The Legal Foundation–Defining the Legislative Format

Current and pending mediation legislative programs in the United States, Canada, and other countries were examined by speakers and panelists who are living under these new systems or were authors of their design. Topics included court annexed programs, mandatory programs, voluntary programs, private institutional programs, the Uniform Mediation Act, state and federal initiatives, and the impact each has, or will have, on the mediation practice

Binary black hole late inspiral: Simulations for gravitational wave observations

Coalescing binary black hole mergers are expected to be the strongest gravitational wave sources for ground-based interferometers, such as the LIGO, VIRGO, and GEO600, as well as the space-based interferometer LISA. Until recently it has been impossible to reliably derive the predictions of General Relativity for the final merger stage, which takes place in the strong-field regime. Recent progress in numerical relativity simulations is, however, revolutionizing our understanding of these systems. We examine here the specific case of merging equal-mass Schwarzschild black holes in detail, presenting new simulations in which the black holes start in the late inspiral stage on orbits with very low eccentricity and evolve for ~1200M through ~7 orbits before merging. We study the accuracy and consistency of our simulations and the resulting gravitational waveforms, which encompass ~14 cycles before merger, and highlight the importance of using frequency (rather than time) to set the physical reference when comparing models. Matching our results to PN calculations for the earlier parts of the inspiral provides a combined waveform with less than half a cycle of accumulated phase error through the entire coalescence. Using this waveform, we calculate signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) for iLIGO, adLIGO, and LISA, highlighting the contributions from the late-inspiral and merger-ringdown parts of the waveform which can now be simulated numerically. Contour plots of SNR as a function of z and M show that adLIGO can achieve SNR >~ 10 for some intermediate-mass binary black holes (IMBBHs) out to z ~ 1, and that LISA can see massive binary black holes (MBBHs) in the range 3x10^4 100 out to the earliest epochs of structure formation at z > 15.Comment: 17 pages, 20 figures. Final published versio

Provenance of north Gondwana Cambrian-Ordovician sandstone: U-Pb SHRIMP dating of detrital zircons from Israel and Jordan

A vast sequence of quartz-rich sandstone was deposited over North Africa and Arabia during Early Palaeozoic times, in the aftermath of Neoproterozoic Pan-African orogeny and the amalgamation of Gondwana. This rock sequence forms a relatively thin sheet (1–3 km thick) that was transported over a very gentle slope and deposited over a huge area. The sense of transport indicates unroofing of Gondwana terranes but the exact provenance of the siliciclastic deposit remains unclear. Detrital zircons from Cambrian arkoses that immediately overlie the Neoproterozoic Arabian–Nubian Shield in Israel and Jordan yielded Neoproterozoic U–Pb ages (900–530 Ma), suggesting derivation from a proximal source such as the Arabian–Nubian Shield. A minor fraction of earliest Neoproterozoic and older age zircons was also detected. Upward in the section, the proportion of old zircons increases and reaches a maximum (40%) in the Ordovician strata of Jordan. The major earliest Neoproterozoic and older age groups detected are 0.95–1.1, 1.8–1.9 and 2.65–2.7 Ga, among which the 0.95–1.1 Ga group is ubiquitous and makes up as much as 27% in the Ordovician of Jordan, indicating it is a prominent component of the detrital zircon age spectra of northeast Gondwana. The pattern of zircon ages obtained in the present work reflects progressive blanketing of the northern Arabian–Nubian Shield by Cambrian–Ordovician sediments and an increasing contribution from a more distal source, possibly south of the Arabian–Nubian Shield. The significant changes in the zircon age signal reflect many hundreds of kilometres of southward migration of the provenance

Autism spectrum disorder in children and young people with non-epileptic seizures

