rate ranges between 0.718 day-1 and 0.839 day-1; a condition which indicates a poor assimilative capacity potential. Moreover, a higher assimilative capacity was obtained for rainy season for all the segments studied, with sampling point 3 (Guinness-harmattan and dry season) showing an overall worse assimilative capacity and poor maximum allowable BOD of 8.1x109, 1.28x1010 and 5.60x109 kg/day respectively. In a way, the determination of the assimilative capacity of Ikpoba River is a landmark in the history of the river pollution. It beggars belief that we live down the harrowing pathological condition of the river without recognizing its wider implications.http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v34i1.1

Influence of Effluent Discharge and Runoffs into Ikpoba River on its Water Quality

Unfettered effluent discharge, in addition to seasonal runoffs, into Ikpoba River, have been blamed for the ever poor water quality noticed in the river. This study seeks to investigate the role of industrialization and/ or urbanization on the degraded water quality of the river. Chemical analyses of samples of the river water collected at predetermined sampling points were undertaken and the observations obtained were subjected to ANOVA, correlation, and eigenvalue analysis. Results obtained showed that each point source has its relative contribution to the overall degradation of the river water quality. In merit order, the eigenvalue analyses carried out suggests that phosphate, nitrate, cadmium, copper, iron, lead and turbidity are the most offensive factors showing values of 0.868, 0.933, 0.770, 0.503, 5.063, 0.717, 30mg/L respectively. Remarkably, surface runoffs from municipal drains channelled to stations 1 and 2 contribute significantly to the turbidity with 4.333 and 4.233mg/L respectively, whereupon urbanization and industrialization are seemingly the culprits

EUDIOMETRIC THEORETIC-APPROACH TO MODELLING THE ASSIMILATIVE CAPACITY OF A RIVER: INCORPORATION OF BOOTSTRAPPING NEEDFUL FOR SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS

The mathematical physics underlying the adsorption and subsequent desorption of dissolved oxygen (DO) in a water body subject to effluent loading had been rarely investigated. The current state of play in this field although reflects use of different analysis, the combine use of hat matrix and bootstrapping techniques to study the phenomenon of chemical adsorption and desorption of DO at molecular level in a polluted waterbody has not been thoroughly investigated. This study seeks to use a matrix projector, H-hat (Ĥ), to cast virtual spectral rays on pollutant loadings in a water body and in the process unravel the dynamics of chemical and biological gravitation of dissolved oxygen towards constituents of effluent pollutants in water body. This approach is anchored on the ordinary least squares methodology of multivariate linear regression. The method hypothecated is studded by a mathematical physics analysis of the phenomenon. Bootstrapping was used to establish means and variances of regression parameters, and subsequently, the confidence intervals of point estimates of parameters. Tricking technique adopted facilitated the development of extreme values of the dissolved oxygen and hence the supremum and infimum of assimilative capacity of the river which fluctuates with intensity of effluent loadings and season of the year (rainy, dry, and harmattan seasons). The result of bootstrapping revealed that assimilative capacity fluctuated widely from the values detected by point estimates of regression parameters thus suggesting that tricking of regression parameters, in turn, tunes up the regression model, and hence, fine tunes the value of assimilative capacity through necessary adjustments of model parameters. The results of this study obviates the need to deploy eudiometer for laborious direct measurement of dissolved oxygen in a body of polluted water. Thus an elegant technique for crossing the stream where it is shallowest has been developed in this study. The method is considered as a great improvement on previous approaches that seem to dawdle. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v35i1.2

Developmental deep dyslexia in Chinese : a case study

2002-2003 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Enhanced structural and magnetic ordering of FePt/Mn-oxide bilayers by ion-beam bombardment and annealing

This journal issue contain selected papers of APDSC'10Poster Session - A. Magnetic Recording Technologies: PA-7Structural and magnetic properties of FePt thin films were affected strongly by capped MnO x layers prepared by ion-beam bombardment and post-annealing. As-deposited FePt/MnO x bilayer exhibited a magnetically soft fcc phase, and it turned to an ordered fct FePt phase with large coercivity (∼8 kOe) after annealing at 550°C. Increasing the %O 2/Ar in capped MnO x layer during deposition resulted in smaller ordered FePt grains separated by grain boundaries of MnO x. We found that the superlattice (001) peak is broadened considerably with larger amount of MnO x incorporated into FePt, likely due to the hindered formation of hard phase. Our results indicate that FePt/MnO x films deposited with lower %O 2/Ar, the oxygen atoms may occupy the interstitial positions in the FePt lattice to induce a local strain thus enhancing the FePt ordering. Further increased %O 2/Ar in capped MnO x layer, the excess oxygen atoms act a diffusion barrier effectively to inhibit the FePt grain growth and ordering. © 2011 IEEE.published_or_final_versionThe Asia-Pacific Data Storage Conference (APDSC'10), Hualien, Taiwan, 27-29 October 2010. In IEEE Transactions On Magnetics, 2011, v. 47 n. 3, p. 501-50