Purpose: Non-epileptic seizures are paroxysmal events which to an observer resemble epileptic seizures. Proposed risk factors incorporate biopsychosocial aspects including factors in the affected individual. Unexpectedly high rates of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) occurred in the clinical population reported here. Although elevated levels of psychiatric co-morbidity are known to be present in patients with NES, ASD has only been previously described in a single case report. / Methods: This case series captures rates of ASD in 59 children and young people who were referred to a specialist paediatric mental health service at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, UK for assessment and treatment of non-epileptic seizures between 2012 and 2016. / Results: 10/59 (16.9%) of the children and young people with non-epileptic seizures also had ASD, with 5/10 (50%) of these undiagnosed with ASD before referral. Children and young people with ASD were significantly more likely to have tics or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder than those without ASD. / Conclusion: ASD may be a common co-morbidity in non-epileptic seizures. Careful clinical assessment with consideration of ASD traits is therefore important in the non-epileptic seizures population. It is beneficial to diagnose ASD early as its presence is likely to require a modified approach to assessment and treatment of non-epileptic seizures. Study of the development of non-epileptic seizures in ASD may suggest hypotheses for the pathogenesis of non-epileptic seizures in the wider population

Neighborhood Analyses Of Canopy Tree Competition Along Environmental Gradients In New England Forests

We use permanent-plot data from the USDA Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program for an analysis of the effects of competition on tree growth along environmental gradients for the 14 most abundant tree species in forests of northern New England, USA. Our analysis estimates actual growth for each individual tree of a given species as a function of average potential diameter growth modified by three sets of scalars that quantify the effects on growth of (1) initial target tree size (dbh), (2) local environmental conditions, and (3) crowding by neighboring trees. Potential growth of seven of the 14 species varied along at least one of the two environmental axes identified by an ordination of relative abundance of species in plots. The relative abundances of a number of species were significantly displaced from sites where they showed maximum potential growth. In all of these cases, abundance was displaced to the more resource-poor end of the environmental gradient (either low fertility or low moisture). The pattern was most pronounced among early successional species, whereas late-successional species reached their greatest abundance on sites where they also showed the highest growth in the absence of competition. The analysis also provides empirical estimates of the strength of intraspecific and interspecific competitive effects of neighbors. For all but one of the species, our results led us to reject the hypothesis that all species of competitors have equivalent effects on a target species. Most of the individual pairwise interactions were strongly asymmetric. There was a clear competitive hierarchy among the four most shade-tolerant species, and a separate competitive hierarchy among the shade-intolerant species. Our results suggest that timber yield following selective logging will vary dramatically depending on the configuration of the residual canopy, because of interspecific variation in the magnitude of both the competitive effects of different species of neighbors and the competitive responses of different species of target trees to neighbors. The matrix of competition coefficients suggests that there may be clear benefits in managing for specific mixtures of species within local neighborhoods within stands

Collaborative Research: Robust Climate Projections and Stochastic Stability of Dynamical Systems

The project was completed along the lines of the original proposal, with additional elements arising as new results were obtained. The originally proposed three thrusts were expanded to include an additional, fourth one. (i) The e#11;ffects of stochastic perturbations on climate models have been examined at the fundamental level by using the theory of deterministic and random dynamical systems, in both #12;nite and in#12;nite dimensions. (ii) The theoretical results have been implemented #12;first on a delay-diff#11;erential equation (DDE) model of the El-Nino/Southern-Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. (iii) More detailed, physical aspects of model robustness have been considered, as proposed, within the stripped-down ICTP-AGCM (formerly SPEEDY) climate model. This aspect of the research has been complemented by both observational and intermediate-model aspects of mid-latitude and tropical climate. (iv) An additional thrust of the research relied on new and unexpected results of (i) and involved reduced-modeling strategies and associated prediction aspects have been tested within the team's empirical model reduction (EMR) framework. Finally, more detailed, physical aspects have been considered within the stripped-down SPEEDY climate model. The results of each of these four complementary e#11;fforts are presented in the next four sections, organized by topic and by the team members concentrating on the topic under discussion

CT densitometry as a predictor of pulmonary function in lung cancer patients.

Purpose: Preoperative pulmonary assessment is undertaken in patients with resectable lung cancer to identify those at increased risk of perioperative complications. Guidelines from the American College of Chest Physicians indicate that if the FEV1 and DLCO are ≥60% of predicted, patients are suitable for resection without further evaluation. The aim of our study is to determine if quantitative measures of lung volume and density obtained from pre-operative CT scans correlate with pulmonary function tests. This may allow us to predict pulmonary function in patients with lung cancer and identify patients who would tolerate surgical resection. Materials and Methods: Patients were identified retrospectively from the lung cancer database of a tertiary hospital. Image segmentation software was utilized to estimate total lung volume, normal lung volume (values -500 HU to -910 HU), emphysematous volume (values less than -910 HU), and mean lung density from pre-operative CT studies for each patient and these values were compared to contemporaneous pulmonary function tests. Results: A total of 77 patients were enrolled. FEV1 was found to correlate significantly with the mean lung density (r=.762, p<.001) and the volume of emphysema (r= -.678, p<.001). DLCO correlated significantly with the mean lung density (r =.648, p<.001) and the volume of emphysematous lung (r= -.535, p<.001). Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that both FEV1 and DLCO correlate significantly with volume of emphysema and mean lung density. We now plan to prospectively compare these CT parameters with measures of good and poor outcome postoperatively to identify CT measures that may predict surgical outcome preoperatively

Radiologic imaging in cystic fibrosis: cumulative effective dose and changing trends over 2 decades

Objective: With the increasing life expectancy for patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), and a known predisposition to certain cancers, cumulative radiation exposure from radiologic imaging is of increasing significance. This study explores the estimated cumulative effective radiation dose over a 17-year period from radiologic procedures and changing trends of imaging modalities over this period. Methods: Estimated cumulative effective dose (CED) from all thoracic and extrathoracic imaging modalities and interventional radiology procedures for both adult and pediatric patients with CF, exclusively attending a nationally designated CF center between 1992-2009 for > 1 year, was determined. The study period was divided into three equal tertiles, and estimated CED attributable to all radiologic procedures was estimated for each tertile. Results: Two hundred thirty patients met inclusion criteria (2,240 person-years of follow-up; 5,596 radiologic procedures). CED was > 75 mSv for one patient (0.43%), 36 patients (15.6%) had a CED between 20 and 75 mSv, 56 patients (24.3%) had a CED between 5 and 20 mSv, and in 138 patients (60%) the CED was estimated to be between 0 and 5 mSv over the study period. The mean annual CED per patient increased consecutively from 0.39 mSv/y to 0.47 mSv/y to 1.67 mSv/y over the tertiles one to three of the study period, respectively (P < .001). Thoracic imaging accounted for 46.9% of the total CED and abdominopelvic imaging accounted for 42.9% of the CED, respectively. There was an associated 5.9-fold increase in the use of all CT scanning per patient (P < .001). Conclusions: This study highlights the increasing exposure to ionizing radiation to patients with CF as a result of diagnostic imaging, primarily attributable to CT scanning. Increased awareness of CED and strategies to reduce this exposure are needed

Reduction of guide needle streak artifact in CT-guided biopsy

Purpose: Computed tomography (CT)–guided core needle biopsy (CNB) can be affected by streak artifact obscuring the needle tip. This study investigates factors that influence the occurrence and severity of streak artifact during CNB. Materials and Methods: Eight coaxial guide needles of two sizes from two manufacturers with and without stylets were imaged in a CT phantom, with CT reconstructed with adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction and filtered back projection. CNB-related streak artifact was quantified with profile analysis in an image-processing program. Differences between maximum attenuation at the needle tip and minimum attenuation in the streak artifact were compared for each variable. Diagnostic acceptability and streak artifact were subjectively assessed on each phantom image and on 40 clinical CNB procedures by three independent blinded reviewers following training case review. Results: Artifact was significantly less with the central stylet removed versus in situ (median, 1,145 HU vs 3,390 HU; P < .001) for all needles, and less for 19-gauge needles versus 17-gauge needles (median, 1,334 HU vs 2,780 HU, respectively; P = .006). There were no differences based on manufacturer (P = .906) or reconstruction algorithm (P = .524). Independent reviews found that streak artifact was significantly reduced when the central stylet was removed (κ = 0.875–1.0; P < .001), and needle tip position was better in cases in which the stylet was removed (κ = 0.231–0.711; P < .001). Conclusions: Streak artifact can be reduced and needle tip visualization improved by confirming final biopsy needle position with the central stylet removed on CT and using smaller-gauge guide needles