Resting-state EEG power and coherence vary between migraine phases

© 2016, The Author(s). Background: Migraine is characterized by a series of phases (inter-ictal, pre-ictal, ictal, and post-ictal). It is of great interest whether resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) is differentiable between these phases. Methods: We compared resting-state EEG energy intensity and effective connectivity in different migraine phases using EEG power and coherence analyses in patients with migraine without aura as compared with healthy controls (HCs). EEG power and isolated effective coherence of delta (1–3.5 Hz), theta (4–7.5 Hz), alpha (8–12.5 Hz), and beta (13–30 Hz) bands were calculated in the frontal, central, temporal, parietal, and occipital regions. Results: Fifty patients with episodic migraine (1–5 headache days/month) and 20 HCs completed the study. Patients were classified into inter-ictal, pre-ictal, ictal, and post-ictal phases (n = 22, 12, 8, 8, respectively), using 36-h criteria. Compared to HCs, inter-ictal and ictal patients, but not pre- or post-ictal patients, had lower EEG power and coherence, except for a higher effective connectivity in fronto-occipital network in inter-ictal patients (p <.05). Compared to data obtained from the inter-ictal group, EEG power and coherence were increased in the pre-ictal group, with the exception of a lower effective connectivity in fronto-occipital network (p <.05). Inter-ictal and ictal patients had decreased EEG power and coherence relative to HCs, which were “normalized” in the pre-ictal or post-ictal groups. Conclusion: Resting-state EEG power density and effective connectivity differ between migraine phases and provide an insight into the complex neurophysiology of migraine

The inhibition of plant and animal adenosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate phosphodiesterases by a cell-division-promoting substance from tissues of higher plant species.

One member of a new class of cell-division-promoting factors, that has been given the trivial name of cytokinesin I, is a potent inhibitor of adenosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate phosphodiesterases of both plant and animal origin. Since an adenylate cyclase has been demonstrated in this study to be present in plant cells, the results suggest that cytokinesin I may be exerting its biological effects in promoting division in cells of higher plant species as a regulator of adenosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate.published_or_final_versio

THERMORESPONSIVE, REDOX-POLYMERIZED CELLULOSIC HYDROGELS UNDERGO IN SITU GELATION AND RESTORE INTERVERTEBRAL DISC BIOMECHANICS POST DISCECTOMY

Back and neck pain are commonly associated with intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration. Structural augmentation of diseased nucleus pulposus (NP) tissue with biomaterials could restore degeneration-related IVD height loss and degraded biomechanical behaviors; however, effective NP replacement biomaterials are not commercially available. This study developed a novel, crosslinked, dual-polymer network (DPN) hydrogel comprised of methacrylated carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and methylcellulose (MC), and used in vitro, in situ and in vivo testing to assess its efficacy as an injectable, in situ gelling, biocompatible material that matches native NP properties and restores IVD biomechanical behaviors. Thermogelling MC was required to enable consistent and timely gelation of CMC in situ within whole IVDs. The CMC-MC hydrogel was tuned to match compressive and swelling NP tissue properties. When injected into whole IVDs after discectomy injury, CMC-MC restored IVD height and compressive biomechanical behaviors, including range of motion and neutral zone stiffness, to intact levels. Subcutaneous implantation of the hydrogels in rats further demonstrated good biocompatibility of CMC-MC with a relatively thin fibrous capsule, similar to comparable biomaterials. In conclusion, CMC-MC is an injectable, tunable and biocompatible hydrogel with strong potential to be used as an NP replacement biomaterial since it can gel in situ, match NP properties, and restore IVD height and biomechanical function. Future investigations will evaluate herniation risk under severe loading conditions and assess long-term in vivo performance